My Heart Alive

I was thinking about how much effort I put into making sure our Remnant services are amazing and God reminded me of a little lesson he's been teaching me.
He wants me to spend the energy getting the church, which is his people, ready for service to their world, instead of just getting the service ready for the people. I believe that this shift MUST take place in our hearts before it makes its way into our services. We have to become disciples that are putting time into the unglorious but so powerful quiet moments in the secret places with God.

I want our services to be amazing, but I don't want the end to be an amazing service...but to have a system that helps us to move people closer towards Christ in their 'own' day-to-day lives.

We need to be asking more discipleship questions like: "what are you doing to grow spiritually outside of Remnant?" or "what is making your heart more passionate for Christ?" This helps people realize that attendance doesn't do the whole work. Its a small part in fact. Most of the greatness in our spiritual strength WILL NOT come solely from a service we attended. Thats the gasoline on the slow embers that you keep creating daily. Without that, I'm only going to soak ashes in your heart. Ashes aren't good for making a fire or for having any power to change the temperature of a room.

We need to see our spiritual lives in this way. Am I creating more and more 'wood, sticks, & paper' for God to light, pour his gas on & use to brighten the world, or am I bringing old ashes that are all burned out?

You have to chop the trees down, put them in the fireplace & get them going...services are just to add fuel to the existing flame & then you are responsible for keeping it going!!!