OUR PASTOR

Debbie and I have been married 23 years and have watched our 3 baby boys grow up before our eyes. As they have grown we have seen many changes…
 
We have seen a change in their speech, they started out crying, they learned to laugh, and when they finally spoke their first word, we were so amazed, we wanted them to do it again and again. It wasn’t long when all we wanted them to do was shut up. They talked from the time they got up till the time they finally passed out in their beds. Then all of a sudden, like switch went off, they changed again; We couldn’t get them to talk unless we dragged it out of them.
 
We have seen a change in their clothes - from diapers to boxers, from OshKosh B’ Gosh,  to Oh my Gosh, what the heck are you wearing, to not wearing anything but Nike and then finally graduating to American Eagle.
 
We have seen a change in their teeth – they went from no teeth, to baby teeth, to losing teeth, to seeing how long they could go without brushing their teeth, to permanent adult teeth, to brushing the enamel off their teeth.
We have seen a change in their hair – they went from never combing their hair, to short neatly kept hair, to long hair and now back to uncombed short hair. I guess that is the style now.
 
We have seen a change in their transportation - They went from baby carriage, to walker, to tricycle, to big wheel, to training wheels, to bikes, to rollerblades and skateboards,  to their first car.
 
We have seen a change in their attitude about girls – They went from thinking girls were weird to getting weird feelings when they were around girls.
 
There are so many changes that have taken place as our children have grown up there is no way time or space could allow me to list them all. In the same way, as Christians we grow up in our relationship with God we see many changes.
 
We see changes in our hunger – Matt. 5:6 -  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. It is clear that nothing but a hunger and thirst for God can fill the longing of our soul. As we grow in Christ our appetite to spend time alone in God’s word and prayer should increase. The closer we get to God the more we hunger for greater intimacy with Jesus.
 
We see changes in our fellowship –  1 Cor 15:33 – Bad company corrupts good character. Once we are in Christ the old has gone and the new has come. We will have desire to reach out to the world but not be contaminated while we are in it.
 
We see changes in our fruit – Gal 5:16 – So I say, walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of our sinful nature. As we surrender the control of our actions to the spirit we will see the fruit of the spirit rather than the fruit of the flesh.
 
We see changes in our service toward others – Phil 2: 3, 4 - Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. One true sign of our growth is considering others more important than ourselves and using our gifts to edify and encourage others.
 
At GracePoint we believe God is not interested in man’s traditions or his religious rituals. We believe God is concerned with our relationship with him. He wants us to have an intimate relationship with him that grows into a greater maturity everyday!!!!
 
James tells us our life is but a mist – we are here for just a little while.. Time passes so quick doesn’t it? It won’t be long and we will be looking back on our life wondering where did it go….Will we be able to look back and say, I made the most of every opportunity God gave me to grow in my relationship with him? Will we be able to look at the positive changes God has made in our life as a result of our relationship with him???
 
"You are the way you are because that's the way you want to be. If you really wanted to be any different, you would be in the process of changing right now." -Fred Smith