Neil Montgomery

4:36 PM (21 minutes ago)

to me, Canaan

Well...we've survived another season of the fire hose of advertising. In the midst of it all, we celebrated the birth of our Savior and ushered in a New Year. The change of pace can be crazy but it has also brought moments of reflection.

I've reflected on another year of rich and meaningful relationships at GracePoint. Relationships that are deep because of the Spirit in each of us who know Jesus. It's been a time to think about my own abiding walk with the Lord too. I'm grateful that God continues to be patient when it comes to His continuing work on my own soul.

I have also been sucked into the vortex of all the chaos this holiday season...striving to find the balance between the world's version of Christmas and the churches. I think I blew it on a few gifts I bought for loved ones. When I read the advertisement, they sounded so great. But when my purchases arrived, several of my gifts failed to live up to their billing. It was rather disappointing.

Isn't that the way advertising goes? Rather than seeking to improve your life, most retailers are simply trying to separate you from your dollar. Hopefully we learn, as we move forward, how to read the fine print and know what we're getting into--saving much heartache and pain with future purchases.

I wonder if some of us come to faith in Jesus in a similar fashion. We have an idea of what it means to follow Jesus. But once we commit to being a Christian, many of us find ourselves disappointed, frustrated and confused. And I wonder if some of the reason is because we bought into an "idea" of what it meant to follow Jesus, but we didn't really read what the bible says about following Jesus. Which, by the way, isn't fine print, but rather bold print. And it's good news. When we follow Jesus His way...it leads to such a better experience.

I hope you'll join us at church on Sunday as we step back into our series on the book of James.

Happy New Year.