ELEVATE - Christ’s Church Leadership Blog

Two weeks ago, I had the type of moment every small group leader hopes for. Our group decided back in January that each couple would take a few chapters from the book of Genesis each week and then report back to the group with the highlights. It has been a great and rewarding change of pace for us from what we generally do.

On this particular night, I had to show up about 30 minutes late (thanks to a meeting a church). When I walked in, one couple had a PowerPoint presentation hooked up to the television with maps and family trees (or wreaths, as we found in Genesis!) and the other two couples had notes that they had written from research of their chapters. Not only were they reading, they were studying the Bible!

During our group conversations, it has been exciting to hear these young couples talk about how Genesis relates to the other passages they are reading in their ABF classes or personal study time.

But it gets even better! During halftime of a recent basketball game in the church league, our team had the “huddle”, which is a halftime devotion with both teams. Two guys on this team are in my small group and it was great to hear them relate the story of Joseph to each of us needing to trust God. It made me proud to listen to them share this with these other players.

It is one thing to talk about it in small group, but something else to see that it made an impact and connected to their life. Our small group has literally gone from connecting to growing to serving!

-David Lawson, Executive Minister

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For months I have been challenged by that word… convicted by that word… led by that word… inspired by that word.

God has been calling me to understand what it means so that I will reflect it in my life, so that I can better understand who He is and what my purpose in life is all about.

To be honest… I struggle with the word surrender. It runs opposite of my personality. I want to control my world. I want to dictate what happens around me. I want to have the ultimate say about my life. I don’t want to give up… I don’t want to surrender. I don’t want to relinquish control.

But here is what I have found as God has revealed its meaning to me through life, scripture, and friends. I’ve found freedom.

“How can you find freedom when you surrender? Isn’t freedom pretty much the opposite of surrender?”

Yes… and no.

If you have ever taught your kids to ride a bike, then you may already understand this principal. It always starts the same. They want to fight your help. They don’t want your hand on their back or on the handle bars. They are confident that they can do it alone. But you insist, because you have seen, or even experienced, what the maiden voyage on a two wheeled bike is like. So a tug of war ensues. You run down the street trying to let them go, but because they are fighting against you, you can’t let them take off.

You stop and remind them to quit fighting you, to quit struggling against you. You reaffirm that you want them to feel the wind in their face, but if they don’t let you lead, the journey is going to be tough and could end in disaster.

You try once more… but again, they fight for control.

You stop… you get down on your knees… you look them in their eyes and simply say, “I love you. There is nothing more I want right now than to see you soar. To see you speed off down the street at full speed. I want to help make that happen as badly as you do. Trust me. Let me steer the bike. And I promise you will experience one of the greatest freedoms you have ever felt.”

A bit dramatic? Maybe. But we have a loving Father who is saying the same thing to us. “You want to really be free? Surrender. Give up. Quit fighting me. Put your life in my hands. Allow me to guide you. Quit struggling and I will show you true freedom.”

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
-1 Peter 1:6-7

-Jason Cullum, Lead Pastor

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Welcome to Elevate, the leadership blog from Christ’s Church. In the coming days you’ll see posts from Jason Cullum (Lead Pastor) as well as David Lawson (Executive Minister) along with periodic posts from other members of the Christ’s Church leadership team. These posts will share insights into the church, news and updates as well as various articles and nuggets of insight to lift you up and encourage you throughout your day. We invite you to join the conversation at any time by posting comments. You can also subscribe to the “Elevate Blog RSS Feed” or the “Elevate Blog Email” and receive email updates of new posts.

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