Love Christ - Daily Struggles

Over the Christmas holidays I was reminded of how easy it is to put Christ on the back burner when you're not in His Word. I had two weeks off from preaching because of the holiday events and it is sad how hard I found it to stay close to Christ. With the business of the holidays and the "vacation" from preaching I hardly spent any time with Him. When I did I felt as though I was doing it out of duty. What's up with that? I mean I'm supposed to be the preacher aren't I? This was a real wake-up call that showed me how much preparing for sermons keeps me close to the Lord.

So what about you? You don't have the forced discipline of having to preach each Sunday. You aren't paid to stay intimate with Christ. You are paid to teach students, treat ear infections, or sell insurance. How do you stay intimate with Christ?

At this point I could go several directions. We could address the impact sin has on our intimacy with Christ or we could address the role of God's sovereignty in times He seems distance. But I'm goin' real practical. I want to remind you of the importance of community.

This week I am preaching on our church's fourth core value: God's People is Our Method. Preparing for this message has be a wonderful reminder of the importance of community. God's trinitarian nature points to community. God's method has always been community. He said it is not good for man to be alone. After the fall he promised to restore communion between Himself and His people. God created you for community and you should not seek to go it alone.

In your community group you will focus on the presence of Christ, the power of Christ, and the purposes of Christ. Your community will challenge you to walk with Christ throughout the week and inspire you with their testimony of their closeness with Him. You will be encouraged to be honest with Him and to seek Him with all your heart. In times of dryness your community will call on God's mercy to draw you to Himself and to reveal Himself to you through the Word and through their love.

Whenever your relationship with Christ starts to turn cold your first instinct will be to skip community that week. DON'T DO IT! The enemy seeks to separate us as individual blocks of charcoal so we will cool off. But we must stay piled together so the flame can burn hot. Dive into community and tell them your struggle and before you know it Christ will have you burning hot again! Praise the Lord for His gift of community. I'll see you at community this week!

Sharing the incredible love of Christ,
JT

Entering the Blog World

Talk about flyin by the seat of your pants. Norann sent me a blog of a friend of hers and I enjoyed it so much I thought I would do my own. At least that's what I feel like doing today. Those of you who know me well know the odds of me continuing a faithful blog over the long run are about as good as the odds of the Saint's winning a Super Bowl (there's a little hope).

I've titled my blog Love4Ministries based our mission statement at Norris Ferry Community Church where our mission is to glorify God by Loving Christ, Christians, Neighbors, Nations. We seek to glorify God with His own love. Christ is our greatest love and we love helping others discover His all-satisfying love. It is love to the 4th power. Love 4 Christ. Love 4 Christians. Love 4 Neighbors. Love 4 Nations.

I pray this blog will become an effective tool which will help you grow in love with Christ, Christians, Neighbors, and Nations.

What 'cha think?