Celebration Midwest 2010

Like most people, I am inspired when others make sacrifices for others. Recently, 23-year-old Megan Moss caught the attention of the St. Louis area with her deteriorating heart condition. However, on April 18, she received a miracle heart transplant that saved her life. What a story! But let's not forget, she got to live because someone else died.
This story for me communicates a Kingdom reality that I want to encourage you to pursue. Consider John 12:24, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
You have a choice to make in your life. You can hold on to your life (these 80-90 years) and your life is all you have. However, you can invest your life (die to yourself) and it will bear much fruit...30, 60 or even a 100-fold.
If you belong to Abundant Grace Church, you have an opportunity in front of us with Celebration Midwest to make an investment that will require personal sacrifice, but if we make it, will produce life in others. Here's how:
1) Sign up for Celebration Midwest.
2) Give money so that others can go. I would suggest paying the amount it would cost you to go and someone else. Cost varies (see brochure), but a single adult would pay $110 and a family of four would pay $330. Even if you can't make it to Celebration yourself, I would encourage you to give as an expression that we are all in this together. You can simply place "abungrach100" in the memo of your check.
In order to do both 1 & 2, it requires a desire in you to die to yourself. There are perhaps other things you would rather do the weekend of June 4-6. You will have to die to your own preferences, to join a community vision. Or maybe, you have other ideas of how you want to use your money and to give to this would require real sacrifice. I do not want to minimize the sacrifice. It is real and if it's producing fruit, it's usually significant. So I don't want to minimize the sacrifice, but I do want to highlight the benefit. Dying to yourself WILL breed life in others. It's a kingdom principle that will never go void.
If you want your life to be about more than just your life, I want to encourage you in this principle and to practice it today!


(Shamelessly stolen and modified from Bryan Mowrey.)

Week of Prayer

We are praying this week during the evenings from 7-8.  We are praying for our connections in the city of Fort Scott, outreach to the East side of Fort Scott, Church planting in the top 100 cities and working into Ethiopia.

These are some big vision items that we feel God has given us to go for.  We are taking simple steps as we seek God and hear from him what to do next.

The men met last night and had a great time.  Guys were really going for it.  We felt God raising our faith to meet the agenda He has set for us.

The teens are meeting tonight at Max and Karen's to pray.

Wednesday our Small groups will be meeting.

Thursday is time for families to stay home and pray together.

Friday the whole church will gather to worship and pray.  I encourage you to consider fasting from food or activity through the day and set your heart to seek God.  We are planning to do great things for God and expect great things from God.