It’s good to be back in Medina. You are my extended family and I treasure our relationship. Thank you SO MUCH for the POUNDING. I’ve never been so POUNDED in all my life. I will never forget your generosity in giving me this past summer to spend with my family. Looking back, it was (without a doubt) the best summer of my life!
I feel like I addressed and met all three of my Sabbatical Goals and came back with new personal goals. The most significant thing to come out of this summer was a new PASSION for the Lord.
Now that were back in the School year, it’s time to get back into the grove of things. I want to encourage you to renew your Commitment to the Lord and His Church. Fall is a great time to get back into a routine that nourishes your spiritual life.
There are a couple of ways to do that:
1. Get back into the habit of having a daily quiet time, but PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE… don’t be legalistic about it. Don’t do it because you feel that you HAVE TO… do it because you WANT TO. Use the time to fall more in Love with Christ and if you feel like your love is cold and your just going through the motions, ASK God to help and dare to TRUST Him with your relationship.
2. When you pray… LISTEN more than you TALK. Most people see prayer as simply talking to God, but that’s only half the equation. I’ve notice that the more spiritual a person is, the less time they spend talking and the more time they spend listening to God. Sometimes the reason people spend more time talking than they do listening is that they really don’t want to give God an opportunity to SPEAK into their lives… but that’s where the POWER comes from! If God spoke the entire universe into existence can you imagine what He can do in your life if you allowed Him just a few minutes to speak into your life!
3. Start reading the Book of Romans again. It’s been two months since we’ve been in the Book of Romans and now would be the perfect time to refresh or get caught up in the sermon series. You can go to our website: www.medinaumc.org to listen/download the podcasts of the past messages.
4. Get caught up on the Roman Road Scripture Memory. I have been so impressed on how some of you have committed God’s Word to your heart. The Scriptures that we memorized so far as a congregation have been (1) All Have Sinned -Romans 3:23 (2) The Consequences of Sin –Romans 6:23 (3) Christ Paid The Penalty –Romans 5:8 and then the last one that we have yet to do (4) Salvation through Christ –Romans 10:9
5. If your not part of small group…. PLEASE consider joining one. Now that we have THE CORE, we have NUMEROUS small group opportunities. Men, Women, and Youth Bible Studies, etc. Just ask!
6. Finally, RENEW the commitment you made when you joined with this fellowship. To support the Church with your (1) Prayers, (2) Presence, (3) Gifts, (4) Service, and (5) Witness.
Keep the Faith,
Bill Stegemueller