_ How’s your Christmas shopping going? My daughter Katrina is an early Christmas shopper. And so weeks before Thanksgiving she is constantly asking, “Dad, what do you want for Christmas.” To which I say, “I haven’t even thought about it.” But she’s persistent, so I typically tell her without much thought; “Hey, a Best Buy, Amazon or Dick’s gift card would work.

However, after some careful though, this Christmas I would like to add one more item to my list.

In my quiet time with God this morning I read a powerful phrase from Paul in Philippians 3:17 which says, “Be imitators of me.” And I thought, “Wow, would I want to say that? Hey people of Heartland, imitate me.”

I think in many areas of my life I may humbly challenge you to imitate me, but in EVERY area could I say, “Do as I do?” And not just to say, “Do as I say.”

Now while Paul did not hesitate to tell the Philippians to imitate him. He did not mean that he believed he was sinless; for he had just stated that he was not perfect. Paul is fully aware of his potential to fail (1 Cor 9:27) and his struggle to attain holiness (Phil 3:12–14).

So what is Paul exactly saying? In the previous verses, Paul had just set forth his life ambition to be more Christ-like. And it is in this matter of relentlessly pursuing after Christ-likeness that he sets himself up as an example.

Paul was confident that his own manner of life characterized by his relentless pursuit of God, humility, and service to others, was a worthy model for others to follow. Thus Paul could say not only, “Listen to my words,” but also, “Follow my example in pursuing Christlikeness in every area of your life.”

So for Christmas this year, I’ve added one more item to my list of Best Buy, Amazon, and Dick’s gift cards. What I’ve added is this: I pray this Christmas to imitate Paul’s relentless drive to know Christ and His power.

Imagine what could happen if all of us would pursue Christ-likeness just as much as we pursue all those other items on our “list.” I pray during this Christmas season that all of us at Heartland would add Christ-likeness to our Christmas lists.

Anything you would like to add to your Christmas list?

_In this difficult economy that has affected all of us; we sometimes wonder does God care? Why is He silent? Will I ever be delivered from joblessness? Is there hope for the future? My prayer for you all is that regardless of your situation that you do not give up hope. God is involved, even when you may not be aware of His presence.

Some time ago researchers performed an experiment to see the effect hope has on those undergoing hardship. Two sets of laboratory rats were placed in separate tubs of water. The researchers left one set in the water and found that within an hour they had all drowned. The other rats were periodically lifted out of the water and then returned. When that happened, the second set of rats swam for over 24 hours. Why? Not because they were given a rest, but because they suddenly had hope!

Those animals somehow hoped that if they could stay afloat just a little longer, someone would reach down and rescue them. If hope holds such power for mere rodents, how much greater should its effect be on our lives?

You see that is what God did for us at Christmas. When the people of Israel thought it was hopeless, God reached down to this earth through the birth of His Son, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. And suddenly the world again was infused with Hope! And that same hope is present today. Yes, these may be difficult times, but God said He would never leave us nor forsake us. We need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and as we SEE Jesus in the little things it will give us hope to believe Him for bigger things.

There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them. Don’t give up Hope this Christmas.

_ Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} In this difficult economy that has affected all of us; we sometimes wonder does God care? Why is He silent? Will I ever be delivered from joblessness? Is there hope for the future? My prayer for you all is that regardless of your situation that you do not give up hope. God is involved, even when you may not be aware of His presense.

Some time ago researchers performed an experiment to see the effect hope has on those undergoing hardship. Two sets of laboratory rats were placed in separate tubs of water. The researchers left one set in the water and found that within an hour they had all drowned. The other rats were periodically lifted out of the water and then returned. When that happened, the second set of rats swam for over 24 hours. Why? Not because they were given a rest, but because they suddenly had hope!

Those animals somehow hoped that if they could stay afloat just a little longer, someone would reach down and rescue them. If hope holds such power for mere rodents, how much greater should its effect be on our lives?

You see that is what God did for us at Christmas. When the people of Israel thought it was hopeless, God reached down to this earth through the birth of His Son, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. And suddenly the world again was infused with Hope! And that same hope is present today. Yes, these may be difficult times, but God said He would never leave us nor forsake us. We need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and as we SEE Jesus in the little things it will give us hope to believe Him for bigger things.

There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them. Don’t give up Hope this Christmas.

_

I’ve been reading a great book by Henry and Richard Blackaby titled, Spiritual Leadership. Two reoccurring themes of the book are these: spiritual leaders don’t seek out their own vision, but seek God’s direction/vision for the people they lead. And second, to be a spiritual leader of people, you must be a fully dedicated Christ follower.

We as leaders cannot take the people of Heartland into a relationship with Christ that goes any deeper than where we have gone ourselves. We can not lead people to higher levels of prayer; to higher levels of faith; to higher levels of spiritual maturity; if we have not traveled that road ourselves. Therefore the spiritual leaders at Heartland must continually be growing if we are to equip and develop fully dedicated Christ followers.

And while leadership is important, I believe that Heartland Church will not reach its maximum potential unless every member and every attendee also knows how to hear clearly from God and be willing to respond in obedience.  It is not merely enough for the leaders at Heartland to hear from God and relay the message to the people of the church.  Each member/attendee at Heartland must learn to recognize God's voice and seek divine confirmation themselves of the vision that the leaders are sensing from God.

