ID please

Sara and I have moved recently and that means finding a church home....again. Outside of home dental work, I can't think of anything more agonizing. And it's not like we're going about this as if we were choosing a restaurant. We understand that at some point, we're going to be called to a church with some problems and we are expected to love it warts and all. We are okay with that. We are mature enough in our faith to realize that deciding on what church to attend is a serious act of worship that should not be entered into lightly. We are not using score cards, giving the Praise and Worship team a B- and the greeters a C and the preaching an A-. We understand that we need to listen to the guiding of the Holy Spirit and then just commit to where He sends us. Our struggle with that is, we've not developed the spiritual muscle of hearing clearly from the Holy Spirit. We hear plenty of voices, but picking out the one voice we should listen to takes maturity and practice. One doesn't just stand up from the altar of repentance as a new born Christian with the fully developed ability to discern God's voice from everyone else's. It takes time to develop that relationship with God and we have not fully arrived yet. We still miss it and sometimes we just decide not to try to hear from God. Sometimes we just get lazy and make a decision based on what comes easiest and hope God is okay with it. This has only served to cause delay in our pursuit of a new church home. We visited one church because we have friends that attend that church and thoughtt how great it would be to spend more time with these friends. Unfortunately, that was NOT the church God has in mind for us and we knew it right away. We were so eager to make it work, went for three weeks in a row, hoping to get a different answer from the Lord. But we heard from God correctly the first time and He doesn't change His answers.

We can look past a lot of things. We weren't looking for things to criticize. We wanted to stay at this church and plug in, and build friendships and get involved with a small group, a Sunday School class and a life group. We wanted to start going to Men's Breakfasts and choir practice. We were looking forward to nestling in with our friends and making more friends but...this is not what the church is for and this was not a good enough reason to stay at a church that wasn't for us. My Father made it clear to me right away that this was not the church for us. Some of the first words that came from the Pastor's mouth were: "We are all just sinners saved by grace." This is NOT how my Father sees me and this church, with all its programs and special music, just refused to see me as my Father in Heaven sees me.

My Father tells me that I am a new creation. I am more than a conqueror. I am a co-heir with Christ. My Father tells me that I am His child and welcome to all the promises of Abraham. The pastor of this church felt it was his duty to remind us repeatedly that we are just sinners saved by grace. The pastor built every sermon and engineered every program around this agenda of reminding us all that we were once hell-bound and Jesus had to die a horrible death to keep us from going there. I don't disagree with him. I know this is true. I know that if Jesus had not made the sacrifice that He made, I would have been doomed to hell. I know that my current life would be horribly different if it weren't for His influence on my life and the people He surrounds me with. I know that at one time, I WAS a sinner saved by grace.

I am no longer a sinner saved by grace. I am a brand new creation, of a brand new species. That guy who was hell bound is dead. I still live in the flesh tent that he left behind, but that doesn't mean he still lives. I am not the same guy who knelt down and asked Jesus into my heart. To live in a constant state of remembrance of the wicked soul I once was is NOT the life God calls us to. There are so many more important and vital things that need to be done, that to spend so much time wallowing in my own embarrassment and remorse over a life I no longer live is a criminal waste of Kingdom time. It does not advance the Kingdom at all. If anything, it hampers the Kingdom.

When we spend so much time focusing on the deplorable state of our soul, we only weaken ourselves. To do all the great works God has called us to do, we will need courage and power. To even attempt to step out and launch into something God has called us to, we need to know that we have the power of Heaven endorsing our steps. We won't have the spiritual power we need to face our enemy if we are constantly reminding ourselves of how unworthy we are. If we spend all our energies on reliving our rescue from hell, we won't move on to doing the real works that have been prepared in advance for us to do. We are not called to a life of apology and reminiscence. We are called to a life of building the kingdom. We will have all of eternity to remember our salvation and give thanks for it. But while it is still called "today" there is much work to be done. Let us press on towards the goals He has for us. It is proper and fitting to give thanks everyday for the new life you have. It is NOT proper and fitting to exhaust ourselves with self-mortification in an attempt to demonstrate our gratitude.

Jesus left us with a very clear mandate; "Do you love me? Feed my sheep." If Jesus wanted us to spend the rest of our days contemplating the terrible trial we forced Him to endure to save our souls, this would have been the perfect time to tell us that. But instead, He tells us through Peter to show our love to Him by feeding His sheep. In order to do that with all the potential impact and effectiveness, we need to shake off this identity of a worthless beggar and put on the new identity of conqueror. You WERE a sinner saved by grace. NOW you are more than a conqueror. So let's get up off our knees and go conquer something!