Hold On and Cultivate

Hold on and Cultivate
A testimony from our sister church in Granger, Indiana. It was such a powerful truth, I wanted to share it with those who read my blog.

I've attended church most of my life. It was at GCC (Granger Community Church) that I experienced Jesus regularly at services. Incredible! Jesus is attractive. He attracts crowds.

Outside of services, I started to be intentional to read the Bible, pray, volunteer, and I found Jesus there too. Great!

Over time, the level of emotion I felt started to fade. It got stale. Something changed. It wasn't new. What had been incredible and great became same old stuff...sad. It kind of felt like something was missing.

It wasn't Jesus. He didn't change. It wasn't the church. Although every service is different, our message never changes. As Mark Beeson has said, all we ever talk about is "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus..."It was me.

I have watched dozens -no, hundreds- go through a similar pattern. They find services incredible! They take steps that are great! And then it starts fading. They sometimes go to other churches or try other things to get the emotions that are incredible and great again. Lots of times they don't bother. If people expect GCC (or any church) to be responsible for their experience with Jesus, they will be disappointed.

Seriously, aren't we, humans, the problem? Marriage, kids, friends, job, church, Jesus -- we simply like things to be new, and the more we experience something, the more conditioned we get to the emotions that come with it. We want incredible and great! That's not a bad thing.

It's about setting our expectations to reality, and then cultivating the experiences in those relationships to keep them fresh. Relationships worth holding onto, the ones that go the distance, the ones we invest the most in, are those that transition over an extended period of time. They are incredible and great!

Let that vine cling to me for safety. let if find a good and whole life with me, let it hold on for a good and whole life. Isaiah 27:5