Too Much Luggage

We all know what it's like to haul too much luggage through the airport. We hope and pray that we won't get charged for a suitcase that weighs too much. Sometimes luggage can be such a hassle and almost get in the way of making a flight.

The same is true for our lives personally and as a community. We all have luggage that we haul around with us, whether good or bad. Sometimes people carry negative luggage of past hurts or sins. Sometimes people carry positive luggage of past successes. Sometimes churches can carry negative luggage from the past, and sometimes churches carry positive luggage from successes.

We know that negative luggage can hold us down and keep us from experiencing God's best for our future. Jesus died to set us free from that luggage. But often as churches grow older, the luggage of their past successes can hold them down too. We want to cling to the great things of the past, and find it more and more difficult to trust God for the future.

When Jesus sent out his followers two-by-two, he told them to leave their luggage behind. No money, no extra clothes, and no shoes. They had to leave what was comfortable and familiar behind, and trust God to fill them with new blessings and provision for the future.

I believe that God is sending us out into a new future together, and it is going to require us to pack light and pack smart. I believe that God wants to pour out new and fresh blessings on our community for a new day, but that is going to require us to let go of what we are comfortable with, let go of what we are familiar with, and then let God pour out new gifts for a new day, and create a new history and new memories together.

Be sure to come and stay connected over the next several weeks as we continue to reveal what our future together will look like.

I am so excited about what lies in store! I look forward to changing lives with you all!

Much grace and peace,
-Tim