Whether you like it or not, from the time we are born until the time we die, we go through shifts in life. Some that we can mark are junior high, then high school, then its time for most of us to leave the nest and start a career or go to college.  This shift can be very awkward, because for the first time in our life we are putting what we learned from the time we’re born and making it practical.  Then there is young adulthood when it’s the time most people get married -  which is a big step in someone’s life.  Then come children, grandchildren, then eventually death. However, what makes your shifts in life come easier is having Christ with you.  You see, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; but Jesus has come that we may have life, and have it to the full.  In reality, the life of  a christian is not easy. The Bible speaks of persecution and believers losing their life.   The difference is not having an easier life, but having Jesus with you in the hard times.  So whats your choice?  Are you going to give up every thing, ask Christ to forgive you of your sin and save you, and live the shifts of life with His help?

^{Hebrews 9:27-28}

²⁷Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Since last week I have thought over and over about death.  Everyone here on earth has one thing in common:  we will all die to these physical bodies.  Last week, a good friend of mine lost his grandmother.  She was 82 years old, weak and feeble.  Also last week, someone I never met died.  Yeardley Love, a lacrosse player from UVA.  She was 22 years old, healthy and vibrant.  Though the circumstances for my friend’s grandmother and Yeardley Love’s death were very different, they have both met their appointment with death and have now faced the judgement.  Everything I have known and read about both of these individuals have indicated they were both amazing people.  Both were kindhearted and strong women who loved other people.  I pray that both of these women had a relationship with Jesus Christ for our works cannot save us when we reach the judgement seat.  Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”  I believe each of these women’s lives meant something!  I believe we can learn from both of them.  I believe both of them taught us how to live our life, and I believe both have taught us something about death.  It is my prayer that the lives these women lived touch the hearts of people everywhere and through their deaths many will come to a relationship with Jesus Christ! 

So here’s the best part about death.  Christ was sacrificed unto death, but overcame death so that we can be saved from our sins (sin is what causes us to die in the first place).  For those of us who trust in Christ to save us; we will live!  We will die to this physical body, but we will live eternally.  I think back to November when my grandmother was put to rest.  What a blessing to know for certain that she had a relationship with Jesus Christ!  It was so much easier to say goodnight to her than it would have been to say goodbye.  I know I will see my grandmother again one day.  It hurts to lay a loved one to rest and not be able to speak to them and see them everyday.  However, it’s comforting to know that they are living with Jesus!  It’s soothing to know that they are not in pain and do not struggle.  How I long for the day that the troubles of this world pass.  I know when I die, I will enter into a better place because I have a relationship with Jesus Christ!  It’s amazing to know that Jesus died so that my friend’s grandmother can live, Yeardley can live, my grandmother can live, you can live, and I can live!  The lives of each of these people have meant something!  Maybe it was to show you how to live.  Maybe it was to help you think deeper about what happens after death.  Please think about death and what happens when you die.  This life on earth is temporary.  We don’t even know when our time is up.  Although this life is temporary, when we die life becomes eternal.  Only through the grace of Jesus will we spend eternity with Him!  Where will you spend eternity and why will you spend it there?

Spring is my favorite time of the year, especially this year it seems.  After a very cold and dreary winter, I have looked with great anticipation for springtime to arrive.  Well it is finally here! PTL!!!!

What I love about Spring is the warmer weather, the beautiful bluebird days, and most of all, the new life I see in nature as the grass becomes green, the trees begin to bud, and flowers begin to bloom after being dormant throughout the cold days of Winter.  I usually begin to look forward to the arrival of Spring shortly after the New Year.  As January and February drag by filled with their cold gray rainy days, my desire for the warm balmy days of Spring grows greater and greater.  With each passing day, I hope to see an early arrival of springtime weather.  But, no matter how long the winter or how cold and bleak the days may be, I know that Spring is coming.  I am sure of its arrival because that is the way God designed it to be.  I know as the winter draws closer and closer to an end, that soon warm weather will replace the cold, and new life will replace the grip of death winter has had on nature.

We have the hope of another Sping coming as well, when God wraps up the disease of death caused by sin and replaces it with the new heaven and the new earth.  The Apostle Paul spoke of this coming renewal:

Romans 8: 18-25 (NLT)

¹⁸Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later. ¹⁹For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. ²⁰Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God’s curse. ²¹All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. ²²For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us. ²⁴Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom. For if you already have something, you don’t need to hope for it. ²⁵But if we look forward to something we don’t have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently.

