One World, One Dream: Intro
We were introduced to the new sermon series we will have for the next 8 weeks Sunday. It will be called One World, One Dream tying into the 2008 Summer Olympic theme. The series will be based in 2 Corinthians. Pastors Bart and Jeff presented us with the basic premise that God has a dream for this world. When we follow that dream, we will win the gold. Or, we can be like the track-n-field relay teams this year and drop the baton.
Although the baton pass often looks simple it isn’t. Even the best like we had at the Olympics this year can drop it. There are many reasons that a baton is dropped but often it is simply a matter of getting out of timing or looking away too soon. The runner in front has to trust the runner coming up from behind to place it exactly in ones hand at the right time. If the runner in front goes out too fast or too slow it can mess things up. If the runner from behind gives up too soon, the baton can be dropped.
God wants us to run this race and He is passing the baton to us. He will always do it perfectly but we can certainly mess things up in the pass. We can take our hand away too soon or not even put it out. We can take off at the wrong time or in the wrong direction. There are many ways we can mess it up. But I believe that God is also there to help us do it well, if we will just let Him.
I look forward to hearing our pastors at Flatland Church give us guidance as to how to do this. Pastor Bart presented us this past Sunday a couple hints as to what we will see. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 was the passage upon which the sermon focused. First we have to align ourselves with God. If we will not follow Him, we can’t run the race. We must become new creatures in Christ. We must also be willing to take up that baton. We should pass on the Good News to others. We should use our gifts to serve others.
I keep thinking about the sermon at Oasis too (Wednesday evening service that comes at the end of a sermon series). Pastor Bart challenged us to be willing to face the giants of the land and enter into the promised land. The Israelites at the end of the Book of Exodus hadn’t yet entered into the promised land. We have to jump to Numbers to see what happned. There, the Israelites got scared of the the giants in the land and didn’t enter into the promise land.
This new sermon series I hope will in part help me face my giants and finally conqueror some of them. I don’t want to drop the baton. I want the gold! But to do so, I will have to fight those giants. I guess it is like a relay race with the high hurdles. Well, just face those hurdles one at a time, get over them one at a time, and God will be running along side me cheering me on, ready to pick me up if I fall, and carry me over any hurdles that are just too tall for me. Thank you God.
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I am reminded of when you use to run track. The coach, who’s name slips my mind, said to me one time that when he watched you race you would be passing everyone and getting close to the front and then you would look around and start slowing down. He said it was if you would say, “Oh, I am sorry I am passing you. I will slow down and we can cross the line together.” He felt you had a lot more in you. Then you got mono and couldn’t do track anymore. I often think that sometimes we look around us too much seeing what others are doing and change our pace accordingly. In doing so we loose out on what God has for us. He wants us to race full on to the finish line. Of course depending on the race sometimes we need pace our selves so we don’t run out of steam and others we have to run as hard as we can the whole race. If we are able to inspire others in our race then all the better