Planting The Roots

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

When people talk about having information shoved down your throat like a fire hose, that is how this weekend has felt, except for me it’s been less information and more experiences. When I landed in the Philippines just a little over a week ago one of the first things I was told was I would probably be asked to preach one of coming Sundays. Me, always wanting to be prepared and having large amounts of extra time on my hands, decided to take this advice seriously and when I could, I began the writing out of a sermon on John 15. As I was writing this sermon out, I wasn’t expecting the time to preach to come so soon, but God, and the people at the little church we were serving at had other plans.

The night before this past Sunday one of the pastors mentioned in passing something about preaching the next day. Immediately fears started to fill my heart, but I stilled them with a quick prayer and after some clarification, I quickly ran back to the room I was staying in and continued the outline I had started just a few days before. The next day after doing all preparation I thought was necessary I sat in a small steamy room, above a rotisserie chicken store, waiting to be called up to preach. And, in the few moments I sat there, I fought a large battle on multiple fronts. I felt an overwhelming amount of fear. Fear of failing, of messing up, of being judged. But along with that fear came a terrible promise, if you do well everyone will praise YOU. I knew it was wrong, I knew my time was coming soon, but still in the back of my mind the whisper remained. So, in an act of desperation I once again called out to God. I pleaded with him saying “God I am weak, even in this moment I am relying on myself, I pray that you would come and show your strength through my deep weakness and that you would be glorified through this. And immediately God filled me with peace. A few moments later I went up, preached for half an hour, and then sat back down. All I can remember are some faces looking back at me but completely and powerfully God took control of my little sermon and spoke through me. I don’t know the impact it made but its in God’s hands. He is in control. Such a cool moment.

Another thing that God’s been working on in me is the weight of missions. In the past week God has convicted me strongly of the blindness we as Christians have in the states. To the broken need for the gospel everywhere. We talk about it, we possibly share the gospel with some small amount of people, but rarely do we feel the urgency or desperateness this generation has for the gospel. All I can say to those on the other side of this screen is that this is a generation that NEEDS the gospel. Don’t let your fear and comfortableness stop you from fulfilling Gods commission. Break free and glorify him, he is with you always.

This trip is continuing to push me and strengthen me in my faith and I pray that God does a similar work in you. Speaking of prayer some prayer requests for this week are:

• Staying focused on God
• Breaking out of my conmfort zone as I continue in ministry
• To remain humble and encouraging to the other people in my group and serve them the best I can
• For God to do a work in this people, through this team, and that many would come to Christ

This trip is continuing to grow me, and I praise God for all he has done so far and will continue to do in me, and in this team. Till next time may God strengthen you, and grow you, and push you towards missions, as you experience the weight of the cross that God has placed upon us.