I don’t know about you, but I am patiently and confidently waiting with a springtime hope for this coming renewal of heaven, earth, and of those of us who are a part of the eternal kingdom of God.  Are you sure that you are a part of God’s kingdom? Are you certain of your salvation?  If not, now is the time to get ready.  Springtime (God’s renewal) is just around the corner.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Church using Social Media to Reach More People
Hattiesburg, MS
The methods of churches reaching people has evolved from large crusades and door-to-door cold call visits to Facebook invites and blog discussions. The Grove Church, a new church launched in September of 2009, focuses on social media to tell the masses about Jesus.
“These days if you aren’t on facebook or twitter, you don’t come up on people’s radar,” said Greg Johnston, Lead Pastor.
The Grove Church’s “Connection Pastor”, Justin Grice, is responsible for maintaining the online community. “We are committed to connecting people to God, to others, and to service. Sometimes that means connecting online through social media” Grice said. “Every person on our church staff writes a blog to stay connected with our congregation. These days people don’t just want to hear a sermon on Sunday. They want to know what you are thinking about during your everyday life on Monday.”
New methods are needed to gain followers as membership in mainline churches drops. The Southern Baptist Convention, with which The Grove Church is affiliated, has seen a decline in membership and baptisms. “We have been gripped by the reality of the lost condition of our world and about our condition as a denomination, but through this journey we have also been set on fire by the call of God to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Ronnie Floyd, chairman of the SBC’s Great Commission Resurgence Task Force.
The Southern Baptist Convention is rolling out an aggressive campaign over the weeks before and after Easter to bring people to church. It has developed a video rich website at www.findithere.com with personal stories of people who found hope from trusting in Jesus. The website is coupled with television advertising that will play locally on WDAM as well as flyers left at doors inviting people to church this Easter.
“It is my prayer that God uses the Find it Here effort to show people the love of Christ,” Grice said. “People, especially young people, feel burned by churches. I hope that people will see through our reaching out online and on television that we do care about their hurts and don’t look down on them.” The Grove Church meets at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday’s and is found online at grovechurch.com
###
Direct questions to Justin Grice at 601-336-0468 or justin@grovechurch.com

“Double agent is a counterintelligence term for someone who pretends to spy on a target organization on behalf of a controlling organization, but in fact is loyal to the target organization. Double agents may be agents of the target organization who infiltrate the controlling organization, or may be previously loyal agents of the controlling organization who have been captured and turned by the target; the threat of execution is the most common method of turning a captured agent into a double agent.” – Wikipedia.org

I often wonder just how many “Christians” would be considered a double agent.  I’ve grown up in church my whole life.  I’ve seen “Christians” come to church, put on their mask, leave, and take their mask off outside the doors of the church.  I personally consider these “Christians” a double agent Christian because they are NOT loyal to Jesus Christ!  If these “Christians” were ever captured and given the choice of life by denial of Christ or death by upholding His name, they would most certainly choose life by denial of Christ!

I pray that we are not double agent Christians!  I pray that we are the type of Christians that are honest about our lives, our struggles, and our problems.  As a church, we are family!  Family should be people that you depend on to give you honest advice, lift you up, and encourage you.  Earlier I mentioned that I have grown up in church my whole life and I’ve watched the way “Christians” in the church have lived their lives.  Well, God has given me the privilage to be a part of this church plant at The Grove Church.  God’s vision for this church is for us to reach the unchurched – the lost!  All praise to God, that is exactly what we have been doing!  Through this, I’ve seen people with problems come to know Christ!  Although they have come to know Christ, they still have problems in their lives just as we all do.  The only difference between these new believers and the “Christians” I watched in church my whole life is the simple fact that these new believers are not double agent Christians!  These new believers would uphold the name of Christ if put in a situation which they must decide.  I have witnessed people come into this church, give their life to Christ, take off their mask, acknowledge their struggles, leave the church with encouragement, tell others about Christ throughout the week, and come back to church the next week to find more encouragement and hope!  This is how we should live our life!  Christianity is about living your life for Christ EVERY DAY and not just Sundays!  I pray that we are not double agent Christians!  Live your life for Christ each and every day!