Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Focus is a funny thing. Individual focus is where we place our attention. In our world today, so many things compete for our attention that it can be overwhelming. But without focus, we are often swept up in the things that cross our minds, the notifications that we allow on our phones, or the news / music we listen to as we take care of the day-to-day tasks.
This summer, I took time to read a couple of different books on Focus. I wanted to get better at being less distracted. I have found my ability to focus has diminished over the years, and I’m not sure if this is because I’m just getting older, or if it is also caused by other things being more exciting than what I am presently doing.
The first book I read on Focus was really helpful. It explained what focus is and also how to be better at focusing. One of the things in the book that surprised me is that focus benefits from letting your mind wander; giving yourself time and space to just space out. Why does this scatter focus help? It helps because during the times of scatter focus, your brain has time to sort, organize, and make connections. In fact, scatter focus really boosts creativity and problem solving. That is why sometimes, you just need to think on something, or let it sit on the back burner in your mind, before you can move forward. Scatter focus also helps by helping to restore our energy for focusing and helping us to decide what to give our attention to.
The same is not necessarily true organizationally. The thing that helps focus our attention in ministry is not running in different directions. Rather, we need to have a clear vision (so that we can focus). This coming Sunday, Sept. 21, I plan to talk with you during the Sunday School hour about the kingdom concepts suggested and where we go from here as a congregation.
This coming Sunday, Sept. 21, we also will be encouraged through the end of Jude, to change our focus from ourselves to our God who is able. I hope you can join us!
Please continue to pray for the nations of Israel and Ukraine and South Sudan. Here is a suggested list of prayers if you are at a loss for words in how to pray: https://send.org/story/hh_pray_for_ukraine. And https://worldrelief.org/blog-prayer-for-israel-and-gaza/ And here are other prayers for peace in general: https://worldrelief.org/prayers-for-peace-in-the-world/ Thank you for kneeling on behalf of the people of Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Gaza and Lebanon, Sudan and South Sudan, and taking a stand (or a knee in prayer) against the forces of darkness in this present age.
Further announcements can be found in the weekly spotlight. And other church wide announcements can be found in our weekly bulletin.
For Prayer:
1. From Bishop J.C. Ryle – “To be prayerless is to be Christless, Godless, and in the high road to destruction…It will always be found that when prayers are few, grace, strength, peace, and hope are small.” Please join our Wednesday night prayer meeting (7:45 – 9:00 pm) even if you can’t participate the whole time.
https://zoom.us/j/758587937?pwd=aS9sZUdxcm1janNNM2I2aXJ6Smx2QT09
Meeting ID: 758 587 937
Password: 030086
Join by phone: +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)
2. We’d be glad to pray for you. If you need prayer, you can submit your prayer request via the following link: https://www.cbcgl.org/pray/
In Christ, your servant, SDG,
Pastor Nathan Willems
Associate Pastor of CrossPoint Community – A Ministry of CBCGL