I can’t wait for Sunday at The Grove. Here are a few reasons:

• We had a great crowd for Easter, and will have many of our travelers back home this week. Add in those who are recovering from illness, we may have our largest Sunday of the year this Sunday. That would be great.
• The music rocks….and it means something. Which is the perfect combo for me.
• Plus………..this is where we’re going -

This series picks up after the Rescue and answers the question “What Now?”

• If you have wondered about what happens after you become a Christian….
• If you have wondered about what happens next (or if you’re just curious)…..

Then this series is for you.

We’ll explore subjects such as:

• If you’ve become a Christian, why does God leave you here?
• What’s the strategy that God uses to accomplish the “rescue” of other lost survivors
• What are these things called “spiritual gifts” and what does that mean?
  • IMPORTANT - You will have an opportunity to plug into a small group of people to explore the question of spiritual gifts and discover your own.

A busy day comes to an end and it’s time to reflect back on what transpired. Let’s start at The Grove.

We continued our series on LOST this morning. It’s built around the TV show by the same name. This week we walked into elements of the crash scattered all around the building. We had suitcases, books, articles of clothing hanging from trees and a “lean-to shelter” on the stage. It was all to create the idea of the crash that created a new set of realities of the characters of the show. The “crash” of humanity in Genesis 3 created new realities for mankind that we must also face. Here are some of the similarities and lessons learned from LOST:

• The crash resulted in injury and death
  • Our reality is that we live in a broken world. Nothing is what it should be. There are many that will look around and blame God for bad things that we experience in this life. But ever since the “crash”, nothing has been as it was intended. Sickness, pain, suffering, death are all parts of the curse of sin. And although God isn’t the cause of the brokenness of our condition, the good news is that he will show up and walk with us through the damage.
  • Romans 8:18-25
• There are many things about their circumstances that are mysterious and they don’t understand
  • Our reality is that much of what we experience in life is pretty mysterious to us. Often when we think we have it figured out, we realize all the questions have changed. Life can be very random and mysterious. And if we’re not careful, it can become very frustrating as we try to interpret life from our own point of view. I am reminded of a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that said “God is God and I am Not”. That’s a powerful truth. We need to make peace with the knowledge that if we don’t understand the circumstances, we can at least trust the Creator. I don’t understand everything about my computer, but I trust that Bill Gates knows how to make it work in ways that absolutely baffle me, and yet arrive at the desired outcome.
  • Proverbs 3:5-6 / 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:4

Read the full story

We began our new message series today at The Grove that is built around themes found in the TV show “LOST”. Our tech team (you ‘da man Todd….you ‘da man too Jim) did an amazing job this morning pulling together a large number of elements into a pretty seamless whole. We had additional dramatic contributions of our flight attendant “Kiki” (you missed your calling Janet) and our Captain “Please fasten your seat belts” Proud. And that’s not to mention some creative script writing from Paula. My son, Zach, even contributed some great sound effects. It was a monumental effort this morning to create an environment that was conducive to crashing a plane. And so many people this morning made great contributions. Here are some highlights from the message: Read the full story

I am totally amped about the next few weeks leading up to Easter. Last summer, during the days of crummy, non-interesting reality shows that litter TV during that timespan, we discovered LOST. I picked up the first disc of Season One at the rental store just to check it out (I know…we’re WAY uncool since we just started watching). Anyway, by the time we got to the end of the first episode we were hooked. Our whole family was staying up late at night to watch as much as we could cram in. If you haven’t seen it yet (which would make you more UN-cool than me), you have really missed out on one of the rare pleasures of really good TV entertainment.

LOST has really captured my attention and curiosity. AND….Beginning next Sunday (3/9), The Grove Church will use LOST, one of the most popular, intriguing programs on TV to explore our own story.

Our story is everyone’s story!

• It’s my story….
• It’s your story….
• It’s your neighbor’s story…
• It’s your best friend’s story…
• It is the story of all of mankind!

Don’t miss a week of this exciting Easter series. But more importantly, don’t come alone. Invite your friends and family. Invite fans of LOST. Invite the neighbors. Invite the neighbor’s cats and dogs if necessary. Do whatever you have to do to get them here.

We don’t want to leave anyone…. LOST!

Services begin at 10:00 am with our good friends from Trefzgers Bakery (the finest bakery in Peoria) providing goodies and coffee served between 9:30-9:55. Child care is provided. Click here for directions.