Last Saturday I talked about our core value “Choosing Connection as a Family of God.” Blazing Fire is not a business or a place for strangers to gather each week without really being known. It’s a family. We may not have been able to choose the families we were born into, but we get to choose each other. Does that mean we’re always going to agree or that being in relationship is going to be easy? Not always. But as we grow, we realize the value of staying connected to each other even when things are difficult.
Sometimes our pain wants to take the driver’s seat and can cloud our vision. When that happens, disconnection and isolation seem really tempting. It’s gonna take courage and a tender heart to choose connection in the face of fear. There is nothing passive about it. Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died and your life is hidden with Christ.” The verb“set” in Greek means to make an ongoing decision. As connection with each other becomes our goal, we learn to make an ongoing decision in our hearts to choose love instead of disconnecting. I want to encourage you that God’s endless supply of grace will empower you to make connection a priority!
Our Father’s intention from the beginning of time was to have a family. I feel extremely blessed to call you my family (my tribe) and I’m grateful I get to grow in deeper relationship with you.
With love and appreciation for you, Karena
This Saturday, Feb. 7th, we’ve indicated it was our desire to present to you these three things:
1) A fresh perspective on the Vision of Blazing Fire and how you might see yourself in helping us fulfill our vision.
2) Presenting to you a “Covenant of Belonging to the Blazing Fire Family” along with opportunities to process the information in a smaller setting over the coming weeks.
3) An update on the building search for our Blazing Fire family to have a place of our own where God can be Himself!
When we originally chose Feb. 7th as the date of this presentation, we were going to cover points 2 & 3 above. However, in the process of preparing, God awakened our hearts in a fresh way to His purposes for Blazing Fire (point #1 above) that we wanted to add to the other two.
It recently became clear that this is far too much to absorb in one night and far too important to “fly” through. Therefore, this Saturday, Feb. 7th, we will cover our Vision and Building Update and on Saturday, Feb. 28th, we will present the “Covenant of Belonging to the Blazing Fire Family.”
I so appreciate being on this exciting, challenging and rewarding journey with you!
Pastor Brent
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