Let me just say that I love my church! It is the greatest! I love our people, I love our volunteers that bust their fannies to make Church at the Grove a reality! I love our staff and leadership. I simply love what is happening at The Grove!
But…..(BIG BUT)
Nothing compares to God!
I studied and prepared all week. I studied hard and I studied long and I had a message prepared for this morning. I know it sounds braggadocios, but I thought it was a good message. I had a hilarious story that was going to be fun and really drive home a great principle. It was all ready, but as we started singing about God and then TO God, everything that I had prepared, everything I had to say…..seemed so shallow and I just felt like……well, I just didn’t think I could do justice to God in my little sermon. I stood down on the front row, and then on the side of the platform knowing that if I went out to speak the message I had prepared it would just be wrong. I wasn’t sure what we needed to do, but I just knew that we needed to do something different than what I had planned. We will be getting to the Holy Spirit in a couple more weeks but I simply asked God to guide us by His Spirit.
I knew we needed to continue worshiping to God and personally experiencing God rather than just talk about God.
What a morning? I sensed God working in a powerful way in the lives of people!
The Big Idea this morning is that God wants to be with us! This would be a great verse to memorize this week!
Psalm 145:8–9 (ESV)
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
I have loved reading the New Testament this week and following our 49 day reading challenge! It gives us the ability to grow in our understanding and personal experience of God!
God is Love. God is Just. God is Holy!
God wants a relationship with you and me! That is amazing considering the mess we (humanity) has made of His world! His holiness and justice will not allow God to exist with sin! God’s love provides the means for the gap to be bridged. He makes this happen through Jesus!
Yesterday was the special Jewish Holiday called Yom Kippur. You can read about it here.
He makes it possible for God to dwell among us, for God to be with us!
Jesus bridges the gap between God’s love and God’s Justice!
We are free!
1 Peter 3:18 (ESV)
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
Keep praying, Keep investing, Keep inviting!
We thank you so much for following the prompting of the Holy Spirit Russ! What an awsome service! God is truly moving in CATG!
This was a great service yesterday. It really hit home with me and I pray that it will continue without my life with Jesus. My heart was filled with so much love yesterday that all I wanted to do was talk about it and I did. You are a great inspiration to me and Tony. I love the Church at the Grove, I have never been to a church where I felt so completely comfortable. I want to thank you for that.
I said that wrong throught out my life not without……I can’t spell
All I can say is “Wow”! The Holy Spirit was moving through us and all around us during the service yesterday. HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD! Russ, thank you for leading and allowing us to respond and participate in the service in such a powerful way.
Russ,
Yesterday was INCREDIBLE! It is so wild that you “called an audible”. I seriously told Annie as soon we walked down to the front row (the music had just started)that God is here this morning…I can feel Him! Annie smiled and said “really?” Boy, was He! Awesome!!