February 7th, 2023
The Upward Look, by Jon Forrest
FIRST THINGS FIRST
When Coach Bobby Bowden played baseball in college, he never hit a home run. His senior year at Howard College, he was the only player not to hit a home run. One day, he hit a line drive against Auburn. As he approached third, the coach was waving him on. As he made his turn, he heard his third base coach say, "But hurry!"
When he touched home, the team was ecstatic, slapping his back and shaking his hand. The first baseman yelled for the catcher to throw him the ball. The umpire yelled, "OUT!" When he ran the bases, Bowden never touched first.
Maybe that's why he became a football coach. You can imagine how many times he must have told his players, "If you don't take care of first base, it doesn't matter what you do."
When Jesus was asked by his critics what the greatest commandment in Scripture was…he gave them the following answer.
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40
Any time we set out to accomplish a goal, or begin a new job, or enter into a new adventure, or performance of a task such as entering into a new marriage, we should first look at our motivation. If you have an inward passion for the goal, you have the correct approach.
If you have a deep love and devotion to the bride/groom, your marriage has an excellent chance of success. You can make right decisions and create an atmosphere for love, devotion and care. You won’t get it perfectly, but you will get it right more often than you get it wrong. Marriages based on godly fundamentals thrive, but the ones centered on selfish and self-centered ideals will lead to disaster.
When we set out to fulfill the Great Commission of Christ or the mission of the church you will fail if you don’t love God with all your heart, mind and strength and if you don’t love people like Jesus does.
This Sunday we will continue our series, Mission Possible with a sermon titled, The Driving Force Behind the Mission based on Matthew 22:36-40. I hope you will join us as we examine the motive behind our Christian walk.
Keeping God first,
Jon
FIRST THINGS FIRST
When Coach Bobby Bowden played baseball in college, he never hit a home run. His senior year at Howard College, he was the only player not to hit a home run. One day, he hit a line drive against Auburn. As he approached third, the coach was waving him on. As he made his turn, he heard his third base coach say, "But hurry!"
When he touched home, the team was ecstatic, slapping his back and shaking his hand. The first baseman yelled for the catcher to throw him the ball. The umpire yelled, "OUT!" When he ran the bases, Bowden never touched first.
Maybe that's why he became a football coach. You can imagine how many times he must have told his players, "If you don't take care of first base, it doesn't matter what you do."
When Jesus was asked by his critics what the greatest commandment in Scripture was…he gave them the following answer.
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40
Any time we set out to accomplish a goal, or begin a new job, or enter into a new adventure, or performance of a task such as entering into a new marriage, we should first look at our motivation. If you have an inward passion for the goal, you have the correct approach.
If you have a deep love and devotion to the bride/groom, your marriage has an excellent chance of success. You can make right decisions and create an atmosphere for love, devotion and care. You won’t get it perfectly, but you will get it right more often than you get it wrong. Marriages based on godly fundamentals thrive, but the ones centered on selfish and self-centered ideals will lead to disaster.
When we set out to fulfill the Great Commission of Christ or the mission of the church you will fail if you don’t love God with all your heart, mind and strength and if you don’t love people like Jesus does.
This Sunday we will continue our series, Mission Possible with a sermon titled, The Driving Force Behind the Mission based on Matthew 22:36-40. I hope you will join us as we examine the motive behind our Christian walk.
Keeping God first,
Jon
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