Since every sermon will in some way connect to our mission as a church, I have decided to make sermon summaries a part of my blog. Let’s begin.

As you know by now. Reality is, God is writing a story. It’s not one that’s already been written. We sit in the chapter between Jesus’s 1st and 2nd coming. The messiah dying on a cross for us, and the culmination of things at the end of Story.

As in any movie, before you have a Story you’ve got to have a central character. and that central character has to be involved in some conflict. Some tension that draws you in. The central character is Jesus of Nazareth and the recurring tension of the Story is religion.

Jesus was prophesied from the moment sin entered the world in Genesis 3:15. And Jesus is seated on the throne of the Kingdom in Revelation 21. Of course, God is truine, and they existed outside space/time for all eternity. All 3 persons play a pivotal role throughout the Story. Jesus is the central feature however, as he was sent by the Father for the solution to the Genesis 3 problem.

The tension is religion. It works against God’s love pursuit of mankind all throughout the Story. Religion is man’s attempt to balance or cancel out your bad deeds through good deeds. If I earn God’s love I have something to be prideful about. The result is ego and pride. You begin to judge those who don’t do like you do. They attacked Jesus in his day, and they are the reason so many can’t stand the church in our day.

John 8:1-11 was our passage. A classic face off of Jesus and Religion. These men were more concerned with being right than they were about this woman’s soul. Notice how Jesus attacked the religious leaders when it was clear this woman was guilty of sin. Jesus loved this woman, and knew what she needed: Grace. Then Jesus led her out of her life of sin because her sin was destroying her potential in the Story of God.

This story captures in all: You need to receive God’s Grace through Jesus Christ to begin a relationship with God, and in the midst of this relationship a conversation begins where you learn your unique purpose in life. Your role in the Story.

The dust has settled and numbers have been crunched. Its not all about the numbers, but it is all about the RIGHT numbers. TWENTY people placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. 20!!! What? There are churches that do not see 1 in an entire year. This is a move of God. Add that to the 15 during our Prelaunch Gatherings, and you are a part of something special Vinings Church.

And the best is yet to come.

50 people were serving on our Ministry Teams. People walked in telling me “Justin, the parking lot is BLUE.” Family ministry Children’s environments were explosive and creative, thanks to volunteers. Our signs were insane. And the Adult environment was… Epic! To give you a perspective of the level of detail our ministry teams put into this, the auditorium smelled of coffee! Clapping and cheering rocked the auditorium.

We told the Story of God. And elevated the central character in the Story, Jesus. 20 salvations. God is using the work of your hands, Vinings, and next week will be better.

Good News, our third Sunday we are shutting down church and holding a serveCOBB event for the community to come to. Home Depot is passing out 10,000 serveCOBB cards for the October 2nd event. They will send 40 volunteers to serve with us. Unbelievable. Mark your calendars for serveCOBB Oct 2nd, our 3rd Sunday in existence.

The good news is we are under construction. Check back soon and this site will be new and improved.

I love blogging because it affords another avenue to communicate God’s word and potential you have in him. Once a week isnt enough. In fact I hope to let the blog become a way of continuing the sermon all week long. Be it points I had to cut due to time, or points I think of in retrospect. Between blogging and twitter, we can focus on our role in the Story of God all week long, not just on Sunday mornings.

Sunday mornings begin Sept 18th! Been waiting 12 years for that day.

Believe it or not, the Bible says we are in a battle while we are on the Earth, and ultimate rest will come when our time is over. Meanwhile the battle we fight is to advance the Kingdom of God with our gifts and passions, maintaining great faith in God to do great Kingdom things through our deeds. Thats our individual, unique role in the story of God.

This post is to help us better understand the role of the angels and demons the Bible says are all around us even though we can’t see them. We cannot see angels, but it is enough that they can see us. Psalm 34:7 says “the angel(s) of the Lord surround those who fear Him.” And it doesn’t stop there. God promises “they will ‘deliver’ us.” Wow. What a promise.

Jesus promises in John 16:33 in this world we will have trouble, but to take heart because He has over come the world. When you are advancing the Kingdom of God using your gifts and doing what you are passionate about, you will have trouble. Its a promise from our Savior. Remember, now is not the time to rest, you are in the battle. But you have been given an even greater promise. The One who has overcome the world that brings you trouble (I and II Peter tell us Satan is allowed to run things behind the scenes in this world for a time while he waits for as many as possible to come to saving faith), leads the angels who surround you and promises they will deliver you.

Take risks to advance the Kingdom of God. Go for it. You have been promised deliverance in the battle.

My wife Elizabeth and I love watching epic adventure movies. During extremely intense moments I often turn to my wife and say “He doesn’t die.” She says “How do you know?” “Because there’s no way they paid this big name actor for the movie only to kill him off midway through the movie!”

We’ve been given the promise of Romans 8:28  ”God works for those …who are called according to his purpose (Kingdom)” and Matthew 6:33 which was spoken by Jesus right in the middle of a section on not worrying: “Seek the Kingdom as your first priority, and all the things of life will be given to you.”

This is God telling you “You don’t die. There’s a good ending to the Story.”

The problem is you aren’t playing your role in the Story. You aren’t pursuing purity, praying Kingdom-centered prayers, and taking bold steps of faith for God to use you for his Kingdom. You aren’t doing this because you are afraid of losing something important to you. Afraid of losing something inside your kingdom.

Its not up to us to determine what we lose or what trials come our way in the Story. We’ve been promised a good ending to the Story. It’s just up to us to play our role in the Story. To use the gifts and things given to us to lead people in our generation to Jesus. And Charles Stanley is fond of saying “God takes full responsibility for the life fully devoted to him.”

So what are you afraid of? Give up whatever it is. The Story is waiting for you.

This is a post to all of those who think their place in this world is small. There is blessing in the small. God says “I will bless those who fear the Lord, both small and great.” Psalm 115:13. Nothing is small with God. He uses those who are insignificant to accomplish His great purposes on the Earth. His Kingdom agenda for all mankind.

I look at everyone on the basis of their potential. As does God. Problem is, most people look at themselves on the size of their position. Among those who honor the Lord there are small and there are large. But all who have faith are blessed with the power of God to create Kingdom impact…within their position.

I propose a new “Big.” “Big” is Kingdom Impact. No matter what place you hold in this world. If you are believing God to use you in the lives of the people in your life to lead them closer to Jesus, that is Big. God does not want us to use the eyes of the world, but his eyes. Kingdom impact is “big”, not small or large.