Decisions, Decisions . . .

It's Lent already.  That's the 40 days leading up to Easter which really doesn't seem like it should be as close as it is.  I'm beginning some sermons that don't technically qualify as a "sermon series" but there is a common string that winds through the next three Lenten sermons.  That common string is "Decisions."  Life is full of decisions small and large.

"Will I get out of bed today? .... Oatmeal or cereal?" 

"Phone call or email?"

"Should I quit my job?" 

I'm suspicious that, like the guy who opts for junk food instead of something healthy, we fill up on relatively unimportant choices and neglect the truly important and less numerous decisions.  We ponder what TV show we'll watch, whether to buy a new gizmo and fifty other meaningless choices each day, but we don't bother thinking about whether there's any significant purpose to the day we just completed.

The problem with such a pattern of small choices taking precedence over important decisions is obvious:  Life feels meaningless.

What if the solution to this problem is very simple?  Could it be that there are perhaps just two or three decisions that require our focus?  And, once we honestly make these genuine decisions and live daily in concert with what we've chosen, then everything else will fall into place rather well.

Over the next few weeks we'll look at what these two or three decisions might be, and how they impact every other aspect of life.  Check out the weekly question above - I 'd love to read about some of the decisions you have made this week.
- Curtis

For Sunday May 25 - Dying for Citizenship

Matthew 6:19-34
Philippians 3:17-21
For several weeks, since Easter in fact, we've been looking at what it means to live on the "other side of resurrection." After all, life is supposed to be different, fuller, more zesty if we are resurrection people - right? So we've been exploring why that isn't always the case and what needs to change or mature in us so that the life Jesus modeled is more of a reality than a pipe dream.
I've normally heard this week's passage preached or studied as a way to get people to give more, and not waste on selfishness. That's probably part of it, but it falls short of the more substantial point Jesus was making: Use your resources for things that last; eternal things. In the long run, we'll be happy we did and we will enjoy them so much more. Still, we lack a lot of creativity when it comes to living out this principle of citizenship in the Kingdom. We keep thinking in terms of giving our money. But "storing up treasure in heaven" means a lot more than that. What are come creative ways we can do this "storing" of our treasure? What might that look like? And how does the Church play into it? Is there something to be learned from the way the Israelites brought their offerings into the temple and then had feasts and celebrations, and shared the abundance with the rich and the poor alike? Ideas? - Curtis