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Well, the
excitement has begun. On February 6, which is
Ash Wednesday, we officially begin our church
wide campaign entitled -10 Days of Purpose.
This program was created by Rick Warren, the
pastor of the Saddleback Community Church in
Lake Forest, California. He is the pastor
of one of the fastest growing churches in the
USA, and the reason is simple. The people
in his church know their purpose. His
church empowers people to grow spiritually, to
know God's purpose for their life, and then to
put all this into practice. He calls it
the Purpose Driven Life.
Rick Warren then
took his church's genius and put it into a
program so he could share it with other
churches. Hundreds of thousands of churches from
around the globe have conducted this program
with amazing and blessed results. His book
titled The Purpose Driven Life, which is the
centerpiece of the campaign, has sold millions
of copies and has been on the New York Times
Bestseller list for years. Simply put,
this program is awesome.
But the dilemma
about doing anything of great merit, it takes
time. For Forty days during the season of
Lent, Sampson's Mills is asking you to do four
things:
- Devote
Daily ... Rick Warren's book The Purpose
Driven Life is divided into 40 short
devotions, one for each day during the
campaign. Each one of these should take
no more than 20 minutes a day. We have lots of
these books available. Ask Sara!
- Meet Weekly
... Host Homes and Small Group Facilitators
have been set-up throughout the congregation
and during a wide array of times. Currently
there are ten homes available for Small
Groups. These meetings should take no more
than an hour and a half per week.
- Worship
Weekly ... Come to worship each Sunday
during Lent. These services are an integral
part of the campaign. We'll have PowerPoint
presentations, sermons from the center of the
chancel, sermon outlines, special music, and
dramas. You are not going to want to miss one
week. These services will take about an hour
and ten minutes.
- Memorize a
Scripture Verse Weekly ... For each week,
one very important verse will be selected, and
we will ask you to memorize it. We'll even
practice together!
All this will
take place for only six weeks. Just think ...
the average life span is 25,550 days.
Don't you think
it would be wise to set aside a very small part
of 40 days to figure out what God wants you to
do with the rest of them?
For more
information about how to get involved with the
40 Days of Purpose Campaign during Lent at
Sampson's Mills, please contact Pastor
Bruce Byers or Sara Hackett at
412.678.5355.
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