Brad Wilkerson // COC Metro

WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?

The search for significance to life, or purpose in life, is not as complex as one might originally think.  Actually, the answer to it is closer than you can imagine.  To begin the search, you must come to a point in which you acknowledge the possible realization that there is something bigger out there than you or I.
 
I personally try and live my life daily to one simple theme…“It’s not about me, it’s ALL about God!”  This is where purpose starts, where the definition to life begins, coming to a point in your beliefs that there is a GOD.  You and I were born by His purpose for His purpose.  Until we come to this conclusion, our lives will never make sense, and our pursuit to find the answer to the underlying question, What on earth am I here for?, will NEVER be answered.
 
Rick Warren said it best in his Best Selling book, A Purpose Driven Life, “God is not just the starting point of your life; he is the source of it.  To discover your purpose in life you must turn to God’s Word (the Bible), not the world’s wisdom.  You must build your life on eternal truths, not pop psychology, success-motivation, or inspirational stories.” 
 
The Bible also talks about this in Ephesians 1:11 (The Message), “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.  Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.”
 
Now this is where religion can complicate things.  Religion sometimes associates this God as someone who is impersonal, someone who cannot be reached.  That’s an inaccurate analogy of my God!  He’s highly personal and He’s very much reachable!  That’s where purpose is found, in a relationship with Him.  That’s what the intended purpose of our design was for, to connect with him in a relational way.  We are not a mistake, we are not an accident.  We find the answer to our question right here.  In order to find our purpose, you first must find God!   We are His workmanship, created to do good works that He has already prepared us to do…so Just Jump In!

USA...USA...USA...USA...USA

 
Sunday afternoon was a great day for USA golf fans.  Let me explain:  It was a day that comes around only once every two years.  That’s right, it was the final day of The Ryder Cup!  Now here is the dealio:  The Ryder Cup is a 3 day team event that pits the 12 best players in America verses the 12 best players from all of Europe.  Now, the good ole USA hadn’t won the Ryder Cup since 1999 and it didn’t look good with the number one player in the universe and of all time out with an injury.  Everyone was saying, “We are doomed to lose yet another year because the great Tiger Woods isn’t playing.”  And for some avid golf fans, (I won’t mention any names…my Dad, Luke Wilkerson) they were thrilled that Tiger wasn’t going to be there, so for once they didn’t have to listen to him being worshipped like a God by the broadcast commentators.  To say the least the USA went into the event as a huge underdog and they were given little if no chance at all to win.
 
Now all this probably means very little to most people but to me it is a pretty serious matter.  You see, my son, RYDER Payne Wilkerson, is named after two special events or people in my life.  Obviously, Ryder, gets his name from the Ryder Cup.  His middle name is in honor of my favorite golfer of all time and my childhood hero, the late and great, William PAYNE Stewart.  Here is the story:  Sarah was induced into labor on September 26th, 1999 at 1 p.m.  That was a Sunday.  We went to church and then went to the hospital right after services to get everything started.  Ryder didn’t come forth into the world until 8 p.m. that evening so for those seven hours what do you think I was doing….you're right, watching the 99 version of the Ryder Cup from Brookline, MA.  So as I was encouraging Sarah to push I had both eyes on the TV in the room cheering on Payne and the boys as they made the greatest come back in Ryder Cup history to win the coveted event.  Ryder was born that evening and I wanted to name him Payne Shark Wilkerson.  Payne from Payne Stewart and Shark from the nickname that was given to my 2nd favorite golfer of that time, Greg Norman.  Sarah would hear nothing of it.  She didn’t want him named Payne because she said, “Everyone will call him a payne in the butt,” and well I’ll let the middle name just speak for itself.  She wanted to name him something like Harrison, Jackson, or Bubba Jack.  Well maybe not the last one.  So the nurse comes in a day and half after the birth and says, “We are ready to send you guys home but you have to name this child before we can let you leave.”  Can you feel the tension in the room?  As we began to discuss this issue it pops in my head that we were watching the Ryder Cup and that great come back during her labor and delivery of this child.  So I said, “Hey, what about Ryder?”  She loved it and while she wasn’t looking or listening I told the nurse to make his middle name Payne.  The USA went on to lose the next 3 Ryder Cups and I thought that maybe I had put a hex on them but they pulled through this year and on Sunday afternoon they firmly defeated the Europeans 16 ½  to 11 ½ .  What an awesome day….I am proud to be an American golfer.
 
Now, I tell you that whole story just to get to this simple applicable lesson:
 
Doom and gloom had been put on the team from the USA because going into the event there was no Tiger Woods on the team.  I even bought into this talk and gave them little if no chance at all.  But here is what happened, the TEAM stepped up and didn’t rely on one individual to do everything.  Players like Boo Weekly and JB Holmes, virtually unknowns in the golf world, became giants in the eyes of the US fan base.  Simply said, they stepped up and relied on each other and gelled as a team.  That was what has been missing for the last 3 Ryder Cups…a team mentality. 
 
