Remember the image of the trash cans? You can drag yours around with you if you want. I’ve decided to let Jesus be in charge of them.

Download A New Beginning 3: Let Go

Download A New Beginning 2: Where To Get Help When You’re Hurting

And here is the video Pastor Seth showed before the sermon:

or watch it on Godtube.com

DRA’s come rolling out of our hearts like hot lava out of a volcano, with heat and fire. Negative, cynical, critical, can’t do mentality, are some of our favorites. You run into them every day. Listen to parents at school, overhear office talk in the break room, the chatter during phone calls and e-mail, and the rumblings of your own heart. They flow so easily.

DRA’s are motivation killers to the people who want to make a difference. DRA’s are like wagon trains in the Old West. Once word spread that a new wagon train was leaving St. Louis and heading west, wagons showed up from everywhere. DRA’s beget more DRA’s.

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Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you.”

Jesus clearly says to put Him and His cause first. Unless we do that our “autopilot” will be, “Me First.”

Though virtually anyone with a pulse will see through the raw self-centeredness of “me first,” we still live that way, most of the time, most of the day.

It’s 2:00 in the afternoon. I’ve had one meeting, one appointment, two phone calls and answered ten e-mails. I can only think of two times today that I’ve consciously stopped myself mid-stream and wondered, “What does this person’s life look like to them, right now? What is it they would love to hear from me?”

It’s much more “human” (sadly) to think first about what my life looks like to me, right now.

As parents it is imperative that our children see that our lives are first committed to a cause bigger than ourselves and our families. They need to see we are first committed to Christ. They need to see that our lives matter most when invested in people and His kingdom. Without this, our kids will wrongly assume that they are first, the “center of the universe.”

This is not a call to living irresponsibly with our God-given responsibilities like our families. It is a call to intentionally live out our “first” commitments to Christ and His kingdom. Sometimes what is really first is seen in our time use; other times what is really first is seen in our attitudes, what we get excited about and what we get sad about.

Several years ago a friend of mine asked me, “Hey, Seth, do we have a cosmetic surgeon in the church?”
“I don’t think so. Why?”
“I feel like I’ve got a big tattoo that says, ‘Center of the World’ tattooed on my (backside). I’d like to have it removed!”

Question #1: What is really, really first in your life?

Bonus question: How would your kids answer question #1?

Feel stuck? There are times in everyone’s life when we get stuck. We’ve done everything we know to do. No change. God uses those times to draw us to Him. He desires that we know Him, trust Him, and utilize His power in our lives.

Trouble is, until we’ve been stuck long enough, we won’t really go to Him. Even if we did we have no idea how to utilize His power. I invite you to my new message series, A New Beginning. In eight weeks, we hope to get you “un-stuck” with a fresh start!

Here are the topics we will be covering: Read the rest of this entry »

Seth’s sermon notes:

Download Crucified, Dead and Buried

The Cross of Christ

On Good Friday we remember the sacrifice Jesus took on our behalf. Jesus told us why He came…

“For the Son of Man did not come to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” –Mark 10:45

He gave His life, offered it up willingly and freely for us. Read the rest of this entry »

Thank you Seth for this message on trials from John 18-19

Listen to the sermon here:

Download Trials - John 18:28 - 19:16