How is your ‘One’? That’s a question we hope many of you will be asking one another. Pastor Donald and I are very excited to be bringing you our latest sermon series called ‘The One’. By the time you read this letter, we will be halfway through the sermon series. If you haven’t been able to catch any of the messages, don’t fear. We have created a page on our website that shows the schedule of the sermon series, weekly primer
videos and the recorded messages each week. We hope that you will take a moment to check out our new page at immanuelpalatine.org/the-one.
In this sermon series, we are attempting to reactivate the Immanuel DNA that exists within us. This DNA that I speak of is the very essence of who we are as a people. Historically, the folks of Immanuel have a natural tendency to be outwardly focused toward others. We love to be hospitable. We love to be out in our community. We love to show our faith to others in word and deed. We love to walk alongside others who are in need of Christ’s love. In this sermon series called ‘The One’, we are hopeful to inspire all of you to intentionally reactivate that powerful Immanuel DNA that exists within us!
Our hope is that everyone will pray over ‘The One’ person in your life that is not currently walking with the Lord. Perhaps this is someone who doesn’t know Jesus as their Savior. Perhaps this is someone who does know the Lord but has strayed away from the faith and is not making Christ their highest priority. Secondly, we hope that after you have identified ‘The One’ and prayed for them, that you would actively and intentionally create more opportunities for you to live life with them. This second step is the most important step of all. This is where God will use you to not only plant seeds of faith in your One’s life, but also water and cultivate those seeds. These important steps are what God will use in order to make the planted seeds of faith grow. Indeed, as the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.”
You may have noticed our 8-foot #1 just outside of the church entrance. Notice all of the names written. These are many of our Ones, whom people have committed to planting and watering seeds in their Ones. If you haven’t written down your One, I encourage you to do it. Putting something in writing is the first step toward commitment. Is your One worth committing your energy toward? By writing down your One on the big #1, we can all pray for every One listed. We have already begun to do that in each of our worship services. I pray that you will take note of some of the names and personally pray for them, too. There is power in prayer!
Finally, as you endeavor in reactivating your Immanuel DNA by investing in your One, I pray that you will ask your family members and friends at Immanuel this very important question, “How is your ‘One’?”. This is a very important question that will encourage one another as we make this a part of our daily lives going forward. By asking others this question, you are not only sparking en- couragement to that person, but also to yourselves as you each share how things are going with your Ones. In this sharing, it’s okay to have small seemingly insignificant progress to share about your One. This is how life happens. We don’t always have monumental progress to share, but at some point we will, be- cause with God all things are possible! Can you imagine how the Kingdom of God will expand by each of us engaging in this effort? Remember our mission that Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:18-20, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them all that I have commanded and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age.”
Have fun with this and enjoy watching how God makes things grow!
So……How is your ‘One’?
Pastor Warren