CHURCH WITH THE BOYZ:
The men had the opportunity to lead church two weeks ago, and, let me just say, the Holy Spirit was moving. Every week a different team leads church and makes it unique in their own way. It’s been so amazing to see the things God has been putting on people’s hearts here in Gainesville, Georgia. I thought I’d give y’all a recap on what we taught on and how God spoke through us. As we sat down together and talked about what we wanted to share, the word “vision” came up. We dwelled on that idea and decided to base all of our teachings off that word. We also made the statement to the rest of the squad to come as you are, whether that’s wearing sweatpants to church or dressing up, also meaning to come as you are spiritually. We’re all on this journey together as followers of Jesus, and He’s going to meet us wherever we’re at.
TRUSTING IN GOD’S VISION:
(speaker: JP)
Josh Pohl, also known as JP, talked first on aligning God’s vision with our own. One of Josh’s really strong and powerful points was this statement. “Vision is something we can’t see, so we need to trust the One who can see.” God is the One who will fulfill His vision over our lives.” He tied this point to the story of Abraham when he couldn’t see the vision of sacrificing his only son. Abraham couldn’t see the vision of what God was doing in the moment, but yet he trusted the only One who could see it. In life we often don’t understand what’s happening and carry a lot of weight that burdens us from experiencing who God is. JP makes the point of trusting the One who is all knowing, everlasting, and forever loving, finding rest in the Lord’s vision even though we can’t see it sometimes. Abraham trusted in the LORD and God provided a Lamb to sacrifice instead of his son. (1 Chronicles 16:12).
ETERNAL MINDSET VS. THE NOW MINDSET
(speaker: Josh B.)
When I asked the Holy Spirit on what I should talk about for church, he immediately brought the idea of having the vision of an eternal mindset in our day to day lives. It’s so easy to get caught up in a “now mindset” where it’s all centered around us. We have to remember that our identities are no longer owned by this world. We were bought with a price of a perfect sacrifice and are now children of the kingdom of God who will reign with the Father for eternity. Our time here on earth is so short compared to the rest of our eternity with Jesus. Our time here is so precious, and every day is an opportunity to glorify GOD. In my life I often make excuses on not spreading the good news of Jesus. In preparing for this teaching, God woke me up. As followers of Jesus we are called to be shot out as arrows and spread the gospel no matter where we are. I want to escape from my “now” mindset and start thinking in the eternal mindset. It’s easy for us as Christians to say, “I’m set! I get to live with Jesus forever.” We live our lives in the mindset of ourselves. It’s not a bad thing to be comforted by thought of living forever with the Father, but that’s only half of it. We have that comfort but every day we pass people that aren’t saved. We pass them by without even thinking what their eternity looks like. I’m guilty of this and have lived in this way for a long time. God’s waking me up and asking me to discern who the Holy Spirit is calling me to share with. God doesn’t want us to have the burden of sharing with every living person we come across because that’s a lot to carry, but He’s asking us to partner with Him in being aware of whom he’s asking us to minister.
MEETING US WHERE WE’RE AT:
(Payton)
Payton talked about the transformation of Saul to Paul. The significant and powerful point that God chose Saul before he became Paul. He chose the man who was broken and in sin. Saul was a man who hunted Christians and would throw them in jail and have them killed. He went on to discuss how God meets us where we’re at. Time and time again in the Bible you see God use the broken people to glorify his kingdom. He meets them where they are within all the things they’re going through spiritually, mentally, and physically. This is such a beautiful thing because we often get caught up in being a perfect Christian. But the truth is that following Jesus is not easy and can be sometimes frustrating. But yet through our frustration, He still meets us where we are. He challenged our squad to be a light and a helping hand to those who may stumble along the way.
