It's 11:19 on Sunday night. I have two things running in the background. Radiohead is hammering out an acoustic version of "Creep" while the sounds of Aiden laughing fill in the empty spaces in the song. But way above those two sounds is a hum of excitement that I can barely describe. We are six days away from going to the heart of our county to proclaim God's glory in the most public forum we have in all of the community of Meigs .
As a group of us sat down today after church to hammer out the final details of He Reigns I could feel the collective excitement in the room churning, growing, and slowly brewing to a nice simmer. I expect that come Saturday that excitment will have reached a boil to bursting point. In the days ahead there will be many more things to coordinate, nail down, and set in stone but for the time being I want to challenge us collectively as a church family. You might be wondering what you can do right now as a member of our church family to assist with He Reigns. Don't worry...there will be many service opportunities on Saturday and you will be contacted or notified about those things. But more than anything we as a church family have a responsibility to fulfill in the days ahead. So tonight's brief thought centers around this:
BE EXPECTANT
We either believe that God has greater things to do in this community or we don't. This weekend we will be singing "God of This City" and I believe that song could be a great anthem for us this week as well as throughout Saturday. So much of our prayer this week should center around God's presence being felt in a powerful way this Saturday. I will personally be praying that God sends us people that we can minister to, people that we can pray for, and people that we can strengthen or encourage. This is a task that we must desire. We must be expectant for such opportunities. He Reigns has little to do with "music" and certainly nothing to do with "entertainment". It has everything to do with spreading God's glory and renown. This is why God has called Oasis together as a church family. What we do on Sunday's and small groups is, in one respect, a preparation for moments like He Reigns. Moments where we have an opportunity to take the gospel to the streets, to the lost, to the confused, to the hurting, to the believer, to the non-believer, to the skeptic, to the atheist, to the drug addicted, to the porn addicted, to the alcohol addicted.
He Reigns helps us say that the time for being passive is over. Oasis has never been a passive people so I think we're well suited to the task. My hope and prayer is that each one of us wakes up each morning this week and sets our hearts on fire for God. I pray that God would make you ready to minister to those who we will meet this coming weekend. I pray that God would daily stir our affections for Him this week in a powerful way and that we would respond to Him in all the ways he calls us to. In doing this we prepare in perhaps the most important way for He Reigns. Ultimately only God knows what he will achieve this weekend but we who have been called according to God's purpose will steady and prepare ourselves to wait in expectancy for whatever God desires to do this weekend. That is the responsibility of each of us, not just a few.
Church...this is an opportunity for us to pull together in an unprecedented way to stand tall and proud for the sake of God's kingdom. So let us take full advantage of that opportunity. Let us be good and steadfast servants together. I will be back tomorrow night with further challenge and encouragement. For now please pray over this endeavor in whatever way you feel led.
Remember...BE EXPECTANT....just keep saying that to yourself all week...be expectant...be expectant...be expectant.......................................................
Good word Chad.
"In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." (Psalm 5:3)
"Wait and hope for and expect the Lord." (Psalm 27:14)
"I wait expectantly, trusting God to help, for He has promised." (Psalm 130:5)
Posted by: Chris | September 28, 2009 at 09:07 AM
Chad, your phrase to "be expectant" brought to my mind a song that I used to love to sing in worship. It is written by Brian Doerksen, and called "Holy Fire":
"Holy fire from heaven
Descend to us we pray
Let us burn again
Holy fire from heaven
Consume our hearts today
Let us burn again, let us burn again
Holy breath from heaven
Descend to us we pray
Let us breathe again
Holy breath from heaven
Revive our hearts today
Let us breathe again, let us breathe again
Waiting in expectancy
Surrendered to Your sovereignty
We’re hungry for true intimacy, Lord
For the things of Your heart"
Posted by: Chris | September 28, 2009 at 09:13 AM