I get the privilege of speaking this Sunday on Mother’s Day! I am very excited about the message that God has put on my heart. It is not necessarily a mother’s day sermon, although it is definitely written from a mother’s heart. I really feel that this message is going to be a catalyst for God to speak into the hearts of people regarding the dreams and desires that God wants to begin to birth in their hearts.

I CAN’T WAIT!

1-2The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.
3By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.

4By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That’s what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.

5-6By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.” It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.

7By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.

8-10By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.

11-12By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said. That’s how it happened that from one man’s dead and shriveled loins there are now people numbering into the millions.

13-16Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.

17-19By faith, Abraham, at the time of testing, offered Isaac back to God. Acting in faith, he was as ready to return the promised son, his only son, as he had been to receive him—and this after he had already been told, “Your descendants shall come from Isaac.” Abraham figured that if God wanted to, he could raise the dead. In a sense, that’s what happened when he received Isaac back, alive from off the altar.

20By an act of faith, Isaac reached into the future as he blessed Jacob and Esau.

21By an act of faith, Jacob on his deathbed blessed each of Joseph’s sons in turn, blessing them with God’s blessing, not his own—as he bowed worshipfully upon his staff.

22By an act of faith, Joseph, while dying, prophesied the exodus of Israel, and made arrangements for his own burial.

23By an act of faith, Moses’ parents hid him away for three months after his birth. They saw the child’s beauty, and they braved the king’s decree.

24-28By faith, Moses, when grown, refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house. He chose a hard life with God’s people rather than an opportunistic soft life of sin with the oppressors. He valued suffering in the Messiah’s camp far greater than Egyptian wealth because he was looking ahead, anticipating the payoff. By an act of faith, he turned his heel on Egypt, indifferent to the king’s blind rage. He had his eye on the One no eye can see, and kept right on going. By an act of faith, he kept the Passover Feast and sprinkled Passover blood on each house so that the destroyer of the firstborn wouldn’t touch them.

29By an act of faith, Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. The Egyptians tried it and drowned.

30By faith, the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for seven days, and the walls fell flat.

31By an act of faith, Rahab, the Jericho harlot, welcomed the spies and escaped the destruction that came on those who refused to trust God.

32-38I could go on and on, but I’ve run out of time. There are so many more— Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets….Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection. Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn’t deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world.

39-40Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.

I just tucked Delaney into bed. She called me into her room, looked up at me with her big brown eyes, and said, “I can talk to God and Jesus.” I had taught her preschool class this morning and the lesson was about talking to God, so I said, “Oh yeah, and what did you say?” She smiled and said, “I told him that I loved Him and that He could love me too. I told Him that I wanted to go to Heaven and that my name was Delaney.”

I was thankful that we were sitting in the near dark together. She couldn’t see the tears gushing out of my eyes. All I could think of was how simple and profound her words were all at the same time. That’s all God wants from us, right there in one sentence Delaney summed up the entire Bible.

I love Sundays! So, I’m going to start a running list of things that happen every week at our church that make me smile. Pastors often times get a lot of the best stories and so I’ll pass them on as much as I can.

Starting Point ended today. We had about 8 people going through our curriculum for people who have questions about God. Angela Welk leads it. Amazing lady! Such a blessing to this ministry. Everybody who came out of that class has a deeper understanding of God. That’s cool! She already has 6 people interested in the next class. If you are new to Christ, be there.

I caught the end of a great conversation with Lee. God has amazing things in store for his life and he is a man who listens to the heart of God. My mother’s day sermon might just be for him. If you see him this week, let him know! 🙂

Jace, a two year old in our church, told me that he liked my earrings and my haircut. Seriously, that made my day. Who needs more verbal affirmation than that of a toddler?

I talked to a worship pastor who’s been at our church for the last couple of weeks. His wife handed me a CD. Talented guy with a positive attitude and great spirit! I love interacting with people who have been in ministry for a couple of decades. It energizes me!

We had 140 people at our church today…I’m pretty sure most of them were in the kid’s ministry. Mike led two packed out kid’s services for Kim. She was at her dad’s birthday party. Mike and Alecia rocked it! They are trustworthy leaders who do a great job at whatever they set their mind to!

Jeff preached today! Great intro and great conclusion. I’ll think back on several of those points this week. Catch his sermon on www.coffeechurch.com. Really looking forward to see what God does with Jeff’s ministry in the next year!

Carissa ran sound in the kid’s ministry. Dani, Ali, and Olivia were in the preschool room. Jessica and Rachel were watching the staff kids and teaching them about trust. I love to see teens serve Christ.

I had 3 cups of coffee. In the words of Mark Batterson: Caffeine + Holy Spirit = Awesome. My limit is usually one cup a day.

I hope that you had a lovely Sunday as well. I hope that you like your church…especially if it’s North Creek! 🙂 I hope you get all giddy when you get to go and hang out with people that are all on a journey with Jesus Christ. I hope you share your excitement with somebody who needs to know Jesus as well!

Church planting is a lot like getting a tattoo…once you get one, you always want more. I find myself trying to figure out ways to start another extension of our church all of the time. Starting a 9:00 am service was cathartic for me, but just days after that launch, I was back to dreaming about a 12:00 pm service. Or maybe another campus? Or a Saturday night? Or? Or? Or?

My problem will always be timing. The dreams that God places on your heart aren’t always supposed to be immediate. Sometimes the voice of God speaks hundreds of years before the actuality of what He was saying. The goal is to find the balance between procrastination and wisdom. Some people wait so long to act on what God has told them that they forget what He even said in the first place. I’m the opposite. Once I get a vision for what direction God wants us to go…I’m going there…tomorrow. And then I tend to look around and say, “You’re all coming, right????” I know. It’s what you love about me and what drives you crazy.

The strange part over the last couple of years of ministry is that I seem to have surrounded myself with a lot of people who have the same gift/fault. I’ve been telling a few people my latest, craziest idea and they all seem to say, “Why not?” I keep waiting for the voice of reason to speak in the midst of insanity and say, “Let’s step back and think about this.”

That voice would be fine with me…but let’s not wait too long.