What's Better Than Saturday's In The Fall?

I admit it: I love Saturdays in the fall. If you're a college football fan, there are few things that get you more excited than Saturdays in the fall. Cooler weather, college game day, and some chicken wings are, for me, a recipe for a great weekend. All year long I look forward to this time of year with eager anticipation.

But as much as I enjoy watching Alabama play football, I recently asked myself a simple question: "Why do I care so much?" I've never attended The University of Alabama, nor has anyone in my immediate family that I know of. In fact, I have no personal connection to the school of any kind, other than the fact that I live in the state that bears the same name.

So why do I get so excited when Saturdays in the fall roll around? Why do I cheer when the Crimson Tide makes a great play and groan when their quarterback gets sacked? Why will I put on an Alabama t-shirt and cap this Saturday and give up three or four hours of my weekend to watch college students move a pigskin back and forth across a cow pasture? The only answer I can come up with is this: it's FUN! So whether it makes sense or not, I'll be cheering for the Crimson Tide again this Saturday. And it will be FUN (especially if the Tide rolls!).

With that being said, however, there's something this year that I've been looking forward to even more than Saturdays in the fall. Can you guess what it is? It's SUNDAYS IN THE FALL! I've started counting the days every week in eager anticipation for worship at Eulaton. I can't wait to see what God is going to do next. My recent bout with the flu that caused me to miss a Sunday was a huge bummer. Having to miss being here made this sick boy even sicker. I seriously can't wait for the next opportunity to gather together as the church.

And here's the great thing: unlike college football, what we're doing on Sundays at Eulaton actually matters. I know some people think it's blasphemy to speak like that, but seriously folks: do you really think when we get to heaven anybody's going to care who won or lost last Saturday's game? In the grand scope of eternity, the importance of college football ranks right up there with a night out at the bowling alley. A few hours of good, clean fun, but nothing of eternal significance.

So go ahead and enjoy some college football this weekend. I will. But let's remember to keep it in perspective. If you're more fired up about your team than you are about your Lord, then maybe you ought to do a spiritual inventory. As fun as it is to cheer for the Tide or the Tigers, how much more fun is it to lift high the name of Jesus? And that's the kind of fun that really matters.

Life After Swine Flu

The pig has left the building! Or in other words, the swine flu has run its course at the Lambert household. Praise God!!! It's been a tough week, but things are slowly getting back to normal after the flu hit us hard. I'm sorry I didn't have a post last week, as I know many of you have commented on how much you've been enjoying these. Let's just say...I didn't have the strength to even sit upright for a few minutes at my computer keyboard.

The hardest part of the whole thing was missing out on Sunday worship. There's nothing I look forward to more these days than Sundays at EFBC. I was so pumped for the conclusion of my series Messages For Messed Up People, and it was such a let down not to be there. However, now that the pig is gone, I'm more stoked than ever before about what God has in store for us this Sunday at Eulaton. And by the way, I want to thank Koy and Donnie for stepping up to the plate and doing an incredible job in my absence. We are so blessed at EFBC!

This Sunday's message that was supposed to be last Sunday's message is entitled Messed Up And Hopeless. That pretty well describes the life of every person on the planet who has yet to trust Jesus as their Savior. Fortunately, for those of us who know Christ, we may still be messed up but we are by no means hopeless! I'm so thankful that my hope is in Him, and not in me or you or Obama or anybody else. Hope for the Christian is not something we wish would happen; it's something we KNOW will happen!

And that is why I can't wait to get together as the church this Sunday and lift high the name that is above all names: the name of JESUS!!! Remember this verse from two weeks ago?

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? (Ps 42:2 NIV)

Well, you can meet with Him right now, right where you are. And then, you can come together with others as the church to corporately meet with Him this Sunday morning. Let's come expecting God to do great things. Let's come expecting to see His power and glory. And let's come ready to submit to His will, no matter what He calls us to do.

Sunday's going to be awesome at Eulaton, and I hope you'll be with us. The good was yesterday. The better has come. And the best is yet to come!

Are You Thirsty?

