The other night, I was thinking about my life’s journey.  I was reminded that my preaching ministry began 18 years ago in a homeless mission in downtown Houston.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  At the Open Door Mission, on January 30, 1992, I delivered my first sermon to a group of gracious homeless guys.

I didn’t know how to preach, so I did what every preacher would.  I just started yelling real loud and called it preaching.  I received a chorus of Amen’s. At the altar call three people gave their hearts to Christ.  I was riding high!

The next week I delivered my second sermon.  I envisioned myself as the next Billy Graham or Billy Sunday.  The only difference between them and me was that they knew how to preach.  At the Star of Hope Mission in downtown Houston, I delivered my second message.  I had gone in there with this great pride that I was the man, but it didn’t go as good this time.  I blanked!  In the middle of my message, I forgot everything.  I had notes but they were a blur.  I just completely froze up.  Those homeless guys coaxed me on.  Prayed for me! Encouraged me to take my time.  I finally got my composure and finished the rest of the message. 

At the conclusion of that sermon, my grandfather gave me the greatest advice that a young man could have received.  I still cling to it today.  He said, “If you would have went up the way you came down, you would have came down the way you went up.”  I held my high on the way to the pulpit but I came down with it hanging in embarrassment and failure.  My grandfather gave me a quick lesson in humility and how we have to rely on Christ when we stand in the pulpit and preach his Holy Word.

Ministry has been a great journey.  Homeless ministry is my roots.  I did that for several years and thank God for the hundreds of salvations we saw in that time.  We moved on to inner-city ministry for a couple of years before pastoring our first church.  We are now in our 14th year of pastoring.  It has been a wonderful journey.  I have learned a lot of lessons during these years.  Had successes and made alot of mistakes, but the truth is that I am more dependant on Christ now than I have ever been.

Here is a copy of my first sermon notes.

I have been a slacker here lately.  I haven’t been writing much. Not because I have writer’s block but because I have been extremely busy.  It has been an exciting time for us as we prepare for some awesome things coming up.  We are finishing up our rebuild series this Sunday.  It is the grand finale and we will be unveiling something exciting this weekend.  You do not want to miss it.  I will give you a slight hint: Project Rebuild.  That is all I am going to say.

February 14th is another great day.  No, we are not going to talk about valentine’s or love, but we are going to give away boxes of Godiva chocolate and a dozen roses to every one in attendance, then we will give a $100 gift card to Ruth Chris to everyone who wears red with hearts.  It is going to be incredible.  By the way, I am just kidding!  Now that I got your hopes up, we will be unveiling our vision for the future on Valentine’s.  It will be better than chocolate (is that possible?).  Nonetheless, you do not want to miss these next two Sundays.

Exciting times at RFA!  The momentum is building.

It has been a week with much hype about the incoming storm.  They say it will be the worst storm in a decade, but not as bad as last year.  Just a side note: how can it be the worst storm in a decade when it won’t be as bad as last year?  Was last year actually the worst storm in the decade?  I need to be a weatherman…I can make profound statements like they do:)

Sorry, I got off track.  All week we have been building up to the “storm”.  We have been told what to expect.  We have been informed about what the storm might mean to Northwest Arkansas.  The weather team has been building expectancy.  Expecting something big.

I believe that expectancy is a good thing.  It helps you prepare for what is to come.  It helps you think, plan and act.  Expectancy is vital to the kingdom of God.  Do we expect God to do something?  Are we expectantly waiting for Him to move?

My heart is filled with expectancy for this new year.  I have never been as excited about a new year as I have this one.  Something in my Spirit leaps when I think of what God is going to do. 

Expectancy should drive all of us.  We should come to church, expecting.  We should pray, expecting. We should read the Word, expecting.  Expecting God to show up in a real way in our lives and in our church.

It is like the expectancy of a woman who is pregnant.  A few years ago, when Sonya was pregnant with Hannah.  We were expecting.  We knew something great was about to happen, but we didn’t know what Hannah would look like or what she would be like.  There were a lot of answers that we didn’t have, but we expected something good.

That is how I feel about RFA.  I don’t know everything that God is going to do, but I am expecting something good.  I don’t have all the answers but I know that God has something up His sleeve.  I am expecting!

