The Voice, October 17, 2024

A WORD FROM OUR PASTOR…

What do you do when the road ahead gets a little rough or confusing?

While bikepacking in the Ozarks last week, our route took us across a 16 mile section of a gravel road twisting and winding up and down hills to the summit of White Rock Mountain. Our journey didn’t go quite as expected. There were two sections of road closed due to mud slides from 2023. We had to hike our bikes across these sections where the mountain had literally shifted. Descending one of the hills, my companion hit a rock and cracked his rim. Game changer! He put a tube in his tire and asked me to say a prayer that it would hold up until we finished 60 more miles of cycling in this remote and rocky part of Arkansas. God answered our prayer-his tire held up! We survived over 6,000 feet of climbing that day, and made it back safely in Fayetteville that evening. We were exhausted, but elated to finish our 250 mile journey over 4 days despite numerous challenges.

This trip taught me a simple lesson – Sometimes in life you must keep moving forward one step or one pedal at a time.

This week in our Exodus series we pick up the Israelites’ story in chapter 14 as they start their journey out of Egypt into the desert. Our message will answer this question – How do we gain forward momentum in the Christian life? To put it another way, how do we break out of the old ways of life and experience new depths of faith?

I want to issue a challenge to you for this Sunday. Before you step across the threshold of the sanctuary or the worship center, pray this simple prayer. “Lord, make your presence known to me today as I enter to worship. I give you the room I am entering today. Come, Jesus, come!”

See you Sunday!

Jimmy

 

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