Catalyst 08 w/ Craig Groeschel

Joel 2:12
Return to me with all your heart…
"It" - That thing that we seek...
I want it. I want more of it.
Something special of God that He oftens does in people and thru people.
When people are critical about church and what/how the church is functioning.... Craig says, "Please do not insult the work of God by saying something so careless…"

"It" is a special work of God….
We often say, "This place has 'it'." or "This place doesn't have 'it'!"

What are the things that contribute to “it”?
Holy SpirIT
God makes IT happen… from him, by him and for his glory.
We cannot create it or manufacture it.
It is not a model. It is not a system or a program.
It has an upside. Lives are changed forever.
People are healed. Eternity is differenct because of the presence of God.
It does have a downside. It has critics.

The most important ingredient of all others… is that you have IT. Not about location, money, the right music, etc. It is about you being overcome with the power and presence of God. It is you feeling that and believing that and being consumed with that.

Somewhere along the way… something happened… like the ministry started to beat IT out of me… the ministry actually quenches it… like a slow leak in a tire…. That something special of God leaked out… rather than measuring success b the inward promptings of God, I measured success by the outward things I could see. I wasn’t about building His church, I was about building my church.

Full time pastor, and a part time follower of Christ.
I had it and I lost it… and so have many of you.
What do you do when you are in ministry and you have lost IT?

You have to do something drastic… because if something small would have worked, you would have already done that!!!

God, stretch me. If we are not careful, then we transfer my faith into my own abilities….
You could say that I had a $5 faith…but not a $100 faith…
God, stretch me…

Did you see?? There is more in you… don’t let any board of trustees, elders, or whomever talk you out of it… stretch me, God! Obey the voice of God. Heal me. I am addict to: People pleasing. Adrenaline. Technology. Don’t care more about what people think… care more about what God thinks. Step into the authority and the anointing of God…

I will not sacrifice my children on the altar of ministry. I need to get transparent with God. Who or what will stretch you? Who or what will bring healing in your life?? Be around them. Why do we lose IT?? We care more about what others think..

Before God can stretch you.. he needs to heal you.. before he can heal you, he needs to ruin you. God, ruin me. Rip your heart before God. I return to you with weeping and fasting and mourning.

Do not seek to be above the pain. Break my heart God. I want to willingly step into it. God do whatever it takes. Ruin me for your glory.

This was Craig's ending prayer (by Sir Francis Drake) from Catalyst 07 ~ which still impacts my heart:

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.