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| Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. – 1 Peter 5:7 After I hit my own rock bottom, God gave me a choice: obey Him or don’t. No inbetween. I spent so much of my life skirting the edge, giving an overt nod to God in appearance but not in reality. When God brought me to the end of myself, He didn’t give me any wiggle room. My only options were to obey or not. So I did. I disclosed all my junk. I started attending recovery meetings. I found a sponsor, began working the twelve steps. Actually went to counseling with a counselor who would hold me to my word, even when my word sucked. I recognized my powerlessness. Agreed that only God could restore me to sanity and then promised to turn over my life and will to Him. To obey. Step four required that I take a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself. By doing so, I faced all my flaws, my defects of character, and my ingrained fears. I obeyed God by opening myself up to Him. So what now? My counselor, Ken, drew a chart for me. A cross, actually. He put me right at the center, with my wife on the right and my kids on the left. He explained that God’s love for my wife and family flowed through me to them. When my vertical relationship with Him was broken, it negatively impacted my wife and kids. Damn, that didn’t feel good to hear. Ken reminded me to obey God and repair that vertical relationship. Only then would I see God’s impact on my wife and kids through me. The inbetween time stunk. I had to build trust in Him, even when I couldn’t see the results or know the timing. After three years, I’m a work in progress. He didn’t take my character defects, fears, flaws all away. A lot of them remain, but some of them don’t. Some of them disappeared over time…my pride, selfishness, identity in my job. Others require me to trust Him and depend on His strength. Things like my economic insecurity, concern for my boys and their relationship with God, my deep seeded resentments. Life for me continues inbetween…inbetween my obedience and His deliverance. In that time, in the now, my trust grows. Notice I said grows…not finished. Grows…still in progress. How do you handle the inbetween? Do you trust Him without seeing the results? Have you decided to obey and develop trust later? This week, Sean leads us in a message of the inbetween. Join us on Saturday in expectation of His deliverance on Sunday. What to expect: We are a service of recovery and a community of hope. Expect impactful worship songs, a time of celebration and sharing of our milestones, and a testimony of spiritual awakening. When: Every Saturday at 5:30 pm Location: The Fellowship (in the Loft), 22765 Westheimer Pkwy, Katy, TX 77450 Childcare is available. Pre-notification is not necessary but is requested. For more information about childcare, email us info@theprodigals.org. Give: We need your support! Give to the Prodigal. Use your smart phone and text your donation. Send a text to 28950, and type the keyword PROD, a space and the amount you wish to give. You will receive a text response for your name, address and account information for one-time registration. An email confirmation will be sent to confirm your donation. Next time, you simply send a text with the amount – and it’s complete. Come home, prodigals! – Keith B. |
Prodigal
Be Known – This Saturday at Prodigal
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Prodigals – Come Home!
Why Would God Choose Me?
In the aftermath of Harvey and all its devastation, I have been overrun with survivor’s guilt. Why didn’t I have the damage and heartache that my friends and family had? Why did I not have to deal with the struggles that my neighbors are dealing with now? Survivor’s guilt isn’t the same as having to dig out from under three feet of water in your house. It has been real just the same. My pastor gave me a great word that his wife told him as he was experiencing the same type of guilt. Maybe God chose us to minister to those who were impacted. I know so many of you have been ministering and ministered to over the past few weeks, with much more to come. Thank you for what you have done and are still doing for our community.
What to expect: We are not a church, we are a service of recovery and a community of hope. We have an exciting service planned this week.
Kim will be giving her testimony so come and support her as she shares her story.
Brian is going to deliver a message on Gideon. Like so many that God chooses, Gideon was a most unlikely candidate to carry forth God’s message, the weakest man of the weakest tribe. In our weakness, we are dependent on God’s strength, just as Gideon was dependent. Come listen as Brian celebrates God’s faithfulness.
Expect impactful worship songs, a time of celebration and sharing of our milestones, and a testimony of spiritual awakening.
When: Every Saturday at 5:30 pm
Location: The Fellowship (in the Loft), 22765 Westheimer Pkwy, Katy, TX 77450
Childcare is available. Pre-notification is not necessary but is requested. For more information about childcare, email us info@theprodigals.org.
Don’t forget to stop in at Kosmos Coffee Shop at the Fellowship before and after service. They are open just for us!
Come home, prodigals! This Saturday!
The Prodigals Recovery Service in Katy Falls Short ….
… and this is a GREAT thing! THIS is what church should be but many are too concerned with production value and broadcasting of the services and fail to be “real” when it comes to spreading the Gospel, the dirty, beautiful Gospel of Jesus Christ and His power of redemption. It “falls short” because it is not trying to live up to the production standards of some of the churches in the area who pride themselves on “entertainment” rather than spreading the message of God’s love and our redemption.
Those of us in recovery will sometimes walk into our church service thinking that others are looking at us with downcast eyes; Pharisees? This is especially true early on in recovery when we have just been “found out” or rumors spread of our marital or personal problems. We fear that these “normal” people are without addictions or compulsions and look down upon us that struggle with these issues. We feel that the people in this room have never committed adultery, been black-out drunk, or used illegal drugs. We fear that these people have never sinned; at least not like us. This, of course, is not the case at a Prodigals service. Those that attend this service are all broken, are all sinners, and are all loved by God. This is because we are not blind to the fact that we are sinful and selfish people. For most of us attending this service, the 12 Steps have taught us this about ourselves; we are no longer blind. Performing a deep and thorough inventory of who we really are has enlightened us of our character and leaves us with no choice but to turn to Jesus and His power to set us free.
The setting is fantastic, intimate and inviting. The worship music is tailored to resonate with addicts and the broken. It cuts to the core of our want and need for redemption and our cry out to the Lord to heal us from our affliction; to free us from our self-imposed bondage. Freedom. Along with the praise and worship music, a testimony is given in this service which adds to the welcoming environment needed by those of us in recovery. We feel like we are not alone after hearing a testimony to which we can relate. The short but effective sermon is one that we can also relate to. It typically includes recovery-related themes with recovery-related language. It also is raw, unblemished, and truthful. They are not afraid to share of their brokenness or of their addiction. They are not afraid to speak truth to those of us who are listening. And they rejoice at having been restored from a life of addiction and compulsion to where the Lord can now use them for His good purpose.
If you are in any recovery program and feel like you don’t “fit in” at your church, I encourage you to visit the Prodigals service and see for yourself how powerful the experience can be worshiping the Lord with other recovery individuals. Even if you are comfortable at your own church like I am, visit the Prodigals and experience a different side of praise and worship and the Word of God with your fellow recovering members. Experience hope! It is an experience you won’t soon forget.
Prodigals information is written below:
Location: Loft Worship, Student Building of The Fellowship
Date: Every Saturday Evening
Time: 5:30PM
Website: http://theprodigals.org/
