Weekend Update

• It was our last service in the warehouse. No tears. The only regret was not recognizing earlier that it was time to move. Good crowd. Good vibe. Sense of anticipation at what comes next. I'm proud of our people. They are very encouraging to me and I can see how God has been working in their lives.
• Took up the stage and chairs immediately after the service. It was weird.
  
• Followed up last week's sermon "What would it take for God to get you to move?" with "What would it take for God to get you to something different?" Often it comes back to our worship and how we see God and how we respond to Him. If you can't see God doing something different then you probably won't change either. If you see God as static then you will probably stay static. God is unchanging in His character which makes Him trustworthy and viable to follow but He is also unpredictable and uncontained and far above our thoughts and ways. The unchanging God is continually calling us to change.
  
• We looked at three people responding to God on the move in 2 Samuel 6. The Ark of the Covenant (you know, "The Raiders of the Lost Ark" ark) was being moved to Jerusalem. Uzzah (a priest), David (the king) and Michal (David's wife) all responded differently.
• Uzzahs are those who try to keep God in a box. The ox stumbled, the ark began to fall and Uzzah tried to stop it. They wouldn't want God to spill out. No telling what would happen (watch Raiders of the Lost Ark). It's much safer for God to stay in the box. We want a God that we can control not One that is unleashed in this world. Uzzah had been in charge of the ark for so long (20 years) that it had become common to him. He was a priest and had become religious instead of a true worshiper. He suffered from the disease of familiarity that plagues much of Christianity today. We think we have God figured out. Uzzah died on this day but thinking it was his job to take care of God had slowly sucked the life out of him for years. The problem with being an Uzzah is that it seems the right thing to do but God is not so easily tamed and can take care of Himself very well.
• Davids are those who are moving with God. David, the king, knew who the real King was. He knew that God was not common but that he was. So he took his place as a worshiper among the servant girls and the common people. He was not self-aware but God-focused. He danced and disrobed, oblivious to his surroundings because "it was before the Lord." He sacrificed and gave generously which is always the sign of true worshipers. He was criticized but he didn't care. His response to his critics was "You haven't seen anything yet!"
  
• Michals are those who observe instead of participate, judge instead of love. They are uninvolved yet very opinionated. They never truly worship and become barren in their spirit. The critical, bitter, jealous heart is not fertile ground for the work of God.
• Ended by saying that I felt God was leading us to do something different this summer. We are going to do Saturday night church instead of Sunday morning. Many churches are doing this across the nation but no one is doing it in our area. If you are an Uzzah, you will object by thinking that Sunday morning is the box that God dwells in. Michals will tell us every reason why it won't work and stand on the sideline to watch us fail. But if you're a David, the thrill of God moving makes you want to dance, oblivious to everything except God. We're going to let God spill out on Saturday nights.