We kicked off a new series this weekend titled All In. We’re challenging NCCers to push all their chips to the middle of the table and go All In with God. I think many of us HOLD OUT on God because we think we’ll MISS OUT on what the world has to offer. But the truth is this: if you’re holding out on God, you’re the one who is missing out. It’s not until we go All In that we discover the full extent of His grace and power.

In my experience, the will of God doesn’t get easier. It gets harder. It gets more complicated and less convenient. That is certainly true of pastoring National Community Church. It was less complicated and more convenient when we had one service at one location, but praise God for the complications that have accompanied His blessings.

Too many Christians have a relationship of convenience with God. They will obey as long as it’s convenient, but the moment it becomes inconvenient they compromise. And that’s where we get stuck spiritually. But the more we’re willing to inconvenience ourselves, the more God is able to accomplish through us. An out of wedlock pregnancy was inconvenient, but Mary gave birth to the Messiah. Shipwrecks are inconvenient, but they didn’t keep Paul from going on three missionary journeys. And there was nothing convenient about Jesus’ lifestyle! Are we called to follow in His footsteps?