More than words from Pastor Bernie Federmann

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Lord I'm Amazed By You

This past Sunday was truly a great day. Lots of new faces and our team was stellar once again. So many people put their heart and life into all we do at LFC and it is simply amazing. If you are not on a team you should really consider doing so. It not only allows you to give your gifts and talents away and to serve others as Jesus served you but to also develop some great friendships too. Our worship team not only filled the platform but filled the room with sounds of praise and adoration to God. It was a great day! While we are still in the series on Decisions: Divinely Inspired, I thought it good (and I did tell you Sunday you could find these here) to share these great points with you.

In a new book called A New Kind of Normal, author, Carol Kent writes about decisions. Now, I have not read the book but the table of contents spoke volumes of what we have before us. The table of CONTENTS Gives us great value:

When despair tries to take me under…I choose life.
When I wonder what God could possibly be thinking…I choose trust.
When I desperately want relief from unrelenting reality…I choose perseverance.
When I feel oppressed by my disappointment and sorrow…I choose gratitude.
When I want to keep my feelings to myself…I choose vulnerability.
When nothing goes according to my plan…I choose relinquishment.
When I want to point the finger…I choose forgiveness.
When I want to give up…I choose purposeful action.


What great decisions these are for us. I encourage you to read them again and see what great "take-aways" you will have. As a pastor and Police Chaplain it is amazing to me at the decisions people make. Okay, not amazing a bad choice of word since only God should amaze us - people we understand. We understand that without God guiding us and without a dedication to life values based on His word we are doomed to failure. I imagine people who are living a transformational life - in community with others, committed to following God and giving their heart and all to be used by God.
Yes, even in my imagination there is failure, since people will fail but they get up and run again to an amazing God with an amazing love and the power of forgiveness. Some are addicted to the pain they live in and therefore choose more pain, others are open to choosing life, trust, perseverance, gratitude, vulnerability, relinquishment, forgiveness and action. (taken from points above) I would add things like, humility, servanthood rather than entitlement.

Here is the path I want for you and for LFC: It is a path of:

  • Bold Faith - believing that what God says is really true and acting on it;
  • Outrageous Generosity - giving our life away in order to demonstrate His Kingdom;
  • Radical Love - loving God with everything in us and our neighbor as ourselves.

It is a path of liberty, freedom, and healing. It is a path that desires to make decisions that please God. On this path you find significance, purpose, and destiny. This is a path less traveled however - it is not a path only available to those who determine to give themselves to Jesus and allow His ways to become theirs. It is not a religious way or people who come to the church simply to be in a "love club" it is those who are committed to put God first and follow Him. No matter where you are on your life journey, there is room on this path for you! You can jump in now - and by faith, experience the amazing love God has for you. If you have drifted away from what He wants you to do - it is time to get back to the place He calls you. Every since Sunday I have been singing the chorus to the brand new song we learned: "Lord, I am amazed by you and how you love me." His love is amazing! This morning as I prayed with some of the pastors from our city, we were reminded of His love for us and that in spite of us, God was using us.
Ephesians 3:18"...together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, (NIV)
This week we have another corporate opportunity to share the love of Christ with others - the Post Game Party. We anticipate over 800 high school students to attend this all free event. Jump houses, inflatable obstacles, music, food, pizza, fun and our elevate youth team will be hosting a booth to show students what elevate offers.
Let's live in Bold Faith, Outrageous Generosity and Radical Love - it is the least we can do in response to His Amazing Love,
Loving out loud,
Pastor Bernie

1 comment:

Jason Queen said...

Great post Pastor. I found some great "takeaways" and even called my wife and passed on the one about "I choose relinquishment"

--Jason