Pastor Aubrielle's Blog

As Jason and I are about to have our first baby we have been planning everything in our life out to a T. Every day when I leave for work, we have a plan about what we will do if I go into labor while I am at work. Included in the plan are how I will get to the hospital, where Jason will meet me, who will pack and bring our things that we need to the hospital and most importantly, where we will stop along the way for me to get food.

We aren’t typically this organized. In fact before we were pregnant you could walk into our house at any time and find bills and papers lying everywhere. We make plans last minute and play everything by ear. We just hang out and go with the flow, but there is something about this new little person coming into this world that makes us want to plan ahead so that we don’t miss anything.

I was thinking today about how our relationship with the Lord is very similar. Many times we go through life with no plan, no structure, and no organization because we aren’t really expecting anything great to happen. We would love it if God visited us but we really aren’t expecting Him to.

As the summer quickly approaches, I would encourage you in two areas. Number one, expect God to do something great in your life. Expect to know Him more, to hear Him more and to be used by Him more. And number two, plan for your expectation. If you want God to do something great in your life, plan for that. Read your word, pray, repent for areas of sin, make sure you get to summer camp and be ready when God comes to visit and change you this summer.

Jason and I have been expecting this little baby boy to come for 10 months and have gotten everything done so that we are ready for when he comes. I challenge you to expect God to do something great in your life this summer and then prepare for Him to come and visit you.

Today I am thinking about Mark 28:19.  It says “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father…” What strikes me as I am pondering this scripture for the millionth time is that He tells us to MAKE disciples.  So many times as Christians we try to find disciples.  We invite someone from work or school to church and if they don’t fit into our church “mold” then we go try to find one who will.  But we are missing the point.  Non Christians don’t fit into our Christian box.  Many times they are uncouth, unreligious and unconventional.  But that’s ok. 

In Matthew 4:18-19 Jesus says to his future disciples “Come and follow me. And I will make you fishers of men.” They didn’t have to do anything to come.  Jesus didn’t ask them to change clothes, cut their hair or change the way they talked he simply called them as they were that moment.

Making a disciple, like making anything great, takes time.  It doesn’t happen overnight, it doesn’t happen because you brought them to an illustrated sermon one night, and it doesn’t happen because you handed them a touch card at school one day.  It is a long process that takes time and energy.  You have to keep reaching out to “The One”  over and over and over until they become who God wants them to be.  Think back to who reached out to you and discipled you, someone who didn’t let you go just because you didn’t want to come to church anymore.  They didn’t give up on you.  Now is your chance to be that for someone else.  They desperately need you, even if they don’t know it.  Don’t let go of them.