US

Here's something I know about us.

What our prayers have in common is that very often the center of them is ... us.

If God had answered all our prayers this past year, in many cases, the one who'd be better off would be ... us ... maybe a family member ... perhaps a few close friends ... but by-and-large, it'd be us who got blessed.  It'd be us who got the job.  It'd be us who got healed.  It'd be us who made ends meet.  It'd be us had good weather.  It'd be us who made it safely.  It'd be us who passed the test.  It'd be us who had clear skin.  It'd be us.

And I don't think we should stop praying for us -- I'm just saying that self-centered prayers, after a time, turn us into self-centered Christ followers.

But here's something else I know about us.

'We want to be part of something bigger than us.'

We want to be part of something bigger than us.  And to be part of something like that we have to pray bold prayers that aren't so much about us.

Over time in church life, what begins outward automatically starts to turn inward.  The natural slide and inclination of our lives is to turn the spotlight on us, rather than on a world walking toward eternity separated from Christ the way Jesus did.  If we aren't intentional about cranking the spotlight out where 'they' are, it almost certainly ends up turning itself to focus on us.

We can never let that happen at Journey Church.  We must remain passionate to pursue God's mission for our communities and our friends and the marketplace -- and not allow it to just be about us.

This I pray.

And be blessed.