| 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. – 1 Peter 2:11–12
When the time comes you just got to do it.
Have you been there? In my mind the thought goes something like this, “Enough! Enough talking about it, enough thinking it through, enough scheming and dreaming. It’s time. Jerry, you’ve just got to do it!” Honestly, this is a talk I frequently have with myself. Sometimes it’s a quick pep talk before a workout. Other times it comes after I’ve been contemplating a major life, ministry, or leadership decision. Frankly, I’ve come to a place in life where if I’m not regularly having some variation of this conversation with myself, I get nervous. Why? Because leaders are called to lead, leadership takes action, action requires making a decision, and once that decision is made, there comes a point you’ve just got to do it. Friends, this is true for all of us. We are all called to lead in some capacity, beginning with ourselves. And so, the question for us this week is what is it for you? What do you “just got to do?”
If you can answer the question through a spiritual lens, then you have a head start for Sunday. You see, this week the Apostle Peter is calling us to respond. In the passage above he’s saying, in light of all we’ve learned, the time has come for us to engage the war that’s waging in our souls. As a matter of fact, you can engage in it because you are literally being ‘Forged for Battle’.
So, if you have been around Mission for any length of time, it shouldn’t surprise you that we have ordered the service in a way that will allow us to do what the text is calling us to do. This week I will speak much earlier in the service with extended worship to leave room for us to respond to the work the Lord’s doing in our hearts.
Trust me when I say, you do not want to miss this Sunday. Please take some time to read the passage above, reflect upon how the Lord has been forging you, consider the battles you’ve been facing in your life, and then come ready to do battle. Through word, prayer, and worship I believe we will see a moment of incredible victory this Sunday.
Here’s the worship set to help you prepare as well!
Love you church,
Jerry Lingenfelter
Senior Pastor |
