Stay Fascinated!

I love having the opportunity to raise a child and see the fascination he has with just about everything.  He is interested in everything from tools to make-up to nature.  It is just awesome to think what his mind is seeing and coming up with day after day to be interested in.

He knows where the batteries go on toys and wants to get them out, even if there is a screw holding it on.  He is an explorer and it challenges me to never give up that sense of exploration.  That brings us to this week’s quote…

Stay fascinated with positives.... Never lose your fascination! What you're fascinated by becomes fastened to you! Be excited! -Rev Ike

Fascination brings about life and vibrancy.  To be vibrant shows life.  When your fascinated with things you will naturally have a life in you that is hard to kill off.

I like what the quote said about the thing you’re fascinated by will become “fastened to you”.  So true!  You will have a difficult time shaking off what you are enticed by.  I know that when I have an idea for some sort of a project, then my mind will race until I can get it done.

Stay fascinated…be excited!  Have a great week!

Excitement Behind a Birth

Last week, I learned that a friend of ours had a baby.  We knew the mom when she was a teen.  She meant a lot to us.  We didn’t even know she was pregnant, so the news of her having a baby was a total shock.

Because of her closeness to us, I gave her a call.  She is not married and lives with her parents.  She’s had ups and downs in her life.  I don’t think she’s been baptized, and has struggled with her faith.  Regardless of her past, the present is that she is now a mommy.  The father of the baby will most likely not be in the picture.  With all that being said, you couldn’t help but to hear the excitement in the mom’s voice, along with the grandma’s voice.  It seems it doesn’t matter how babies arrived on the scene, there is a lot of excitement when someone has a child.

The nice thing about the near-40 week gestation period is that there is plenty of time for excitement to build.  First, comes the news.  Next, comes the “baby bump”.  Thirdly, the palpable kicking/moving.  Finally, the birth.  All can’t wait for the time when that baby is out to hold and nurture.  The news runs wild.  Now, with electronic intervention, the news is spread even quicker. 

Nearly twenty centuries ago, there was an announcement that was made about a birth that would take place.  This announcement would change the world, literally.  This announcement was telling of a Savior.  This Savior was born to a lowly peasant girl who was getting ready to marry.  Her soon-to-be husband almost left her to be a single mother. (Can you imagine how that would have played out?) This birth, like all, was exciting.  He wasn’t born in a hospital or a nice room, but in a “barn”.  He was laid in a manger, but that didn’t stop any of the excitement.  People came and visited and the excitement rang out.

This time of year is a great time to be excited.  People are thinking about the birth of Jesus.  Look around to see how you can join in with their excitement to be able to share with them what He means to you! It is a season of open doors, so don’t be afraid to walk through them!

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Being So Good That People Want to Know

News spreads because it is interesting. A great sale going on at the grocery store - tell someone. Peter and Pam are having a baby - tell someone. You just won the lottery - tell someone. "Did you hear about..." - tell someone. A famous person dies - tell someone. You get the point?

Just the other day the President's comment about Kanye West's stunt on the VMA's leaked out. It didn't just "drip out" it spewed out. Didn't take long for people to know what the President said. So, news spreads because it is interesting.

If you want to be successful in a business venture, your church, or life, you must make it interesting, and the news will travel. Word of mouth is trusted. A friend tells a friend who tells a friend and by the end there is success. This brings us to this week's quote...

If you want to be successful, begin by being so good that those with whom you
are in the closest contact cannot wait to recommend you to their friends and
grow your circle. ~Scott McKain

Speaking as a church leader, I have a continual goal of numerical growth. Don't misunderstand to think I don't have a goal of qualitative growth, too. However, the numerical growth isn't going to take place by me being the sole 'worker'. All those involved must be a part of the 'net' that is cast every day; hoping for a catch. Partly, the way that we are going to grow isn't simply by invitation. Those that come to the church must be excited. Their excitement will be seen in their friends, whom are in their close circle. They will be continually sharing about the good things happening at their church. Then, those people may want to be a part of what their friends are a part of.

We must be "so good" that we are the "talk of the town", in a good way. We must be excited, otherwise people aren't going to want to come to something our church isn't excited about. If you suggested a restaurant where the food was horrible, I'd be a fool to try it. But if you tell me of a restaurant where it was "so good", I'd be a fool not to try it.

If you want have something successful, you must make it so good that those involved can't help but to tell one person after another about the great thing you are a part of.

