God and the Guitar!

To get from where you are right now to where God can use you will require adjustments to your life. Every person in the bible that God used to expand His Kingdom had to make changes to their life to experience the fullness of God's Peace and direction.

This past Sunday my sermon was titled, "You can't follow God and Stay where you are at the same time!"  

A LONG time ago I used to give guitar lessons.   I had many students all interested in learning how to play the guitar. All of them started with great enthusiasm. They had an image of themselves playing all of their favorite songs. What I witnessed from some of these guitar students is the same thing most of us go through with Christianity. The guitar students all started the same, they had desire, a dream, they wanted to make music playing the guitar. But then the lessons started. To learn how to play guitar requires discipline and changes to your life priorities and choices. If you want to learn how to play the guitar, some things will have to be given up to have the time to devote to practice. To get to where they wanted to be, they couldn't stay where they were.

Changes have to be made in ones life to be in a close, caring, loving relationship. Those of you who have been in relationships know this very well. A person must make changes in their life to be able to "serve" the person who we choose to be in a relationship with.

God made us to have free will. We can choose to be in a relationship with Him or not! But if we choose Him, we cannot keep everything in our life the same. It just won't work.

As Christians we have a huge responsibility, to help expand God's Kingdom here on this earth. And that responsibility has nothing to do with our social or economic status. It has everything to do with our choices and our commitment to hear God's direction for our life and then to get involved with Him as He directs. To jump into Christianity as a participating Christian will require your life to change. Not as I or anyone else think it should change but as God directs. Only He can direct the changes necessary for you to be in the center of His will.

I believe it is a real good idea to get with other Christians who are also seeking God's direction so that you can talk, pray with one another,  and discuss the the changes you feel God is asking you to make. Church is the perfect place for that. We are to come together and lift one another up in our journey to become centered in God's will.

Last Sunday I think I can sum up the sermon with this, "God can use Anyone to Accomplish Anything, if they are willing to submit and surrender their will, desires, plans, and goals to His will, desires, plans, and goals.  This is exactly what Jesus did.

From now till Easter take the time to meditate, pray, and seek God's guidance for your life. And then ask yourself if you are ready and willing to make the changes necessary so that God can accomplish great things through your life for His Kingdom.

See you soon! Love, pastor kent