Let that be a lesson to COC.  It is not about one great player or one incredibly talented individual.  What makes any ministry great is obviously the power of God but I would add that a TEAM mindset and approach is critical as well.  We have that at COC….and Lord willing we will always have IT.  We can be the biggest underdog of all but with each other we can conquer the world.  The local church is the hope of the world but only when it is operating correctly…as a team.
 
See you Sunday!

Improve Your SERVE!

Bill Hybels writes in his book, Volunteer Revolution, “While some people move into an area of service because of an undeniable passion, others sense God calling them to an area of service in which they think they have no interest.  But when they choose to SERVE out of sheer obedience to God, they discover that He knows more about them than they know about themselves.”
 
Think for a moment and try and recall someone you might have known in your past that greatly needed something?  How did you come upon them?  What was their need?  Did you respond to that need?  There are tremendous needs all around us in the world today—from pain caused in a tragic family death, pain from marriages failing, pain from incurable diseases, children’s pain from no relationships with a Mom or Dad, pain for the homeless, or simply the pain from the storms of life.  Pain in life is inevitable, it can’t be avoided nor can it be ignored.  It’s real, and it’s hard!  It leads to specific needs that are usually unmet, creating a void in life, a gap.  
 
What if we improved our serve individually, everyday in life?  What might transpire if we were on the lookout for Who, How, and When we could meet an unmet need?  Can you just imagine the ‘ripple effect’ that could incredibly change life as we know it?
 
The Bible makes record of many incredible acts of service, none more clearly seen, than that of the life of Jesus.  His entire ministry on earth screamed service.
 
However for most of us, at the moment we see pain, we look for instant relief!  That’s why service has been stifled. If our marriages are in turmoil, we divorce.  If our teens rebel, we throw them out.  If we have pain, we find a drug to end it or ease it. Don’t underestimate why PAIN exists.   Pain is our body’s alarm system.  Pain tells us there is something that needs immediate attention.  Pain for a Believer in Jesus should lead to a more focused alertness on God, whose intended purpose is to lead us to obedience, which births more faith, which then leads to more service!  My challenge to you and God’s challenge to you is to simply, Just Jump In.  See the need and fill the need.

Humbled

Wow…I stand in awe and amazement at what the Lord has and will continue to do for COC.  Our Grand Opening / Launch day was absolutely amazing.  Thanks to everyone who had a hand in this great achievement.  I am humbled to be your Pastor and to be used of God to impact our communities for His Kingdom.

We had 184 in attendance and the worship service was incredible.  We had 9 families that visited for the very first time…obviously God is all over COC and we are doing something very right.  We then had a great follow up night on Sunday night delivering jars of salsa to these families and thanking them for coming.  After reading all the contact reports from the COC follow up crew it looks like we made a lot of great contacts.

We are officially launched and soaring.  Continue to work hard and continue to exalt Him.  The sky is the limit to what COC has the potential to do for the Kingdom.

I love each of you.  Have a great week and see you Sunday, Sept. 14th for worship at 10 a.m.

PS -- Check out the Grand Opening pictures on the right! Just click on the picture of Lauren, Tasha and Leesa.

Totally 80's

As most Labor Days go, this year was no different.  That’s right, the Jerry Lewis Telethon and your typical greatest songs of some decade countdown.  Well Classic VH1 had a killer countdown.  They ran 80 straight hours of 80’s music videos.  I know those of you under the age of about 20 don’t know what music videos are but that is actually what they used to play on MTV.  Anyway, Sarah and I sat and took in several hours of the countdown from A to Z.  It was fun to look back and remember what we were doing or what we were into when those songs were in their prime.  It also brought back memories of our dating years.  Nothing says, I Love You, like Journey’s “Open Arms”.  Oh yea, slow dancing at the school dance.  Those were the day!  Before long we found ourselves living in the past and slipping into an 80’s zone that caused us to forget the things that were on our agenda for that present day.  With a little help from our kids it was back to reality in no time flat.
 
As I think about that whole moment I am reminded that it is sometimes fun and even enjoyable to live in the past.  Hey, that’s why KLUV (98.7) is so popular.  It takes us back.  But you know as well as I know that a trip to the past must remain short because there is plenty to do in this present day.
 
When I look back on the last 27 weeks in the life of COC metro it is fun to reminisce and get lost in the great memories.  That is ok.  It is good for us to look back because it shows us how far God has brought us.  However, just as with the 80’s videos…we can’t stay there.  As we approach our Grand Opening / Launch Sunday this weekend I am so excited about our future.  I am proud of our past and all that God has done but I anticipate our future and all that He is going to do.  We can gain strength from looking back but we can also fail capitalize on our vision and future if we do not press toward the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus. 
 
Thanks God for the past 27 weeks and even the past year but I thank you as well for the days to come. 
 
In the words of the great hair band, Europe, it’s the Final Countdown!
 
3 ½ days until Launch.
 
God bless and see you at COC!