Let's make it "so good"!

Wanting others to know...

Idleness Stagnates; Involvement Excites

Have you ever noticed yourself being more tired on a day that you could lay around than on a day that you had to get up and go all day? I have. It seems odd that our bodies would be constructed in such a way that you get energy by expending energy.

Another idea to think about is that when there is little to do, we tend to do things that get us into trouble. That is one reason that there is a push to create a center for teens, to give them somewhere to go and something to do that will, hopefully, keep them from turning to alcohol, drugs, or sex to keep them occupied. But adults are just as guilty as teens are when it comes to the principle of “little to do…get into trouble”.

I think that the principle from the introductory paragraph holds true to the Body of Christ. If all who make up the Body, here, are figuratively lying around, spiritually, then we are going to have less energy than we would if we were busy. As energy is given to the physical body, I think there is a parallel to the energy given to the spiritual body. I’ve been guilty of being lazy for God. I’ve felt that feeling of “church is just a few songs, some prayers, Lord’s Supper, a sermon, and an hour” feeling. Then, after you are done, you either chastise your experience or are grateful that you are finished and can move on to more fun things. I laid around all week, spiritually. Looking back, I was more tired not doing anything for God, than doing things.

The principle of the second paragraph also holds true to the Body of Christ. When we are not busy, we can tend to get into trouble. I am not simply alluring to the fact that sin could creep into our group. That is true, we could find ourselves being tempted to do things we shouldn’t, or worse, actually following through. However, there are other kinds of trouble to think about, like being lukewarm, idle, or complacent.

John warns the lukewarm in the book of Revelation. (Revelation 3:16) Paul warns the idle of Thessalonica. (I Thessalonians 5:14) Zephaniah warns the complacent. (Zephaniah 1:12) So, we can see that the less busy for God we are, the more likely we are to fall into one of these categories. Busy for busy sake is not the same as being busy for God. Being involved with the church family and its activities is one way to be busy for God.

Based off of my personal experiences, I’ve learned that being involved keeps me excited to be a part of the Kingdom. I make it a personal mission to try to give you opportunities to be more involved in doing things that help to deepen and develop your faith. This sermon series is not short of that mission.

Let’s all live wide awake…for Him!

A New Found...Fear - Acts 2:43

The summer I turned 16 I had a new driver's dream job. Maybe dream might be a bit extreme, but I was so excited about the opportunity to get to detail and drive brand new cars by working at a car dealership. Each time I sat in the driver's seat of the cars, whether they were new or used, I was a bit nervous. Partly because I had not been driving too long and the other part was because the cars were not mine. I had a sense of fear of damaging them, but yet I was excited to drive these new cars. For a bit of trivia, the Chevrolet Beretta had come out that year - if you want to know my approximate age.

That feeling of fear mixed with excitement is what I think might have been in the minds of the early church as they began their life as "Christ's Church". Below are some applications to choose from to apply from our lesson yesterday as we continued with our look at the early church...

1. We tend to like to tell others when we have bought something new. It is really easy to share about the item. Is your life in Christ new? If so, it should be easy to share. If you're like me, it has been a few years since you "put on Christ", however the sheer impact that it has made on your life should be never fading. Rekindle your memories of the past when you "put on Christ" and stoke the embers to create a flame to cause you to want to share with others.
   
2. One thing that creates a sense of "old" is routine. Our churches are full of routine and tradition. It can be good but it can also be bad. If you are a church leader, specifically, try to bring about something in your assembly (be it each week or once a month) that is a bit out of the ordinary. Something with an edifying goal, but that would be a break in the routine. I doubt the early church had a routine.
   
3. If you are not as involved as you could be, is it as a result of fear? Allow that fear to fuel you instead of fizzling you. Allow it to be a mission that you decide to take on - which is not impossible. Go ahead and try it out...you may like it. Join a group, talk to that person, share Jesus, use your talents, etc.
   

The early church had a lot for us to look at and learn from. If you are involved with a church, examine what they experienced to stoke the fire in your congregation. If you are not involved with a church, the early church was nothing like what we find in most groups on Sunday mornings across America. This was an excited, yet fearful, group of people who just wanted to get together to worship God, the Father of Jesus, whom they recently put on the cross. They were community changers - and God added to their number daily (Acts 2:47).

Have an excitedly scared week!

Approaching things with nervousness...