Greetings church family!

Growing up in Las Vegas, you learn to find ways to beat the heat.  As a child, I remember my church having get-togethers at the nearby city pool quite frequently. They were some of my favorite memories growing up.

I still remember the first Sunday our church held one of these.  I was 5 years old, and the anticipation in my spirit as my parents were driving to the city pool was quite intense.  When we arrived at the city pool, I noticed that there was a slide at one end of the pool.  To say that my excitement amplified in that moment would be an understatement!

As soon as my parents parked the car, I opened the door and sprinted through the pool entrance. I made a beeline straight to that slide.  Up the stairs I went, and down the slide I descended.

What I failed to realize was that the slide was located at the 6 ft deep end of the pool.  I also discovered that I had no idea how to swim. Sinking quickly to the bottom of the pool, I flailed and flailed in immediate panic.  All my effort was for nought.  I was drowning!

One of the spectating adults quickly jumped into the pool and brought me back to the surface. Spitting up water and gasping for breath, I was carried back safely to the side of the pool, and remained there for the rest of the day.

Proverbs 19:2 says, “Even zeal is no good without knowledge, and he who hurries his footsteps misses the mark.” 

 
With all of my passion and enthusiasm focused on going down the slide into the pool, I failed to both recall my lack of swimming ability and recognize the depth of the swimming pool at the slide’s end.  I surely missed the mark by displaying zeal without knowledge.

James and John, two of the first followers of Jesus, were with Jesus when he received a less than warm welcome from some residents of a Samaritan village. In response, James and John pled with the Savior to allow them to call fire down from heaven and destroy the village.

Join us this Sabbath as we continue the Follow Me sermon series and study the events of the lives of James and John.  We will discover that in their zeal, James and John lost sight of the heart and mission of their Rabbi.  Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save the world.  We will also discover that Jesus did not expel the zealous but mistaken brothers from his followers, but chose to love them into a transformed mindset. He would redirect their passion to embrace mercy over hate, and to spread love rather than destruction.  Isn’t it wonderful that God, in His unfailing love, doesn’t give up on us when we falter!

Remember church family, God is for you, God is with you, and God loves you!

Pastor Chris