This morning I would like to challenge every one of us to let go of a sanitized Christianity and get back to the powerful, raw, and ancient faith that chooses revolution over compromise, peril over safety, and spiritual passion over luke-warm and watered-down religion.

Sadly, many of us in the American church have come to value safety and comfort so much that we forfeit our calling.  We tell ourselves that if we go to church, give our money, and belong to a life group, we’ve satisfied God’s requirements for us.  After all, we’re good people.  Busy people.  Doing things kind of people. People who love our families and provide for them.

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Big idea

We live in a world in which unprecedented prosperity exists alongside desperate poverty.  God is mobilizing his church to bring hope to a world in despair.

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When you dial the telephone, do you ever dial seven numbers randomly and expect to get the person that you want to talk to on the other end? No! You always dial seven specific numbers in a specific order don’t you? When you drive out of your house to work or the store do you ever randomly choose just any ole road? No, you specifically chose certain roads to take you to your desired destination.

 When I was kid, my best friends mom sent his dad out to get milk at the local grocery store two miles away. His dad left and didn’t come back for 3 hours and he came back without the milk. He had forgotten the reason why he left in the first place.

Focus matters! Focus is necessary for us to do anything. Everything that we do requires focus. Right now you are focusing on my words. If you stop focusing, you will leave here without remembering anything. If you cook, it takes focus. If you carry on a meaningful conversation with someone, it takes focus. If you garden, it takes focus. If you drive it takes focus. Without focus we cannot achieve anyting. So what?

Many of us live our lives without any focus. and yet we expect as we get older to get better, grow closer to God, become who God created us to be, but without focus none of us can do that!  Read the rest of this entry »