As we approach the coming holidays, I am reminded that trusting Christ and believing the Gospel is sometimes hard especially where our sense of entitlement and the obvious temptation to materialism is concerned.  With the use of social network systems and relational technology our world is becoming increasingly self-absorbed.  Maybe we should ask ourselves why we are so interested in the drama that foolishly gets defined as the most important thing in our lives.  It isn’t that the Lord does not care for the little things.  In fact, He is the creator of ALL things.  In His loving wisdom we can discern the difference between going overboard with judgments and opinions and the Holy Spirit led assessment of what Jesus is doing and how we are used by Him in the process. 

Maybe it is time to ask each other, What are you doing and why are you doing it?  Better yet, Who are you doing that with and for?  Recently I’ve been asking Jesus almost moment by moment what would please Him as He leads C3… how and what can we pray for Him to accomplish, fulfilling all He desires for and through us as a Church Body? 

My hope is that we let the Prayer Life Conference this weekend be a catalyst for the entire month to teach us the importance of prayer and how it builds our relationships with God and each other.  If you have not read Paul Miller’s book, "Learning To Pray In A Distracting World," please do so. By His Spirit, we have been given the ability to say no to self-centered living and yes to a Biblical-sacrificial life.

The leaves have turned and are falling, yet even as these hints of seasonal death are all around me, I’m unusually energized and full of life… maybe that is the way I should be with Jesus.  Although I’m in the midst of the storm He reminds me it is only a "tempest in a teapot" and "His eye is on the Sparrow"!  He holds the little things so I can look for larger things, like care for the poor and needy, standing against injustice and persecution, etc…  We can be more generous because our God is so generous to us.

Blessings and deep love as we,

Worship, Care and Serve,

Scott