Two Babies

I said to someone this Sunday that I'm realizing I have two babies due around the same time late this summer, just a few weeks away. No we're not having twins.

The first is Anne and I's son, whose name is still a secret just so we're sure and so no one goes engraving anything until then. He's due August 21st, but as we all know, it could be anywhere in the month of August. He's doing really well, Anne's experiencing 3rd trimester discomfort, but all in all the pregnancy is going well. This is a huge blessing from God! This little one is a miracle, a story I may save to divulge until his actual birth. I'm getting so excited, and so scared, to be a dad. It's crazy just typing it is a wake-up call. There is still so much to do around the house, but we have been SO blessed by the generosity of many folks handing things down or giving NEW things. Feels a bit like Acts 2:44. Continue to pray for us and the health of our son.

The other "baby" is this third service, due to start on Sept. 7. Just like the other, I have so much to DO to get ready, and yet no matter how ready I think I am, I won't be fully ready. That's where the trusting God, and trusting you our church, comes in. None of us can do the work of Jesus alone, we've been given each other. Together we respond to the gift of the opportunity to impact people, provide an encounter with the living God, by making it happen.

Just yesterday I was asking someone to step into a role, and I almost typed at the end of it, "I'm not trying to pressure you." But in a way, I am. Let's be clear: no one wants anyone to be serving purely motivated out of the guilt. You shouldn't be guilted into serving. If you're serving just because you're supposed to, and nothing else, its time for some evaluation. BUT, Mike presented a compelling vision for serving and getting connected at Grace: God created us for a purpose, what we call at Grace "helping others take their next step toward Christ."

We've been called as the people of God to be on fire for him, to "Be his witnesses" (Acts 1:8). If you decide to just come to church for an hour, and then go about the rest of the week, you are free to do that. Especially if you are new to this whole Jesus thing! You've got to ease into it, learn what it's about, like the disciples did in the New Testament. But God does not want us remaining in one place, he wants us moving forward toward his purpose. After three short years, Jesus sent the disciples out to change the world. And in those three years, Jesus had the disciples do a LOT of ministry, while he mentored them. I'm not ashamed to ask you to step into the next thing that God has for you. I'm not ashamed to ask you to be his hands and feet, to make your life count by by a part of radical change through Jesus in other people's lives.