Christianity

SABBATICAL DAY 1: ETERNAL DEFINITIONS

/ joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

I need to begin living by God’s definitions of things rather than the world’s definitions of things. I need to bring the definitions of words from eternity into the here and now. I need to begin living by those eternal definitions in the here and now.

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For instance, the Bible teaches us that the word “power” means something different in eternity than it does here. I…we must begin living by the eternal definition of the word “power” rather than living by the temporal definition.

As I begin to live by the eternal definition of all things in the here and now, the New Heaven and the New Earth, when it is finally established, will be a stepping into the presence of a long awaited friend rather than a violent shift to a new thing.

SABBATICAL EVE

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

I begin a month long sabbatical tomorrow. Yesterday was my last day in pulpit for five Sundays. I preached from Revelation 22 about THE INVITATION TO THE FUTURE.

YOU CAN WATCH IT HERE.

It was also a day of celebration. It was our church’s annual Crockpot Cookoff.

It was a great way to launch into this sabbatical. 130 people came out to try 17 different crockpot dishes. The prize went to BAGEND BEAM, one of the Sunday afternoon groups. All the crockpots were excellent.

And the community sharing life together was awesome!

This is my second sabbatical and it is shaping up to be very different from my last sabbatical. This month is a month of conferences. All this week I will be spending time in prayer at The Worship Room House of prayer as they hold their third annual growth conference. On Friday I will be heading out to Liberty Church in Shrewsbury MA for a leadership conference. Saturday I will be back at Cornerstone for our annual men’s conference. Next Wednesday I will be in Sturbridge MA for our network leadership tour. There is a prophetic conference in Springfield MA on October 17-20. I am still toying with the idea of going to that. Then at the end of the month I will be going to our fellowship’s Minister’s retreat in Plymouth MA.

Sabbatical is a time of rest, prayer and visioning for ministers. For me it is a time to find the next steps for our church and the prophetic message God would have me share in sermon form for the next few years.

I have asked all of our groups to pray for a word from God for 2025 and 2026. When I come back I will go to each group and listen to what God has told our church body about next steps.

I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS NEXT MONTH. I FEEL A STIRRING IN MY HEART TOWARDS ADVENTURE.