Someone once said, “Attempt Great Things For God, Expect Great Things From God.’”

Todd Rhoades posted this picture with the caption, “Which of these PKs will require a special board meeting this month?” 

Book: Dug Down Deep

Author: Joshua Harris

Summary:
What will you build your life on?

With startling transparency, Joshua Harris shares how we can rediscover the relevance and power of Christian truth. This is book shows a young man who rose quickly to success in the Christian evangelical world before he realized his spirituality lacked a foundation—it rested more on tradition and morality than on an informed knowledge of God.

For the indifferent or spiritually numb, Harris’s humorous and engaging reflections on Christian beliefs show that orthodoxy isn’t just for scholars—it is for anyone who longs to know the living Jesus Christ. As Harris writes, "I’ve come to learn that theology matters. It matters not because we want to impress people, but because what we know about God shapes the way we think and live. Theology matters because if we get it wrong then our whole life will be wrong."

Whether you are just exploring Christianity or you are a veteran believer finding yourself overly familiar and cold-hearted, Dug Down Deep will help you rediscover the timeless truths of Scripture. As Harris challenges you to root your faith and feelings about God in the person, work, and words of Jesus, he answers questions such as:

What is God like and how does he speak to me?What difference does it make that Jesus was both human and divine?How does Jesus’s death on the cross pay for my sins?Who is the Holy Spirit and how does he work in my life?

With grace and wisdom, Harris will inspire you to revel in the truth that has captured his own mind and heart. He will ask you to dig deep into a faith so solid you can build your life on it. He will point you to something to believe in again.

Author Bio:
Joshua Harris is senior pastor of Covenant Life in Gaithersburg, Maryland, which belongs to the Sovereign Grace network of local churches. A passionate speaker with a gift for making theological truth easy to understand, Joshua is perhaps best known for his runaway bestseller, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, which he wrote at the age of twenty-one. His later books include Boy Meets Girl, Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is), and Stop Dating the Church. The founder of the NEXT conferences for young adults, Joshua is committed to seeing the gospel transferred to a new generation of Christians. He and his wife, Shannon, have three children.

You can pick up a copy here.

Ben Arment shares a great story about an unlikely winner.

“At the Kentucky Derby in 2009, the absolute least-likely horse to win the race blew away the competition.

"Mine that Bird" had a long-standing losing streak. So he surprised everyone by pulling ahead of the pack and actually winning. "An impossible result," according to the announcer.

When the jockey was asked how the horse won, he said, "I rode him like a good horse ."

The answer from the jockey made me think of church and ministry.  We are not responsible for what we don’t have.  We are not responsible for not having enough gifting.  What we are responsible for is to do the best we can with what we’ve got.

We may not have the best of facilities or equipment, but we have to ride it like a good horse.  We may not have the greatest of ability in certain areas of our life, but we have to ride it like a good horse. 

Too often we tend to focus on the things that we cannot do much about.  We must ride like we are riding a good horse.  I am a firm believer in the Scripture that says, “When you are faithful in the least, I will make you ruler over much.”  If we do the best we can with what we have, God will give us more.  When we ride an unlikely horse like a good horse, God will make that horse a winner.

We must try to expand our abilities.  We must try to enhance what we have, but ultimately, it is in God’s hands to help us get to the next level.  If you feel incapable of greatness, know that the underdog wins often.  Do your best with what you have and God will give you increase.

Last night, we had a great time with special guest, Pastor Ron Woods. It amazes me how God works so perfectly. Pastor Ron shared a great message of encouragement to our leaders and then preached a great sermon to our congregation during service.

He shared from the story of Joseph and helped us understand that all the negatives in our life can work together for the positive if we will let it. He challenged us to let go of the disappointments, bitterness, unforgiveness and hurts and allow God to use us to touch other people. Pastor Ron challenged us to look forward as we follow God’s plan for RFA.

What a night! We had great attendance for both the leader’s dinner as well as for service. I am pumped about what God is doing in our church. 2010 is going to be an incredible year.

Sunday we will continue our rebuild series and talk about Rebuilding Lives. You don’t want to miss it. I believe it is a word from God for our church.

Please pray for Sonya, she will be having surgery Friday morning. We are believing God for good reports and a speedy recovery.