MESSAGE FROM JIMMY…
Greater things are coming, Y’all!
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12).
August is a month for us to deepen our faith in Jesus and his words spoken in the verse above. “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing.” What were the works of Jesus? Proclaiming the gospel. Building a community of disciples. Serving people who were sick, poor, in bondage, and experiencing the brokenness of this world. Bringing the Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. These are the very things we see Jesus teaching his followers to do through his actions and example. These are the great things that made Jesus’ movement so powerful and life-changing!
Jesus says to his followers, “You will do even greater things than these.” What? How? When the followers of Jesus do the works he did in hundreds of thousands of places and cultures around the world, the greater things are happening. When the 12 become 1 billion, greater things are happening. When the grace and power of the gospel transform one more life, one more heart, the greater things are happening. When a church awakens to shine the light of Jesus in their community, the greater things are coming. Will you dare to believe in the promise of Jesus?
Here are three things we are doing in August to build up our faith and imagine ways we can do greater things…
1. “Greater Things” Worship Series. I will be preaching in the month of August on the foundational things that caused the early church to be a unique kind of movement. In this series, we are going to look at four of those unique things that enable us to do the greater things.
August 4 – “Gospel Compelled”
August 11 – “Be a Discipling Community”
August 18 – “Don’t Go to Church; Be the Church”
August 25 – “Bringing Heaven on Earth”
2. 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. That’s right! We are bringing back an intentional season of personal and corporate prayer and fasting during the month of August. We will begin on August 11th with a Night of Prayer and Praise in the Worship Center and conclude on August 31st. Stay tuned for more resources to guide you on this spiritual journey.
3. Neighborhood Gatherings. Throughout the month, we will host a few home gatherings to share our dreams and visions about our future ministry. These gatherings will be based geographically around Clinton, and church members living near the host home will be invited to attend. I can’t wait to visit with you and listen to your ministry ideas. We will release the locations and dates for these gatherings at the beginning of August.
One last update. We have reopened our youth ministry director search due to an unforeseen circumstance. Yes, it was disappointing to find who we thought was the right person to lead our students and then have our plans fall through. The good news is we are doing a second interview with a fantastic candidate on Monday evening. God has the right person to lead our program. We will be patient and wait on his timing. Keep praying!
I hope to see you Sunday as we finish out the Altar’d series in worship.
Jimmy