Hello, and welcome back to the Harvest blog! We are so excited to be back sharing our hearts and our words with you.
On the first Sunday of each year we have a tradition called “Six-Minute Sermons.” Pastor Jason asks people who aren’t normally preaching to share sermons that are about six minutes long, and every year we have a different theme or phrase they are asked to share about. This year’s phrase was “All In,” and the messages were power-packed. Our blog team member Shyanne has written a recap of the morning’s messages for you.
First up was Youth Pastor Tyler Harris on Luke 16:10-12. The big line that stuck out to me from his sermon was that it takes “regular, daily, disciplined steps [to complete the big vision]”. This could look as simple as taking each day one step at a time with God.
As Tyler went on, he said, “It’s interesting how our faithfulness in something so small can influence others in such a large way.” So, remember, your faithfulness is contagious. Whether it’s something as small as wiping down the bathroom counter after you wash your hands at church or paying the bill of the car behind you at Starbucks, these good acts are contagious. Your acts of faith are contagious.
Next up was LaDawn Martinez on Luke 9:23, 62. She encouraged us look at what, if anything, we’ve gone all in on. With going all in comes the potential restriction of looking back on things like offenses or disappointments that can lead us toward bitterness, unforgiveness, and more.
She really challenged us to see that if we are focused on looking back, we can’t be all in for our relationship with God. We have to deny ourselves daily so that we can be all in with Him. She left us with three questions: What am I doing that’s keeping me from going all in? What do I keep looking back at and not letting go of? What is it that I need to deny myself of?
Following up was Mitchell Kennedy on Matthew 8:5-13 and Mark 6:6. Mitch took the Nike coined phrase, “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.”, and helped us look at this from a God perspective.
Dysfunctional engine reduces vehicle efficiency and uses viagra price in india more fuel for running. It is marked by intense back ache and other related generic levitra check out over here injuries it better and a lot more safer to opt for chiropractic treatments which involve no drugs. Others can go for the buy levitra uk option that they can buy the healthiness. viagra uk http://mouthsofthesouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/1-c-MOTS-03.12.16-Strickland.pdf If keeping a full bladder for too long time, a male driver may get urine infection. He turned this phrase into, “Believe in Jesus, even if it means sacrificing everything.”
Mitch asked us to take a look at our lives and analyze where it is we ask for God’s guidance in times of trouble, and where it is that we do not want God to interfere otherwise. This is not what being all in looks like. He reminded us that we need to sacrifice and believe in God. “When we go all in with God… we cannot be beaten.”
Up next was Anthony Carrillo. Immediately he shared a word God spoke to him, “I have someone to care for everything on this Earth if only they would pursue their passions.” So he asked us, are we all in on the passions God’s given us?
Anthony went on to say he had spoken to the world’s leading expert on living a happy life. This man has master’s degrees in all 5 sciences and coaches famous people like Tim Tebow and Carrie Underwood. This man wrote us a letter to remind us to live in our purpose, and gave us a challenge to go all in. This challenge starts with us identifying our passion and giving it all of our energy. He then promised to always be there during this challenge to support and encourage us. I truly hope I am not the only person who just about fell out of their chair when Anthony ended this letter by saying it was from God. I just felt so encouraged after realizing that the all-knowing God wants to help me pursue the desire He’s placed in my heart.
Following was Joseph Sedillo on Matthew 19. He had us think about what was holding us back from going all in whether that be our time, our finances, our road rage, etc. He showed us some good alternatives like praying in the car or reading the Word instead of being on Instagram or Facebook. Joseph showed us his promising potential as a future pastor all within three minutes. Though I will say that I went up to him after second service and told him it was possible to pray to God and listen to Taylor Swift at the same time.
Next up was Melissa Espalin on 1 Corinthians 3:10-11. She jumped right in by telling us that if we want to go all in, we need to know our foundation. She reminded us that we are designed to be in the vicinity of God. We have to remember our foundation: that we are created to be with God and that He loved us so much that He died on a cross for us. Her second point was that we need to make space in order to go all in. We have to be filled with living water, then go out and share that living water with someone else. As you make disciples and pour out your living water, God comes to fill that space again, so you can continue making disciples.
In order to go all in, we have to leave our comfort zone. To leave our comfort zone, we have to be honest with God. With this, we need to know we can go to God when we are scared of the unknown place we find ourselves in. To go all in, you have to go with God. God does not send you on this journey of the unknown by yourself. He is with you every step of the way.
Lastly, we heard Jerry Rotan speak on John 6:66-69. He started off by saying that to be all in we need to allow God to have first place in our lives. Putting God at the beginning of everything will have us noticing how there will always be something trying to replace Him as our top priority. He reminded us that if we allow God to be the top tier of our lives, this will help every aspect below it. In order to keep God at our top tier, we have to learn how to listen to God in order to be all in with Him. We as the sheep need to know the Shepherd’s voice. He ended by challenging us to be fanatics for Jesus, because a fanatic is someone whose mind will not be changed and who will not change the subject. We need to have our minds made up about Who God is and the place He holds in our lives, and we need to not change the subject. We need to share Him with everyone we can.
Harvest, this year we challenge you to be all in. We challenge you to be a fanatic for Jesus, to share your living water, to let go of what’s holding you back, to pursue your passion, to sacrifice everything for Jesus, to focus on Jesus in front of you, and to ignite contagious faith.
Happy New Year from your Harvest Blog Team!