21 Days at our church is such a focused, intentional time of seeking the Lord and I love it. Big things always happen in my life during this time and I can only contribute it to the discipline I inhabit for getting up early, seeking the Lord, and pushing earthly things away for a few weeks.
As I’ve done in the past, here are the notes from the short message given every morning. Short, but powerful. I hope you take time to scroll and find some nuggets of wisdom.
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Day 1 – Pastor Chris
{this was our Sunday service. I strongly encourage you to watch the full 40-something minute message by clicking here.}
Luke 9:57-62 – “As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
- Move on from old history
Isaiah 43:18-19 – ““Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
- Move on from old habits
Isaiah 58:6 – ““Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”
- Move on from old hurts
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”
“I can’t start the next chapter of my life if I keep rereading the last one.”
Matthew 4:17 – “From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
- Repent = change
- Near = He’s closer than we think
It’s time to get closer to God!
James 4:8 – “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
We have to take the first step then we’ll move closer
“if you want something you’ve never had, then you need to do something you’ve never done.”
It’s time to get honest with a friend!
Accountability
James 5:16 – “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
“if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.”
It’s time to tune into my purpose + passions!
Galations 6:3-4 – “If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else.”
“don’t go through life, grow through life.”
It’s time to get on doing something greater than myself!
Real joy comes from purpose + passion
Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
“if I dedicate my life to something greater than myself, God will fill my life with passion an adventure.”
I can’t go back and change the beginning, but I can start where I am and change the ending.
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Day 2 – Pastor Chris
Focus: dependence on Him. “I need you!”
Zechariah 4:1-6 – “Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I replied.
So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”
The candle is us. We constantly need stuff to have a flame. God put trees by the candle to keep a constant flow of food to feed the flame.
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Day 3 – Pastor Chris
Focus: surrender
You haven’t given your life to God until you’ve given everything to God.
What areas of my life do I still have control of?
Romans 12:1 – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
Real worship is when you surrender your life.
1 Timothy 2:8 – “Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.”
Hands lifted is the most vulnerable position, but it’s also the sign of a child that wants to be held.
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Day 4 – Hamp Green
Focus: worship
John 4:23 – “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”
You want great joy? Be a worshiper.
Psalm 34:1-3, 8 – “I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.” “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”
Worship isn’t based on how I feel, it’s based on His worth.
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Day 5 – Pastor Chris
Focus: humility
Psalm 51:16-17 – “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.”
God is attracted to honesty in our lives.
2 Chronicles 7:14 – “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Matthew 16:24 – “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
John 3:30 – “He must become greater; I must become less.”
We are in a pride infiltrated world.
“A man on his face can never fall from that position.” -Larry Stockstill
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Day 6 – Layne Schranz
Focus: listen
John 10:1-5, 14-16 – “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” “ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”
How does God speak to us?
- the Holy Spirit
- His Word (the Bible)
- other people
What is the noise that is keeping us from hearing God?
God’s word is the loudest voice He has.
The more we’ll read His word, the more we’ll hear his voice.
“God doesn’t need decision makers, he needs hearers.” -Larry Stockstill
What is Jesus saying about your relationship with him?
What is Jesus saying about your calling?
What is Jesus saying about your next step?
What is Jesus saying needs to be eliminated from your life?
What is Jesus saying about your family?
What is Jesus saying about our workplace?
What is Jesus saying about your friendships? Who do you need to get closer to? Who do you need to pull back from?
What is Jesus saying to you about JOY? How can you be more joyful?
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Day 7 – Pastor Chris
Focus: commit
Psalm 37:3-6 – “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. When we take delight in the Lord, He’ll give us the want.”
Commit means to pledge, devote, apply, give, dedicate, bind, obligate.
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It’s not too late to join us. I’d love to partner with you in prayer and help keep you accountable to your fast (whether from food to Netflix).