Well, I've come to the end of a long summer of travelling, and I am so glad to be back home! I just returned from Hillsong Conference in Sydney, Australia. It was truly the most incredible conference I've ever been to. The theme of the conference was, "Future." It was all about moving into the future as the body of Christ and empowering the generations that follow to carry the cause of Christ forward. One recurring theme of the conference was leading when you are certain, but not defined. In other words, there are times when you know God has called you forward, but you don't have the details. It takes courage to move forward when you don't know the exact outcome. But when we step out in courage and faith without the details and lean completely on God, it works humility in us.
On night during worship I looked out over the crowd of 30,000 people. Hands were raised everywhere and people were singing these words:
Let now Your church shine as the bride
That You saw in Your heart
As you offered up your life
Let now the lost be welcomed home
By the saved and redeemed
You've adopted as Your own
I just thought, what an honor that God allows me to lead in His body and to help welcome home the lost that reurn to Him. As I looked out over the crowd of people there, I had a small glimpse of how vast and diverse the church is. And while I suddently felt very, very small, I also realized how magnificent our God is. He is bigger than the universe, yet through the Holy Spirit inhabits each of us and empowers us to do our part. In the end we will see the big picture as He sees it, and I know it will be more beautiful than we can imagine!
6 comments:
Kerri,
Well spoken. What a beautiful description of your experience. We all forget how miraculous our relationship with the God of the universe is. We are but one tiny creation yet we have such a personal relationship with Him.
Glad you are back and that you enjoyed your trip.
Love, Tiffany Croft
Hi Kerri! Good to have you back. That was a beautiful description in the last paragraph. Should include and expand in one of your books.....
Kerri,
I frequent your blog site, but this one spoke VOLUMES to me specifically with the insert I pulled from it and listed below this seems to be exactly where I am in this season and it confirms that it is perfectly well to be where I am and fell as I do
"leading when you are certain, but not defined.There are times when you know God has called you forward, but you don't have the details. It takes courage to move forward when you don't know the exact outcome. But when we step out in courage and faith without the details and lean completely on God, it works humility in us."
Continue to speak as led of the Trinity and I am sure you will continue to impact the lives of many.
Respectfully,
Marie Patterson
I, too, was struck by your statements about "leading when you are certain but not defined," Kerri. There have been times in my life where I have sat back and said, "I'm waiting on God to..." or "I'm seeking the Lord about..." and subsequently did nothing because I was waiting on details, as though God works like the GPS in my car. Stepping into women's ministry has taught me that God is not asking us to wait on the details. He is saying, "Step up and serve." I am certain of the ministry of teaching God is calling me to, but I have no idea what the details are...when, how, where. But I do know that He cleared a stepping stone in women's ministry and said "Step here." No further instructions, no big vision for the future. And I'm learning to love that one-step-at-a-time journey with Him. We were just talking in our Priscilla Shirer study this week that God never shows us the full road ahead. He clears one step at a time. If we could see our future, we would have no need of faith.
Love you. So glad you're back!!
Dear Kerri...
Loved hearing the little story about the kids, sounds like you all had a great time,... and I can imagine seeing 30,000 people praise God at once at the Hillsong conference... sometimes at Celebration I just stop and take in all the praise around me and I am just thankful to be in that surrounding... with others praising Him, trying to attempt to realize the truth of Heaven and what we were truly made for... It is all way too big for me to comprehend...
But I want to say I am very proud to have you as our Pastor, I know that you have allowed the women in this church to "step up" and follow the God-Purposed destinies with our new groups... The intriguing part is that I have watched myself grow into, and mature to fulfill God's plan for my life in the past few years.... and you, Celebration, and it's people are who God has used to mold me, love me, and help me to spread my wings and fly... I will forever be grateful to you, the staff...esp L.G., and all of my friends at Celebration... YOU ROCK... I can't wait to see what God is going to do, ....He is so Good!!!
Love, Erica
Thank for putting into words exactly what I have been dealing with quite recently, especially at work....
"there are times when you know God has called you forward, but you don't have the details. It takes courage to move forward when you don't know the exact outcome. But when we step out in courage and faith without the details and lean completely on God, it works humility in us."
It's never easy to decide to move forward without the details and the uncertainty that life provides. But as I have been reminded, God is there to fill the gaps of uncertainty with His love and promises.
God's plans for us rank higher than our own plans. We are all working toward our destinies as long as we keep stepping out in faith.
Thank you for your humbling words.
Gail
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