Message from the Worship Pastor
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Who You Are
In April, Dave Ramsey quoted Lou Holtz during the Town Hall for Hope, and I'd like to pass this quote on to you: "The only thing that's going to change you from where you are now to where you'll be five years from now are the people you meet, the books you read, and the dreams you dream."So, cutting right to the chase of something on my mind lately: what are you reading? What are you feeding your mind and your heart with daily? And, as the quote indicates, we're not talking about the Lincoln Journal Star, or Sports Illustrated, or Real Simple. What books are you reading?
I know we talk a lot about reading your Bible, but think for a minute about this. If we are to become more Christ-like each day, what better way to get there than by reading the written Word each day? We have -- in our backpack or sitting on our shelf or nightstand at home -- the inspired first-person and eyewitness accounts of how God has shown Himself to us throughout history! And every time we read it, we learn more about who Christ is, and we learn more about ourselves. If we would read the Bible each day, how could we help from becoming more like Him?
There are also tons of great books out there to challenge and encourage you. Pick up a book on faith (The Faith by Chuck Colson), or worship (Praise Habit by David Crowder), or missions (Just Courage by Gary Haugen), or answering tough questions (The Reason for God by Timothy Keller), or relationships (Sex God by Rob Bell). Lou is right: the books you read are a huge part of who you will be five years from now.
We're in the middle of looking ahead as a church. What will we look like five years from now at New Cov? How will the community and the world be different because of our efforts? How many lives will we impact, and how will we do that?
Now is the time to ask God to give us dreams of what might be, of how we might serve Him in some incredible ways as New Cov continues to follow Christ.
Please pray for our church as we move forward in this. And get ready… who we are is always changing. My hope is that we become more Christ-like as we bring Christ to the world.