Something Don’d on Me! 6-4-20

“Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never again be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”
John 4:14

 
If you read that verse above, and started singing “(Gush gush gush gush)”…you might have gone to VBS a lot when you were a kid! That old kids song, though, says a lot: “Spring up O Well, within my soul. Spring up O Well, and make me whole. Spring up O Well, and give to me…that Life…Abundantly!” It’s the KEY to our walk with Christ: THAT NEW LIFE! We WANT to live abundantly! We WANT to be whole! We are looking for a DIFFERENT life!!
 
But we turn on the news…and all we see is division and fear. Riots and dissension are everywhere right now. What was a bubbling volcano of racism, erupted with the murder of George Floyd. Now, we are seeing-in very clear fashion-a strong racial divide in our country…and we want answers! It doesn’t seem to be the “abundant life” that we want!
 
“Ok, Don…how do we GET that water gushing up out of us?” That’s a question we’re going to begin to ask starting this weekend! Our summer series is entitled “Renovation of the Heart”-Having the Character of Christ! It is our hope that we can see the need for change in our OWN hearts! We are going to look at the way Christ interacted with people around Him. I pray that in these encounters, we see His Character…and we want to tear down the walls inside of us, and let Him rebuild us!
 
It’s so easy right now, to see this violence and hatred…and try to find BLAME. We read that verse above and say “See…those people need to THIRST for Jesus!” That is NOT our objective here. I pray that the only person we focus on renovating…is ourselves! May we ALL see the need for Racial Reconciliation. May we ALL see a need for change in our hearts. And may we all SURRENDER our hearts to Him!
 
I WANT to be thirsty! But not thirsty for accolades or power or money or prestige…but that we ALL thirst for a heart that is closer to His! It is when we do THAT…God steps in and gives to us a source of water that quenches our thirst for all time!

Once upon a time, Sy Miller and Jill Jackson wrote a beautiful song entitled “Let There Be Peace on Earth and Let It Begin With Me!” May we take this song to heart:

Let there be peace on earth…and let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth…
The peace that was meant to be.

May we at Central be a part of SOLVING the racial divides instead of adding to fear or division. And may we see the Character of Christ in each of us…as we show HIM to our broken world!
 
Let’s have a Summer Remodeling Project…let’s have a RENOVATION OF THE HEART! I hope we see YOU at Church online this weekend!
 
Shalom Alachiem, Peace Upon Your Heart!
Don