Beep, Beep - How Can God Get Your Attention?
Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them (John 13:17)
Have you purchased the study guide and/or the book that we’ll be using for our churchwide Bible study? “What’s Next?” is the title of the book written by Chris Hodges. The book invites us to take a journey to grow deeper in our faith, find freedom, discover our purpose and make a difference. The discussion begins with a simple story of a courteous tap of the horn. While it can be extremely easy to generate a number of reasons for not participating in the 5-week study with statements such as ‘I have a standing appointment with a breakfast group,’ ‘I didn’t get anything out of the last class at church,’ ‘I probably won’t know any of the people in the class,’ or ‘I already know everyone in the class and…..’Have you considered the many ways that your presence and participation could be extremely helpful?
Most of us are always willing to “lend a helping hand.” If we ever see someone who is earnestly trying to accomplish a task and we possess the ability to be of assistance, we eagerly respond. Chris Hodges is the pastor of Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Alabama. Using the story of “The Cost of Following” from the book of Luke in which many who proclaim their willingness to follow Jesus, Chris highlights the importance of using our gifts rather than generating excuses. Although we often say that we will follow Jesus wherever He leads us, we present a list of “pressing priorities” that must be performed before we can begin our journey of discipleship. In response to one man who said ‘I will follow you,’ Jesus simply said ‘the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’ Perhaps, most startling of all phrases, Jesus says ‘let the dead bury their own dead’ to a man who wants to bury his father before following Him (Luke 9:57-62)!
In “What’s Next?” we are told that Jesus is continually inviting us to much more than we currently perceive. Regardless of our age or stage of life, there is so much more that we are called to do as followers of Jesus. One of the benefits of sharing the details of our journeys of faith is the tremendous encouragement that we can provide to others and the inspiring sense of purpose that we experience as our vitality is reaffirmed. There are people inside the church and even those who are simply near the church who are distracted, discouraged, disoriented and disappointed. Are you behind someone who needs to hear a gentle “beep, beep” to look up and get moving? Hopefully, there is someone behind you who is willing to gently tap their horn to nudge you to get moving.
Together, let’s pursue this 5-week journey together to explore and experience that ways that God is leading us forward to make a difference in the lives of those around us. We need you! God wants to lead you and God wants to use you! Beep, beep! We’ll see you in church and we’ll see you in class.
In Christ,
Jon McCoy
