exists to...   Worship God.   Love Others.   Share Jesus.

Dear Mt. Zion Family,

In your life, do you often live in spiritual confusion and frustration or do you live in God's power? Are you tired of religion that simply leads to duty? God has so much more for each one of us at Mt. Zion - but what is it? And how do we get it? The core scripture we will look at Sunday is 1 John 2:12-14.

Tim Ritter speaks to these issues in A Passionate Pursuit of God. He writes: "Eternal life in the future tense is eternity in heaven with God. Eternal life in the present tense is to know God personally now. Eternal life in the present breaks through limitations, and experiences the best that life can offer. Many Christians miss that. We do our duty as believers, but no passion drives us; no power enables us. Sometimes our very business for God masks the emptiness we still experience. And we feel guilty for being Christian and having those feelings. But when we encounter God as He is, our lives are irrevocably transformed. As we craft our lives to better know Him, we move from religion to relationship, from duty to passion, and from frustration to power."

I don’t know about you but I must admit that I'm enjoying this football season more than any in a real long time. So this Sunday, we'll be looking at a Biblical truth found in a lesson from football. Vince Lombardi coached the Green Bay Packers to win the first 2 Super Bowl games. They won 6 division titles and 5 NFL Championships. He once started a practice by telling his championship team "this is a football." In our spiritual life, there are some basics just as there are in football. This Sunday we’ll be looking at what God has to say to us about growing in His power and passion. Practice starts at 10:10 Sunday morning. (That's 10:05 Lombardi time!) Come prepared.

Because He lives,

Ken