Horizons has seen some pretty beautiful, miraculous things happen in the last couple of weeks, and when they happen, the house is PACKED!
Most recently we celebrated and prayed over 9 graduates who are a part of Horizons, and in the next service, we welcomed and baptized 27 young students into the next HUGE phase of their Christian lives. There were no empty seats. The Holy Spirit was buzzing. In that moment, we all remembered what this whole church thing is about. We remember how powerful, enlivening it is!
In a few short words, I can sum up the day as awesomely beautiful. I loved it. Most people there loved it too!
In fact, many people said excitedly during conversations: "It is my wish that we would always have this kind of energy and crowd!"
I agree!
In fact, what we know is that people come--family, friends, those who aren't always available on Sundays, and others--because they either know or trust that something BIG and POWERFUL is going to happen that day.
People get so excited about it they make sure others will be there too. Few want to miss these things. We all want to catch the moments when God shows us and completely changes our lives.
BUT, here's what I say: God shows up EVERY Sunday. Prepared to do and actively does BIG and POWERFUL things in our lives.
We simply need to trust it, believe in it, and anticipate it. Every Sunday can have that kind of energy and that size of crowd. We simply need to show up and bring others along with hearts prepared to see it.
Here's YOUR invitation: prepare to show up Sunday with an expectant, open, and excited heart. And INVITE YOUR FRIENDS (and enemies too (although you may not want to sit right next to them))! Tell them Jesus (not the pastor) is doing BIG things and that they should come and see!
See you Sunday!
Jason <><
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
Drenched
A week full of adventures will leave a person soaked! I'm still dripping, and hoping not to dry off anytime soon.
It was an unusual week.
Derek, Nicole, and I spent Thursday through Saturday in Tacoma at a conference, remembering how to do love. Through a lot of whimsy, trial, and error, a person can learn to love again. But it doesn't happen before first falling in and getting soaked in God's love. By the time we left, few dry spots remained!
Sunday, we asked for God's blessing as seniors stood before us, ready to take on the world as new explorers and missionaries. It's difficult not to get splashed by the hope, determination, and confidence the graduating youth possessed as they received their blessings. They were filled and ready!
A quick half hour later, 27 confirmation students came forward to profess their faith, state their desires for even deeper relationships with Jesus, and to be drenched by God's blessing and confirmation. I've never seen as many bright eyes filled with so much excitement, energy, and Spirit! By the end of the service, 27 students stood before us, drenched in their baptisms and reaffirmations, full of life. This is life that only God gives us!
By the end of the second service, I was as wet as the confirmation students. They were standing to either side of the baptistery, waiting for their final blessing. There I stood, still knee deep in the baptistery. The water was warm, but my heart was warmer. There was no way I was ready to get out. So I stood still and from the water I gave the final dismissal. I should have told everyone not to dry off too quickly!
So I got soaked this weekend. I'm hoping not to dry off too quickly, or at all. Soaking in God's love and new life makes everything more beautiful, and it makes loving others much easier!
More to come!
Jason <><
It was an unusual week.
Derek, Nicole, and I spent Thursday through Saturday in Tacoma at a conference, remembering how to do love. Through a lot of whimsy, trial, and error, a person can learn to love again. But it doesn't happen before first falling in and getting soaked in God's love. By the time we left, few dry spots remained!
Sunday, we asked for God's blessing as seniors stood before us, ready to take on the world as new explorers and missionaries. It's difficult not to get splashed by the hope, determination, and confidence the graduating youth possessed as they received their blessings. They were filled and ready!
A quick half hour later, 27 confirmation students came forward to profess their faith, state their desires for even deeper relationships with Jesus, and to be drenched by God's blessing and confirmation. I've never seen as many bright eyes filled with so much excitement, energy, and Spirit! By the end of the service, 27 students stood before us, drenched in their baptisms and reaffirmations, full of life. This is life that only God gives us!
By the end of the second service, I was as wet as the confirmation students. They were standing to either side of the baptistery, waiting for their final blessing. There I stood, still knee deep in the baptistery. The water was warm, but my heart was warmer. There was no way I was ready to get out. So I stood still and from the water I gave the final dismissal. I should have told everyone not to dry off too quickly!
So I got soaked this weekend. I'm hoping not to dry off too quickly, or at all. Soaking in God's love and new life makes everything more beautiful, and it makes loving others much easier!
More to come!
Jason <><
Monday, May 13, 2013
Worlds Collided!
