Monday Gratitude [Todd]

I am so grateful for NLC for so many reasons, and here is one of them:

-You guys always violate the conventional wisdom about church!

For instance, the week after Easter is traditionally one of the most "dead" weeks of the year at church. People are tired from spring break and family gatherings over the holiday and look to sleep in and take it easy. Volunteers have gone all out for Easter services and are tired. Even the teaching pastor is often a bit "down", having put so much energy and prayer into the Easter message.

Well, yesterday you never would have known it was the week after Easter! Our volunteers were sharp and energized. The worship team did an incredible job with a tough Rascal Flatts tune - even being guys who don't like country! The new high school service was borderline insane*. And the feel in the auditorium was one of expectancy, as we kicked off famreality.

You guys rock.

Want to do two things this morning.

First, remind you of the application points from yesterday as we looked at Genesis 12:1-9. The premise is that receiving God's blessing for your family life involves pursuing God's promise through risk, obstacles, and worship.

Where do you need to risk?
What obstacles do you need to face with courage?
How can you re-orient your life to better worship?

Second, to ask you to pray this week.
We have our monthly All Staff meeting Tuesday afternoon, which is always an intense and strategic time. Pray for wisdom and creativity.
And we have a HUGE weekend ahead with the Home Makeover! Pray for all the logistics, safety for our volunteers, joy for host family, and that God will be honored in the community as we try to live out his heart.

*[editors note (jared) - the highschool service was not borderline insane, it was insane. As part of a game I drank an entire McDonalds HappyMeal that had been blended up into a shake. It tasted like puke long before any of it came back up. Needless to say, the students LOVED it.]