So the challenge to myself and our leaders is this; will we take the necessary time to pray and to meditate and fast and grow in our own relationship with God; constantly listening for His voice and seek His direction for our lives and our church? And to the congregation, will you also go deep into God’s Word and prayer so that you can tune into what role God wants you to play in growing Heartland Church and becoming a dedicated Christ follower?

_ Last night we had an Overseer meeting that lasted for three and a half hours. This Sunday the Overseers will meet again after our morning services. That will be our third meeting in the space of eleven days. We have been working diligently on making some updates to our Constitution and By-Laws as well as discussing a number of other topics of importance to the future of Heartland Church.

As I drove home last night, I was so very thankful for Tim Blahnik, Tim Holler, and Joanne Williamsen. I just praised God that Heartland has such outstanding Overseers/leaders who are willing to put in long hours to serve you; our congregation. These people love the Lord, they love Heartland, and they love you.

Please keep all of these wonderful leaders in your prayers. If you get a chance, let them know how much you appreciate all of their hard work.

This past Sunday twelve people at Heartland were baptized; and about 30 hands went up as we gave a Gospel presentation at the 10 AM service. Praise God.

This week we start a new series called Dealing with Difficult People. This series will help you establish boundaries when dealing with critical, overly needy, manipulative, and foolish people in your life.

On October 30th, Heartland will once again be having a baptism ceremony at the church during the 10 AM service. If you have received Jesus as your Savior but have never been baptized, I would urge you to consider being a part of this special baptismal celebration.

Charles Spurgeon, the famous 19th century preacher said that up until the time he was baptized, he was afraid to confess Christ. But after he was baptized he his fear and never again hesitated to boldly profess his faith. He likened his baptism to “crossing the Rubicon or burning the boats. No retreat was possible after that, nor have I ever wanted to go back to the world from which I then came out."

Spurgeon’s words underscore the power and importance of baptism.  The Bible teaches that baptism symbolizes our entrance into an assembly of believers. It is a powerful symbol that our old Life has been buried and we have been raised to newness of life through Jesus' resurrection.

While the Bible teaches that baptism is not essential to salvation, the Bible does teach that baptism is an act of obedience. The Scripture commands us in Matthew 28:19 to "Go and make disciples; baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."

Through baptism we publicly declare that we are no longer our own, but have been bought by Christ’s blood. And as Jesus’ public ministry did not begin until after His baptism, so baptism is for each of us a powerful symbol of our public service for God.

So if you would like to be baptized and declare publicly that you are "all in" please check the connection card this week or call the church office for more information.

What an awesome privilege to be able to follow Jesus' example and be baptized! It will be a step of faith that you will never forget.

How many acoustic clouds does Heartland have in the Sanctuary (there's a picture below if you're not sure what I'm talking about)? How many sound panels on the walls? How many windows, chairs, etc? If you know the answers to ANY of these questions, I'm either a pretty boring speaker (surely not) or perhaps you're coming to "church" because your parents make you or your spouse or significant other asked you, but you would rather be some where else. Or maybe your walk with God has grown stale.

At Heartland we pray that you would never be bored in a service; that whether you're a dedicated Christ follower or someone investigating the claims of Christ that the "hour" you spend with us on Sunday would be relevant to you and that you would meet others who have an infectious, audacious love for God that inspires you to worship Him with your all.

Seekers: you may not be sure what you think about Jesus being the Son of God and you may not believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; but I hope we display such a love for Jesus that even if you don't agree you say, "Wow, those people are audacious in their love, and in their growth; and how they serve and share is audacious. I may not agree with them, but I can't ignore the fact that their lives are changed and they have a joy and a peace and a love for God and others that is infectious!"

Believers: remember in the New Testament "the church" never referred to a building; it referred to a group of people who met together to love, grow, serve and share in audacious ways! They didn't "go to church", they were the church. That is why it grew so quickly.

So here's my challenge, when our friends and relatives, coworkers and significant others come to Heartland, let's be the church, like the first century Christians were the church and then let's watch what God will do.

It's Friday afternoon and here's what I want you to do. I want you to think about the prayers that you've prayed this week.  What were the prayers you prayed this morning?  Were they big and bold prayers, were they audacious prayers?  Were they prayers that if they were answered would radically change the lives of the people you come in contact with on a day by day basis?  Were they audacious prayers that if they were answered hundreds would come to know Jesus as their Savior? Were they prayers that if they were answered all these new converts would connect with a growing community of believers who would come around them and would equip them to grow into dedicated Christ followers?

As I think about my own prayers and then I think about how big our God is, I have to wonder sometimes, why am I not making bigger asks? Why are my prayers centered mostly on my family and on me, instead of on “Thy kingdom come”? Now don't get me wrong, every prayer is a good prayer, and God listens to every prayer. He’s concerned about every ask we make. But what would it look like if you and I would pray big prayers and make audacious asks? What if we prayed daily that God's kingdom would grow through touching thousands of hearts and transforming hundreds of lives?

Come on out this Sunday to Heartland and we’ll learn how the early Church prayed audacious prayers and because of their audacious prayers they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.