SPRING FORWARD!!! This weekend? Really?
I love the idea of Spring. I love the idea of warmer weather! I love the fact that Easter is on its way…but jump forward an hour?
You know what that means? 50% of church goers will miss church because they forgot to move their clocks forward. Hard to believe isn’t it? True. Funny that we can be very disciplined in working out, getting to ball games on time, making it to work early…but a slight change in the weekend and church is…out.
NOT for us…NOT this weekend! Right brothers and sisters!
We will not be like the norm. We will not be like the rest of America that oversleeps, forgets, and whoops…I missed church.
This Sunday True North is going to be on top of things, ready to worship God, ready to welcome in the children, ready to place our tithes in the blessings box, ready to lift our voices in unison in song, ready to join in prayer together…ready to WORSHIP!
I’ll quickly share a story from last weeks sermon – just a reminder to make sure that you do not handicap yourself in living for Jesus!
I always believed that if I were not in the ministry, I would be serving as the Handicap Police Force. I’d be that the guy hanging out in the parking lot, waiting for that person who is not handicapped, but pulls into that blue parking spot. I would be on them like flies on sugar. But God didn’t have that job for me.
There was a time when I was sitting in the van, waiting for Jenny to return from the grocery store. There were empty parking spots all around me. In front of me, handicap parking places. I was undercover. Anyway, a lady pulled into a handicap spot. She must have spotted me. How do I know, well because she searched everywhere for that blue hanging ticket. She finally found it, hung that blue handicap ticket on the rear view mirror and stepped away from the car. I didn’t want to judge her, but she wasn’t limping or anything. She walked into the store and grabbed a shopping cart and took off to shop. No hoping on the amigo and going for a spin. She walked with that cart like it was no big deal. I looked at her car in front of my van, looked at all the non-handicap parking spots around me and wondered what another 10 feet of walking would have done for her.
Now, you are all thinking I’m being unfair and judging this woman. (I apologize if my thoughts have disappointed you…just being real.) She may have special needs and had to park there. Okay. But after careful thought, here is my verdict. I felt sorry for her. Why? This poor lady has placed a limit on her life. She has a frame of mind that now says you can only do so much. “Don’t try to do more, your handicapped.” I felt bad for her. She may be handicapped in some way or fashion, but she has allowed this to keep her from doing more. It hit me, that sometimes I’m the same way.
Sometimes we place this spiritual handicap sticker on our lives and we limit what we are truly able to accomplish. We don’t say it aloud, but we might as well.
“I can’t do that for you God.”
“I’m not able to share this treasure with my family or others, what will they think?”
“I can’t speak power into the lives of others; I don’t have the right words!”
“I don’t have time to soak in the presence of God, I’m short on time.”
You’re right. When we decide to hang that sign on our hearts and say, “I can’t” – you won’t. I encourage you to not limit what God wants to do in your life today!
I look forward to worshiping together with all of you this Sunday!!!!
God bless you all,
Pastor Rex