Update

It has been a while since I posted. Blogging takes discipline and creativity. I will try to ramp up these in the future for both of my readers. I thought I might just post some stuff that is going on with the Watson's and GracePointe Church (our family).

* Our kids at GPC held a spaghetti dinner last night to raise funds to payoff the debt for renovating GPC Village. They raised $558 from tips. They served us with a Christ-like attitude. It was great.

* Two weeks ago I asked the church to give money towards our food pantry which needed $750 to cover costs for food boxes and to give $40 to help a local hispanic man trying to get a landscaping business going by paying to get him some professional looking business cards. He had only handwritten cards. I asked them to pray at the beginning of the worship service what God would have them give and place it in our HOPE Box. The church responded to the Spirit's leading and gave $800.75. It was just a little more than the exact amount we needed. Way cool!!!

* GPC Men's Softball team has finally got a win streak going. We have won 2 in a row after dropping four in a row. We won Tuesday 11-7. Thanks to Matt Baker who has done a tremendous job leading the team. Our record is 3-4, I think. We play tonight @ 8PM.

* We have six people going through our 201 class.

* We are planning to baptize five children on June 3 at our baptism service. That's awesome!!

That's a little bit of the happenings.

Jesus Served Humanity

Jesus demonstrated His love for humanity through service. He was the King who became a servant to all. The kind of humility that Jesus displayed was not just submissive; it was also sacrificial. He laid down His rights. He deserved to be served, but He served the undeserved.

Jesus was a different kind of leader. He was the essence of servant leadership. His service was grounded in love. He served in submission to God and with passion for humanity. He demonstrated this by removing His rabbinical garments, which symbolized His authority, and washed the disciples feet. He did for the disciples what is typically done by servants.

The love of Christ has been shown to us in His service to humanity.

Jesus Served

If you knew you only had 21 hours left to live on Planet Earth, what would you do? Most of us, if not all of us, would not spend our time serving other people, especially ones who would let us down. We would most likely spend our last hours being served. If you follow similar questions like this on the web, you will see that people typically respond with statements like...

"I would have sex with my girlfriend all day."
"I would go to places I have never seen."
"I would spend time with my family."
"I would tell my best friend of my secret love for them."
"I would party."

and the funniest...

"I would get a second opinion."

Jesus started His last 21 hours by serving the men who would desert Him, deny Him and betray Him. Jesus had a mission statement and it is found in Mark 10:45. It says, "I did not come to be served but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many." The fact that Jesus served rather than being served was just in keeping with His mission on earth. He came to serve. His love is demonstrated by His service to humanity.

A-Rod & Confession

Unless you have been hiding under a rock recently, you are aware that Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) of the New York Yankees admitted to using steroids a couple of weeks ago. One of the responses to this story that I find fascinating is how many people say that he would have never confessed had he not gotten caught. I say, "Well, duh!"

The truth is that most of us never admit we have done wrong until we get caught. It's part of our bent toward sin. We sin and cover it up. Adam and Eve did it. King David did it. A-Rod did it. And we all do it. I think it just makes people feel better when they act as if they are morally upright rather than be quick to confess and thus be exposed. The vast majority of us, if we are
honest and we are not, sin and cover up. What we don't like about A-Rod is true of us. We know it's wrong, but we will never own up to it. It would have been better for A-Rod if he would have confessed sooner. It is better for
us as well.

Proverbs 28:13 says: "He who conceals his sin does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy."

21 Hours

A couple of weeks ago I started a new series on the last 21 hours of Jesus' life on planet earth in human form. I got real creative with the series title...it's called "21 Hours." The premise of the series is to take a fresh look of the love of Christ for humanity in His last day.

I believe the love of God is ultimately displayed in full glory in these last 21 hours. What Jesus did in those 21 hours was radical and revolutionary! I will update everyone along the way.

Dig A Little Deeper

I am reading a book called "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. It is an interesting read about how people become successful. One section I was reading this morning was about a woman who spent 22 minutes figuring out one math problem. Most of us would have quit seeking to solve the problem after a few minutes, but this woman was not to be deterred. She did the hard work and solved the problem.

I think it's like that with Bible study. We give up too quickly when we don't get the immediate gratification of understanding a text from a cursory reading. If we would dig deep into the Word like this lady solving a math problem we might just find a great treasure for our souls.

Imagine that you are digging for a buried treasure. You dig about two feet deep and you don't find anything. So, you give up. A little later, someone starts digging in your hole and to your surprise they find a treasure chest about two inches deeper than where you quit. That would stink. I think that's what happens to us sometimes. We give up too soon and miss out on what could be ours.

Solomon said it like this in Proverbs 25:2, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search a matter out is the glory of kings."

Christmas Sermons

I think Christmas story is often hard to preach. I get the sense, even though no one has said it, that everybody is coming with a "been there and heard that" attitude. Am I wrong about this?