This is a traditional Sunday for us to use a Max Lucado story to prepare our heart for the Love Feast Service which will happen later in the evening. Join us as we consider the pain, the sacrifice and the brokenness caused by our sin and Jesus’ act of forgiveness for all of us on the cross.

When we think of followers, we think of people who are not really special or important). Yet following is a skill. What is it you are following? Is it accounts on social media, political candidates, Jesus Christ or something or someone else? It is interesting when you go to the grocery store all the products are spaced at specific places on the shelves. Companies purchase specific spaces so you see their products in the best light. Restaurants give you mints with your bill so you tip better. We are under the influence of someone or something. Whatever gets your attention will influence your direction. What this does is puts the wrong person in control influencing your life. Let’s not get so caught up in becoming someone else that you forget you are someone very special already in God’s eyes.

Ever see the beginning of an animated movie? Animators sketch various pictures in a scene and then have “inbetweeners” make the sketches before and after their picture to fill out the scene. God is telling (writing) a story, and he has invited you and me to be in it. This story has some key frames, a dilemma (or the problem), the development (the path that unfolds) and a destiny. Join us we look at this pattern and consider how it plays out in our own lives.

Do you know the difference between being a Christian and a “Christ follower?” A Christian has a Bible (and may occasionally read it), goes to church (sometimes), and gives to the church (when it is convenient). But a follower is much different. Join us as we discuss the characteristics of a follower and consider what Jesus was really asking when He invited people to follow Him.

Our purpose comes not from anything on the outside but rather from the affirmation we get on from inside of ourselves (from God). No amount of external success can make up for internal emptiness. It causes internal pain, which allows us a chance to plan, thus showing us our purpose. So often our purpose can be found in a crevice of our pain. It is finding something lonely and helping it be loved. It is helping something hurting and to be whole. Purpose is found not in our looking for attention but by our paying attention to the needs of the world around us. So join us! What is our pain and our plan? What is the pain in our community? How can we address it?