When was the last time you were really thirsty for God? When was the last time you were desperate for His presence? When was the last time you felt like the Psalmist who wrote: My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? (Ps 42:2 NIV)

The good news is you don't have to wait for a Sunday morning worship service to meet with God. If you're a believer, then you've got His Spirit residing inside of you twenty-four seven. Worship shouldn't be something that we only do for an hour on Sundays; it should be a lifestyle. Don't let the busyness of the world keep you from being the worshiper that God created you to be. Start worshiping Him. Right now! He's worthy of all of our worship and praise!

If you'll do that, then on Sunday when you come into the sanctuary, you won't be coming in hoping to have a worship experience. Instead, you'll be coming in to continue your ongoing worship experience. And if everybody came in already worshiping, then I can't imagine the kind of service we'll experience this Sunday! Are you ready? I'm excited, and I hope you are, too!

This Sunday we'll continue our Messages For Messed Up People, and the sermon title is Turn On The Light. I think sometimes we can be guilty of acting like God is a secret to be kept, and that faith in Jesus is a personal, private matter. But is that what Jesus said? Not hardly. We'll talk about that this Sunday.

This message will also deal pretty strongly with the subject of hell. This will have a two-fold purpose. First, I'm hoping that this message will wake up those who are lost and headed to hell. I want to see people saved and hell depopulated. Second, I'm hoping this message will be a reminder to the saved that hell is a real place, and real people are dying and going there every day. Knowing the realities of a place called hell, it ought to motivate us to shine out our light in this dark world.

I'm truly looking forward to what God has in store for us this Sunday. Here lately, if you were to ask me what is the best service we've ever had at Eulaton, I'd say, "The next one!" I truly feel that way every week. I hope you do, too. Let's all come together this Sunday, having already been worshiping Him, expecting to see His power and glory!

And let's keep asking, "What's next?" I don't know for sure, but I can't wait to find out. However one thing I do know for sure is that the best is yet to come!

Sunday Preview

Hello everyone! I've been a bit under the weather yesterday and today, so today's message will be short and sweet. However, a little sickness can't dampen my enthusiasm for what I'm expecting God to do at EFBC this Sunday!

We'll continue our series of sermons entitled Messages For Messed Up People with the second sermon: Am I Making God Nauseous? I hope you'll all be here Sunday, and I hope you'll come expecting God to do great things. Remember: I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. (Psalm 63:2)

See you all Sunday, and don't forget: the best is yet to come!

New Sermon Series Begins Sunday

I just wanted everyone to know how excited I am about this Sunday (I know, I sound like a broken record every week, but I REALLY AM EXCITED). This Sunday morning I'll be beginning a new series of sermons entitled Messages For Messed Up People. The first message in this series is called Not What You Expected. I don't know what you expect from a message with that title, but you need to be here this weekend to see if this message is what you expected it to be or not. OK, was that confusing, or is it just me?

Anyway, I'm pumped about this new series of messages. But let me give you a little disclaimer: If you've got everything together, never have any problems, and never do anything wrong, you might just want to take the month of September off on Sunday mornings. If, however, you're like me and realize that you are anything but perfect, you should make plans to be at EFBC this Sunday.

Let's face it, folks: we're all pretty messed up, aren't we? There's not a perfect person on this planet. We all have struggles, we all have insecurities, and we all have sinned. Now I've met some people before who seemed to wear a façade of perfection on the outside, almost as if they can't let anyone know that beneath that glowing exterior is a soul that is just as messed up as the next person's. I believe it's time that we drop the charade and take off the mask. Let's just admit that we're all messed up and that we are nothing without Jesus.

I hope you will come to worship this Sunday with a sense of expectation. Remember the verse I shared with you last week: I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory (Ps 63:2). I've asked Carol about putting this verse on a sign that we can hang above the glass doors in the vestibule. Are you coming to worship to see His power and His glory, or are you just coming to a social gathering to "see and be seen." I don't know about you, but I want to have an encounter with God Almighty this Sunday morning. I hope you do, too.

Before I close this message, let me ask everyone to please be praying for John McCoy and Ann Smith this morning. They are both having heart cath's at RMC today.

That's all for the moment. Just remember, you'd better not get complacent now; cause the best is yet to come!