When our personal worlds collide, we experience new life, new adventures, lots of learning, and often a great deal of emotion--from painful tears to joy-filled laughter. Jesus intended for all sorts of worlds to collide, no matter how unlikely it would be to work out!
This weekend Sarah and I went to Broken Bow to celebrate her brother's graduation. We were excited to make the trip and enjoy being in Sarah's hometown. Our weekend, however, was accompanied by a wonderful twist! We invited my parents to the ceremony, and it worked out that they were also able to come the night before to help out and be with us.
I've heard the stories of feuding family trees, blowing in gale force winds. I've seen "Meet the Parents," and "Meet the Fockers," and so on... It seems ttrue in our world today that the In-Laws often just don't mix well. I wasn't terribly concerned about both of our families being in close quarters, but Sarah and I, with grins on our faces, wondered together what it would be like.
Short story told, the weekend was wonderful. My parents brought out the best of their desire to visit, share, laugh, and simply enjoy a lot of conversation. Sarah's parents also brought out the best of their hospitality, stories, and time. Sure, there were some quirks along the way and a couple awkward moments, but it ultimately was wonderful!
Jesus took all sorts of different worlds and made them collide. He brought heaven and earth together, the Law and faith together, the religious and the spiritual together, the righteous and the sinning together. He brought health to the worlds of the lame, he brought crippling truth to those whose worlds were stout with pride. He mixed tears with laughter, death with life, and differing hearts and peoples. He collided all sorts of worlds, and although there were plenty of awkward and even painful moments, God's world is a far better place when our worlds learn to collide!
Don't hide your world away. Let it collide!
More to come!
Jason <><
This weekend Sarah and I went to Broken Bow to celebrate her brother's graduation. We were excited to make the trip and enjoy being in Sarah's hometown. Our weekend, however, was accompanied by a wonderful twist! We invited my parents to the ceremony, and it worked out that they were also able to come the night before to help out and be with us.
I've heard the stories of feuding family trees, blowing in gale force winds. I've seen "Meet the Parents," and "Meet the Fockers," and so on... It seems ttrue in our world today that the In-Laws often just don't mix well. I wasn't terribly concerned about both of our families being in close quarters, but Sarah and I, with grins on our faces, wondered together what it would be like.
Short story told, the weekend was wonderful. My parents brought out the best of their desire to visit, share, laugh, and simply enjoy a lot of conversation. Sarah's parents also brought out the best of their hospitality, stories, and time. Sure, there were some quirks along the way and a couple awkward moments, but it ultimately was wonderful!
Jesus took all sorts of different worlds and made them collide. He brought heaven and earth together, the Law and faith together, the religious and the spiritual together, the righteous and the sinning together. He brought health to the worlds of the lame, he brought crippling truth to those whose worlds were stout with pride. He mixed tears with laughter, death with life, and differing hearts and peoples. He collided all sorts of worlds, and although there were plenty of awkward and even painful moments, God's world is a far better place when our worlds learn to collide!
Don't hide your world away. Let it collide!
More to come!
Jason <><
Monday, May 6, 2013
New Friends!
No matter where we are, if our hearts are open to God's leading, adventures and surprise encounters are surely in store! Sarah and I were reminded of this last weekend in a wonderful way.
Sarah had just finished her first year of Physical Therapy school, and we agreed that we needed to do something to celebrate. So we booked a couple evenings at the Lied Lodge in Nebraska City, where neither of us had been before.
We had our special dinner, used the pool constantly, walked the trails, toured the mansion, and just about everything else imaginable as well. It was a great opportunity to share some time together, laugh, and learn a little more--just the two of us.
But God must have decided toward the end it was time for us to find some friends on our adventure. It was early evening of our second night, and we both decided to take advantage of the wine tasting, as the trip simply wouldn't be complete without at least sampling the local flavors.
Within a heartbeat of walking up to the counter, God introduced us to our new friends. As I reached to hand my glass to the server, a friendly voice said, "Look at all those bracelets! I want to hear about each one of them." And so our evening began. We tasted small sips of local wine, and I told small hints of the stories wrapped around my wrist. We found out that our new friends were celebrating their 39th anniversary, that they live very near to us in Lincoln, and that they had many stories of their own to tell.
Before we knew it, our mini tasting events were over, and our new friends had invited us to dinner with them in the lodge. We had planned to eat pizza and play cards alone in our room that night, but we felt that God was nudging us forward. "Sure!" we both belted out.
Although there were several favorite parts of our evening with our new friends, there is a particular favorite that is especially worth telling. When Sarah and I are on vacation or spending "couples" time, it is my foremost duty to be husband and friend, even before being pastor. So I actually make it a point not to tell people what I do in Lincoln until directly asked.
