I am sitting in the middle of hundreds of pastors and church planters.  It is a conference about following God as he leads us in a church planting movement around the world.  A guy by the name of Francis Chan is sharing about his journey, from when he was first getting the spark from God to start a church to where he is now – leading a larger church that is all about planting other churches.

I am here with three other pastors from NJ at the invitation of our District Superintendent.  We have been praying together and dreaming about what this would be like starting in NJ.  Some of the presentations have been about the roadblocks and possible discouragements – disunity in your church, criticism from members, few people stepping up, lack of outward focus, feeling alone, lack of vision, etc.

And I don’t see that in our church.

Yeah, we make mistakes and we don’t always agree but I love our church.  We have vision and we want to make a difference in our communities and the world.  We have a great staff and we expect God to work in us and through us.  We have tons of volunteers working in youth and children and He Cares, We Care ministries.  I started to feel really great about our church and then I thought…

We don’t have an excuse.

If churches with all those problems are supposed to step through them and be the world changing church that God calls all of us to be, then what about us?  If we don’t have to overcome this stuff then what is keeping us from doing great things for God?

We don’t have an excuse.

We should be leading the way.  And why can’t we?  What if we believed that we can grow and expand in a lousy economy?  What if we believe we can bring hope to crumbling marriages and families out of work?  What if 48 baptisms a few weeks ago are only a fraction of those that God will lead us to this year?  What if we plant a church?  What if we actually raise twice the $250,000 that we pledged for missions?

What if God gives us one big dream that only He can fulfill and we will all know it when it happens?

Francis Chan is telling us to use all the “systems” and ideas you can find but make sure you sit down with the Bible and the Spirit and let God speak to you through the Word.  It’s about the Holy Spirit and his reign in our lives.  He’s right.

I don’t want an excuse.  I want a mission.

Tonight, come be a part of our mission…bringing hope.  Do you or your neighbors need hope about our economy?  Town Hall for Hope is a live simulcast with Dave Ramseyto bring clarity and direction for these challenging times.  Don’t miss the hope, tonight, at 8:00pm in the sanctuary.

There is a reason they call it Passion Week.

The word passion comes from the Latin meaning “to suffer” or “to endure.”  Originally, the word was designated to refer only to Good Friday, to Christ’s sufferings on the cross.  Eventually, it was used to describe the entire week beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Easter.  Christ’s endurance was not simply demonstrated on that Friday but throughout the five days leading up to it.  And the victory that ensued on the following Easter Sunday serves as the fruit of that endurance.

But there is another meaning to the word passion.  It means to do something with great emotion and intensity.  That too describes Jesus in this week that so many around the world will commemorate.  He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday with resolute purpose.  He faced death on Good Friday with courage.  He rose up on Easter morning to complete the reason for which He came.

Clearly the word passion describes our Lord.  What we need to consider is if it describes his church.  Is the word applicable to us?  As we come together on Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter, do we do so out of duty or with passion.  Are we excited and moved by the commemoration of Jesus’ coronation, his sacrificial death and his incredible victory over death?  I hope so.

Check out the web or the weekend worship folder for all the Passion Week activities and times.

I hope to see you at all of them.