thoughts on preaching this weekend

I got to preach at Frederick Pike last night and this morning on how to have a new start with yourself.

It’s an incredible feeling to do your homework, pray, reflect and prepare a message for people and then to see heads nodding and sharing that God’s speaking to them. What a humbling privilege for God to use people to speak to others.

I’ve worked really hard for the last 8 years to be myself when I speak. I want to talk in the same way I would with someone one-on-one. I want people to be engaged on several different levels – to not just sit back and take it in, but to engage their mind & senses.

Video of message

Sermon Notes

• One of our deepest fears is that we’ll become known – that we’ll be exposed and found out
• Exodus 2:11-14 – Moses killing Egyptian and running away
• One my biggest struggles is needing approval from people – holds me back
• A lot of us don’t depend daily on God because we don’t know we’re broken
• Start a Mistake Journal – write down 3 mistakes you make each day

Church member: I used to find it very difficult to accept or admit where I was weak. Pride, and being a perfectionist wouldn’t allow it. Now I realize that it’s ok to have weaknesses…it is in those moments that GOD moves the most.

• Hope and change require a decision
• Psalm 139
• 2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.
• The old is GONE. It had a purpose. It prepared you for today. Don’t regret it. But it’s GONE.

How do you actually create a new start?

1. Work through the pain – when we release grief, we allow space for hope to enter
2. Have a difficult conversation with yourself
3. Immerse yourself in the Bible – words will heal you
4. Restore your capacity to hope and dream – hope is contagious
5. Create new goals – dreams change, get new ones!
6. Come alongside a friend who’s craving a new start – encourage them

• One result of a new start is a God dream or new passion
• I think too many of us have stopped dreaming
• What’s your burning bush? A dream & passion God’s given you?
• As the body of Christ, our job is to help each other identify our burning bushes and to throw gasoline on them! (Mike Slaughter)

Exodus 3:11-14 – Moses responding to God’s call at the burning bush

We’re a mess. Claim that. Live into it. But in God, we’re a new creation. God has a dream for you. And God will be with you.