Beyond Sunday...

The message was challenging, the worship was inspiring and spending time with friends was encouraging.  You loaded your family up in the car and headed home with the best intentions about living out your faith during the week.  But, between Sunday morning and Saturday night, life happened.  You know “life” – the business of work, travel, friends and children (and all of the commitments to school, sports practices, music, dance, scouts and everything else…).  These and whatever else we try to cram into our weeks seemed to crowd out the hopes we had for doing Kingdom work during the week.  We roll back into our church gatherings on Sunday, wondering what happened.  And then, the cycle repeats itself – over and over and over.  I’m not sure there is any one way to break this cycle, but I have found a reality in my weeks that has helped me to address this.  During the week, most of us have moments each day where we are transitioning from one task to the next and we have the question, “Ok, what’s next?” go through our heads.  This question that flashes through our mind can become the catalyst to living our faith beyond Sunday.  Here’s what I mean – take this moment and use it and the next 45 seconds to re-center and re-focus your day.  Here are four questions you can ask yourself in this moment (or any moment) that can help move your faith beyond Sundays:

1.)  Who am I in the Lord?  The essence of this question is to remember that you belong to the King and you are here, on earth, to help build His kingdom.  You are chosen for today, for this moment, so make choices like you know it.  Don’t fall victim to Satan’s lies, telling you you’re not good enough or that you don’t matter.  You belong to God through His son Christ.

2.)  What is God calling me to do/be?  Have you ever considered why do you live where you live or work where you work?  Why was your son or daughter placed on that team or given that teacher?  What message did you hear recently that you knew was speaking to you?  Remember, your life is filled with purpose – living God’s purpose, so know the answer to this question.

3.)  What gifting/resources has God given me to fulfill His calling?  We are gifted and talented far beyond what we know.  God has given us everything we need to accomplish His calling in our lives.  Take a moment and recognize the equipping you received.  This will help us be bold in answering the last question…

4.)  What is the next step for me right now?  What is the next decision, choice or “thing” I need to do – right now, in this moment?  Do I need to change my focus or my priorities for today?  How can I better align myself with what God has called me to do?  Asking the first three questions can help us to better answer the question we are already asking ourselves: what’s next?

Four questions.  45 seconds.  How different would our weeks be if we took the time to ask these questions throughout our week?  Together, let’s move from good intentions to faithful living beyond Sunday.