- Yesterday was a fantastic start to the gathering of our toys for the “Turn Around Toys” mission! As you can see (and this isn’t all of it) people brought tons of toys for underprivileged and impoverished kids right here in North Carolina.
BTW, why are we starting right here instead of heading for Russia on the next plane out? Well, it’s because there’s an order to missions—an order for each of us as we start our mission to be witnesses for Jesus throughout our lives. It’s found in the book of Acts—Acts 1:8 says, “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” You see the order there? Jerusalem is where it all began, and it moved out from there. So, what’s our Jerusalem (and, if you’re reading this blog from around the world—what’s yours?)? Ours happens to be Southeast Charlotte and Northern South Carolina (Fort Mill area). That’s where we need to start meeting needs and sharing the gospel. From there we (Impact Church) plan on moving out as God continues to enable us to. And that’s one of the very many reasons why—even though God is doing some amazing things right now at Impact—we believe our best days are yet ahead of us!
- Yesterday we were in Luke chapter 7 in our series through the gospel entitled: Rx—God’s Prescriptions for Abundant Living. The first part of the chapter tells of the amazing faith of a gentile. Here’s a guy who had very little to go on yet still believed HUGE in the power and person of Jesus! Think about it:
- He was not one of God’s chosen—The Jews
- He did not follow the Jewish religion
- He wasn’t even religious!
- He wasn’t yet a Christ Follower
Still, this man had faith that would put mine to shame! It’s a fascinating study on faith that I highly encourage you to do. If you want the podcast, it will be out later today and you can listen to it here, or go to the iTunes store, type Rob Singleton in the search window and click on Impact Church. Then scroll down and find the message entitled, Healing Faith.
- For those of you who were there. Why not study the five characteristics of extraordinary faith in a little more detail this week. Here they are again if you didn’t get them all:
- Extraordinary Faith Will Cause us to Love Across All Boundaries.
- Extraordinary Faith Will cause us to be Passionately Involved in Ministry.
- People with Extraordinary (powerful) Faith come to Jesus Humbly.
- Extraordinary Faith always leads to Generosity
- Extraordinary Faith Trusts in Christ Alone!
See the great news there? It’s not about getting in the lotus position and clearing your mind of all doubt. Amazing faith is not about grunting out or yelling “I Believe!” a thousand times or until you lose your voice. It’s actually a whole lot more simple than that—rather like the faith of a child.
- Exciting things are coming up at Impact. We already have an amazing Christmas Eve planned! It will be so powerful that I would clear your calendar now and plan on getting everyone you know to one of two services at Cuthbertson High School Christmas Eve. We will give more details as we draw nearer, but I wanted you to plan for it NOW. It’s that awesome!
- Don’t forget to bring your toys (new or gently used) again this week for Turn Around Toys. We will also be announcing more details about the event where all these toys will be given to the children. And “Yes,” you can be a part of that too!