Mother Mary Come To Me

When It comes to Mary we seem to have some major swings in our approach to her. Either we worship her as a mini god or we totally disregard and ignore her. Jesus did neither of these. He loved her & cared for her & made sure she was cared for when he left. He never worshiped her, but only gave praise and prayed to his father in heaven. So, lets do the same. Lets honor her as a mother (as we should honor our own) and lets learn from her.

Why did God choose Mary? Well…because He’s God and He can do anything He wants. Was there anything more about her that the Lord looked at and said, this person will be the vessel for bearing and caring for my son on his journey to earth. She was a teenager who had little to no experience in the mothering department. Her credentials were un impressive at best by the worlds standards. But she had something that caught God’s eye, the thing that I believe God saw in some one years before here, Abraham.

God comes to Abraham and asks him to take him at his word and move away from everything he knew (he also asked him to do some other crazy stuff that is to painful to talk about right now.) And what did Abraham say, YES. What did Mary say, YES. She was willing to not just believe God, but to walk her belief out to faith, like Abraham. This is what the Lord saw. A willingness. A Yes. Faith. A willingness to not just believe He was going to do what He promised, but to actually walk out the promise with Him.

Faith is not being sure of what’s over the mountain and being ok with it. It’s having no clue what rest over the mountain, but knowing who told you to go and being ok with whatever awaits you because you know the one who told you has only good for you.

Mary didn’t earn a part in God’s story, He invited her in…as He does with you & I. The story isn’t about Mary’s faith but in fact is, and always is, about Gods faithfulness. That He will accomplish what He sets out to do.

They were not the star of the story…Mary, Elisabeth or John….It was about Jesus.

Mary would carry Him, Elisabeth delighted in Him, John prepared hearts for Him. We now carry these things out in our lives.

Were not called to be the story, but to be a part of His…by carrying Him into the world. By delighting in him and preparing hearts to receive His Spirit. Its not about your disqualifications, but his love & blood that makes you qualified to be a part.

The story isn’t pretty, but it is beautiful. Messy but lovely beyond measure.

- Jerrod

What are you doing this summer?

Summertime is here: it is a time for many of us to slow down. Many are done with school, going on vacation and just flat out ready for a breather. If you are like me life changes big time- my kids don't have school, therefore if they are not entertained or kept occupied they break things, each other, or they simply drive me to a place of near insanity. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and I love spending time with them, but if my parenting goes on a vacation its not good for anyone in the family. So I am having to look at this summer with purpose. Daddy Day Camp is now in full session and I am determined not to let our kids fall victim to jut another lazy summer of getting on each others nerves.

Tonight I preached a message from John Chapter 5 on not allowing ourselves to fall victim to letting our spiritual life go on vacation. Life has a way of lulling us into a place of familiarity that we aren't willing (or able) to leave regardless of how much we want to. So the question is: What are you doing this summer. Are you looking forward to checking out for a few months, are ready to jump on board what God is doing all around you and allow yourself to be used by God to make this a summer like you never have experienced.

I am ready, are you? Buckle up, its going to be a wild, but worthwhile ride!!!

Psalms 62

Found this to be incredibly uplifting in worship today

New Venture

This next week will be my last week as one of the Pastors at Crossroads. It is truly a bittersweet time. I am thankful for the opportunity that I was given to plant Elevate as well as to serve with a great team of people sharing the Love of Jesus with this community, I will miss meeting with them on a weekly basis. The excitement of the new venture however is revolutionizing my life and my trust in God.

A few people have asked what this means to Elevate, the answer is simple- Elevate will continue to operate as normal and I will still continue to lead our amazing leadership team to reach out to the young adult college generation of this community. There is going to arise the need for people to step up and start taking ownership of Elevate and what happens each week.

The reason I am leaving my position at Crossroads is to Plant a new Church in Exeter called Orange Valley Church. I look forward to sharing much more in future of post of how I arrived at this point in life, to take this bold (possibly crazy) step of faith to leave the security of something safe to the challenging unknown.

I am looking forward to what God has in store for me, I am a firm believer that he is the one who orders our steps and I am blown away where he has led and how he has provided this far. We have the responsibility of preparing and planning but ultimately we need to be listening to his voice and receive our direction from the Holy Spirit.

Look forward to sharing much in the near future. have an amazing day.

Lots of Change, and some things the same...

If you haven't heard yet, its official. I (along with others) am going to be planting a Church in the Exeter area called Orange Valley Church (orangevalleychurch.com)

This has been a interesting journey which begin to progress rather quickly as it became apparent that this was where I believe God to be leading me. The great thing is I'm not alone! One of my best friends in the world Alex Reeder is going to be joining me, as well as Eric McIntosh will serve as the Worship Arts Pastor (myspace.com/viraavenue.com).
Two other friends Kevin Starling and Adam Bravinder have also committed to developing the leadership structure for this amazing new venture.

Couple of things I want to make sure an get out there:

1. From the beginning this was done in with full disclosure to Crossroads Community Church where I have been on staff for the last 4 years. I amd my family have been blessed by this church and will always have a special place in my heart. I or Alex are not leaving because of anything that was are wasn't being done- there is no issue, simply pursuing what God has placed before us. We are very thankful for and leave in good standing with Crossroads and will continue to Pray for and encourage them in their work in Visalia as we launch out in Exeter.

2. Elevate will continue as normal. The vision for Elevate began in my heart years before we opened. I will continue to lead the elevate team, and I am just as excited about the future of it as I was when we began four years ago.

Excited about what God has in store looking forward to amazing things...

The Missional Church

Stumbled upon this video- sums up what the missional church is: Love it!!!

EASTER

Good Friday 2009 - Ending from buckheadchurch on Vimeo.