As we prepared to begin our meal, one of our new friends offered to bless the meal. (I think I was planning on it, but didn't want to seem too eager.) It was a beautiful, deep, polished, gentle prayer. I was enjoying it. But right in the middle of it, the husband's wife said cheerfully over his prayer, "Okay now, let's wrap it up Billy Graham!"
The prayer ended, and I thanked our friends for blessing the food. The husband said he was happy to, and for some reason, it just felt like the right thing to do. His wife though, hoping not to offend us, remarked to her husband, "Yeah, but how do you know they're not Jewish! We don't want to scare them away!" We all chuckled, I assured them I wasn't Jewish, and we went on with the evening and stories. It ended up being quite the night of stories and laughter, and I eventually revealed my Pastor identity.
Thinking about this part of the evening in particular makes me smile. I admire our new friends. They were willing to approach us rather than stay inside their own private world. They invited strangers to join them for dinner. Then, without pause, they put their faith out in front and asked for blessings over the meal. They did this ALL before they knew anything about who either Sarah or I were.
Our friends provided such an easy example of what it means to be the hands, heart, and feet of Jesus in the world: approach, invite, share, and love--all without any prerequisites or fears of rejection. I look forward to sharing a meal at some point in the future with our new friends. But just as much, I look forward to making NEW friends, using the beautiful example provided to us last weekend. And so I say to each of us: go and make some new friends and see how easy it is to share Jesus' life with others.
More to come!
Jason <><
Sarah had just finished her first year of Physical Therapy school, and we agreed that we needed to do something to celebrate. So we booked a couple evenings at the Lied Lodge in Nebraska City, where neither of us had been before.
We had our special dinner, used the pool constantly, walked the trails, toured the mansion, and just about everything else imaginable as well. It was a great opportunity to share some time together, laugh, and learn a little more--just the two of us.
But God must have decided toward the end it was time for us to find some friends on our adventure. It was early evening of our second night, and we both decided to take advantage of the wine tasting, as the trip simply wouldn't be complete without at least sampling the local flavors.
Within a heartbeat of walking up to the counter, God introduced us to our new friends. As I reached to hand my glass to the server, a friendly voice said, "Look at all those bracelets! I want to hear about each one of them." And so our evening began. We tasted small sips of local wine, and I told small hints of the stories wrapped around my wrist. We found out that our new friends were celebrating their 39th anniversary, that they live very near to us in Lincoln, and that they had many stories of their own to tell.
Before we knew it, our mini tasting events were over, and our new friends had invited us to dinner with them in the lodge. We had planned to eat pizza and play cards alone in our room that night, but we felt that God was nudging us forward. "Sure!" we both belted out.
Although there were several favorite parts of our evening with our new friends, there is a particular favorite that is especially worth telling. When Sarah and I are on vacation or spending "couples" time, it is my foremost duty to be husband and friend, even before being pastor. So I actually make it a point not to tell people what I do in Lincoln until directly asked.
As we prepared to begin our meal, one of our new friends offered to bless the meal. (I think I was planning on it, but didn't want to seem too eager.) It was a beautiful, deep, polished, gentle prayer. I was enjoying it. But right in the middle of it, the husband's wife said cheerfully over his prayer, "Okay now, let's wrap it up Billy Graham!"
The prayer ended, and I thanked our friends for blessing the food. The husband said he was happy to, and for some reason, it just felt like the right thing to do. His wife though, hoping not to offend us, remarked to her husband, "Yeah, but how do you know they're not Jewish! We don't want to scare them away!" We all chuckled, I assured them I wasn't Jewish, and we went on with the evening and stories. It ended up being quite the night of stories and laughter, and I eventually revealed my Pastor identity.
Thinking about this part of the evening in particular makes me smile. I admire our new friends. They were willing to approach us rather than stay inside their own private world. They invited strangers to join them for dinner. Then, without pause, they put their faith out in front and asked for blessings over the meal. They did this ALL before they knew anything about who either Sarah or I were.
Our friends provided such an easy example of what it means to be the hands, heart, and feet of Jesus in the world: approach, invite, share, and love--all without any prerequisites or fears of rejection. I look forward to sharing a meal at some point in the future with our new friends. But just as much, I look forward to making NEW friends, using the beautiful example provided to us last weekend. And so I say to each of us: go and make some new friends and see how easy it is to share Jesus' life with others.
More to come!
Jason <><
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