I have an 11 year old Hyundai Sonata, it has 170K miles, runs like a top, and… it’s paid for! But I figured it was about time to take it in and have a mechanic look at it… 700 dollars later it still runs like a top! But, apparently, I needed a whole lot of little things that will help me go another 100K miles, so I’m glad I took it in.

It made think about my spiritual walk and how, over time, I start to slip a little, and a little more and before to long I’m not living a Godly life at all, so I thought I might need a tune up…so might you!

So here are a few tune-up questions we should ask ourselves as believers:

Do I obey the Word of God? We can’t obey it if we don’t know what it says. So first, we need to read it. Are we keeping His commandments?

Do I believe the Word of God? Pastor Rick tells me that I only believe the parts of the Bible I do. Am I doing what God commands me to do?

Do I reject this world system that is hostile to God? When a person becomes a Christian, he or she sees this world for what it is, because his or her priorities have changed.

Do I eagerly await Christ’s return? If we truly are followers of Christ, we will look forward to the day when He will come again.

Do I see a decreasing pattern of sin in my life? That is not to say true Christians will not sin, because we will. But there is a difference between continuing in sin and trying to sin less and less.

Do I love others? Jesus said, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). If we are children of God, then we will love His people, and we will love to be around them.

You might be thinking, So am I hitting the Mark. Well not really, sin does mean “miss the mark”. So, there is always room for improvement. That is why it’s good to periodically tune up our lives to see whether we are doing what we ought to do.  Look, here’s the deal… we can fool people all day long, they only see us a couple hours a day, we can even fool our families… want to get really scared… if you’re a Pastor you can even fool your congregation but, in the end,  we don’t stand before any of those people, we stand before GOD who knows who we really are!!  You can’t hide

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,  But the night shines as the day;  The darkness and the light are both alike to You. Psalm 139:7-12

We love you all

 

Life is Changing

"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1

A car cannot stay in first gear – unless it really isn't going anywhere anyway. And neither can we. You've got to make a shift in order to move upward and onward into the high calling of your life's noble purpose. God has placed eternity in our heart, and earthbound dreams simply cannot satisfy us any longer. It's time we learn how to handle life's surprising turns without stripping our gears.

Sometimes to shift us, God has to sift us. His purpose is to remove the chaff, and to reveal the gold. Webster's defines shift as "changing the place, position, or direction of something." Have you experienced any shift lately? A shift in place, in position, or in direction? If so, how are you handling it? Are you blowing a gasket, or going with the flow?

The wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, wrote, "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven." In other words, shift happens. The issue is how we respond when it comes. The un-shifted life is untested, and therefore unproven. As such it is unreliable. And for that reason it is often unnoticed and unused.

Life is change, and to refuse to change is to refuse to grow. Sometimes the change is welcomed, often times it is not – but either way, it comes at us without prejudice and requires that we respond.  Ideally we want to respond in positive, proactive, and purposeful ways. Those who do will grow stronger, better, wiser, and richer. Those who refuse to embrace change will not only fail in life, ultimately they will perish.

If we will not shift when God is moving us to do so, if we will not change our ways, then our only alternative is to become shiftless – people who are lacking in resourcefulness, ambition, or incentive;"Moab has always taken it easy," the Lord said to Jeremiah, "lazy as a dog in the sun; never had to work for a living, never faced any trouble, never had to grow up, never once worked up a sweat. But those days are a thing of the past, I'll put him to work at hard labor. That will wake him up to the world of hard knocks. That will smash his illusions" Jeremiah 48:11-12, The Message

This seems to describe so many in our society today, especially those who have grown up pampered in the freedom that was purchased and provided by the hardship and heartbreak of others. We must take heed that we do not take for granted the liberty and abundance of life we as a nation have so richly enjoyed, lest we unexpectedly lose what we so carelessly hold.

There have been numerous nations throughout history who regarded themselves as invincible until they fell from grace.

We would be great fools to think it could not happen to us.

We love you all!

Saddleback Corona

This weekend, don't miss special music by The Ineloquent.  They are AWESOME get to Church early (9am & 11am service times) so you don't miss out on any of the incredible Worship together. 

http://www.theineloquent.com/audio-player

Hi Everyone,

I just got off a conference call tonight and Pastor Rick is visiting all 4 campuses tomorrow (February 14, 2010).  He will be at the Corona Campus at the end of the 10:30am service to say a quick HI to everyone and then back on the road. 

Please let everyone you can know, so we can show our Sr. Pastor how much we appreciate him and his Ministry. 

God Bless & Happy Valentines Day.
Pastor David Williamson

The 2010 Saddleback Church Men's retreat at Murrietta Hot Springs this year was a great reminder of how important it is for men to come together to lift each other up, encourage one another, keep each other accountable, to share the love of Christ, the grace and forgiveness that only Jesus can offer.  I heard story after story that what was being said was exactly what that person needed to hear.  Lives were changed.  Soul's were saved, marriages renewed, and Dad's returned to their children with new life on what it truly means to be a Father.  We had fourteen guys that we went up with and three of those men were baptized to renew there faith with God.  God is at work in Corona and has mighty plans for those who are called according to his purpose.