Yesterday our pastor, Kenny Munds, preached the best sermon I’ve ever heard him deliver. It was very powerful and Spirit filled and the congregation was deeply moved. As I sat in the pew and listened I marveled at what God has done in this man’s life. When he first came to Honey Lake he was what I would describe as shaky and disorganized; he had low self-esteem, and was unsure of himself to a fault.
It would have been easy to become discouraged and just quit and go back home to what he was doing before, but to his credit he dug in and worked very hard to improve. He also prayed and waited on the Lord, and several of us prayed with him and for him. It is with absolute delight that I report that all of his hard work, prayer, and patience have handsomely paid off. His faithfulness and devotion to sharing God’s word has been lifted up to the highest level, and now he is delivering powerful messages with the best of them.
Recently I visited a friend at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was exhibiting a few mementos in his office to me and he showed me some tiny seeds encased in a glass container. He asked if I could identify them. I guessed that they were mustard seeds, but he told me they were seeds of a giant redwood tree.
Each minute seed didn’t appear much larger than a period on a keyboard and I marveled at how such teeny little seeds could develop into such magnificent trees that went on to become sky-scraping forests towering 378 feet high. These beasts live up to 2,000 years, have branches up to 5 feet in diameter, and bark that grows up to 12 inches thick.
As I was reviewing Kenny’s sermon in my mind this morning Kenny reminded me of a giant redwood tree. He sprouted up out of that tiny little seed and became a full grown man of God.
With our limited view, it is exceedingly difficult to imagine a tiny speck that doesn’t appear as though it would ever amount to anything ever reaching such heights, but God views it with a vision that reaches into the future and sees it (and us) in mature form just like the magnificent redwood tree.
God doesn’t view us solely as we currently are; rather as what we can become through Him.
Next weekend October 12th we will have another dynamic speaker for the worldwide ministry weekend at Honey Lake Church. Her name is Kristi Overton Johnson. She has been a world Champion Water Skier for 15 years. She dominated the women’s slalom event, accumulating 80 professional wins and captured more number one world rankings than any other female skier in history. She is an 8-time US Masters Champion, 4-time US Open Champion and held the world record in women’s slalom from 1992-2010.
As a water skier she compares to a fully grown giant redwood tree in all its glory. But Kristi is not merely a champion water skier; she is a champion for God. She now has a fulltime ministry and Kristi’s testimony is not restricted to the glorious triumphs, she tells of the thousands of hours of practice and conditioning, the injuries and horrendous falls, and working through the pain that was required in order to succeed at such a high level. She tells of falling and not wanting to get back up, but overcoming that temptation and rising again. It is truly an inspiring story and you will not want to miss this service!
This morning you might be struggling with something. I encourage you to stay the course. Remember that Champions weren’t always champions and they don’t always win; they endure pain and on occasion suffer humiliation just like everyone else on the planet.
The thing that separates a true champion from an “also ran” is that champions keep the faith and don’t quit. They get back up when they fall and continue the fight time and again, and then one day they look around and they’re sitting on the top of the world.
So do you want to know what it takes to be a real life champion? Mark your calendar for next weekend October 12th at 11 a.m. YOU WILL BE BLESSED!
1 Cor. 9:24
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
October 6, 2014 – Click here to listen