Missing out on something great

Are you missing out?  Do you even realize it??  This is not a trick question.  In fact, it is quite serious.  But the devil doesn’t want you to know or believe the next few things I will write.  I am praying you will read on ….

Last night at our Quarterly Business Meeting at EBC, we confronted an issue that every church confronts at different points in their church lives … In our business meeting, many important issues were discussed and the same 10% of our Sunday morning crowd was there.  And they are probably NOT the ones who needed to hear what was shared last night.

As a pastor, I wonder if the other 90% just doesn’t realize how vitally important these items shared are??  Or, do we simply not care?

We all have issues and problems in our lives.  We all have victories.  We LOVE to share in each other’s victories.  But all of us certainly think “I don’t need more complication in my life.”  So, perhaps we do slide out on times like this, hoping someone else will handle it.  But what if God gave YOU and only you the skill and ability to address a certain situation we face?  What if YOU were the only one who had the answer, an answer given to you by Him to bring to His church??

Business meetings at EBC are much different from other churches of which I have been part.  No yelling, no throwing things, no fisticuffs … Nothing that makes it look like the WWE.  And that is a GREAT thing.

A big issue we are facing right now as we prepare to move into a new worship center is that we are experiencing a lack of commitment.  An unwillingness to serve.  An apparent unwillingness to tithe.  And, after Hurricane Matthew, that is very apparent.  We will be fine, but there will be struggles as we transition and prepare for the new payment on the building.  We do not want to short-change any ministry as we make this significant move in the life of our church.

Tithing … Serving … this is an obedience issue.  This is an unwillingness to trust God with everything!!  We say “I don’t have time!!”  And “I don’t have the money!!”  But the truth is, we make time and money for that which is important to us.  We live in a society where many people live paycheck-to-paycheck.  I’ve been there.  And one of the things I learned is if I put God first and tithe at least 10% of my income, He always made the rest of it work for everything we needed!!  And that is still true today!!

But don’t make the mistake of believing that we should tithe because it makes financial sense!!  Don’t make the mistake of believing “If I serve, it will earn me points in Heaven!”  If you make that mistake, you really are missing the blessing!!

The blessing is this:  MONEY and TIME cannot possibly provide the PEACE and SATISFACTION IN LIFE that you will know once you REPENT of your sin, FOLLOW CHRIST with all of your heart, and OBEY HIM in every way!!  Put Him first in EVERY WAY of your life!!!

Don’t take my word for it … TRY IT AND SEE!!

And, for goodness sake, GET INVOLVED IN THE LIFE OF YOUR CHURCH!!  God is calling YOU to it!!