PHONE: Goodbook 06-10-13

In the sermon this past Sunday, I challenged people to take a phone challenge with me.  I wanted to see if you all wanted to join the fun.

The sermon was about "Fruit of the Spirit."  You can listen to the message online by clicking here: SERMON.  The main idea is that we cannot produce fruit of the Spirit by our own effort and resolve.  These are attributes of our Holy God and can only be produced in our lives through the power of God's Holy Spirit.  Our goal is to remain connected to the Spirit, or as Paul put it: "keep in step with the Spirit."  Here's an idea of how we can do that.  Who wants to try the challenge with me for this week?

"A recent study found on average people check their phones every six minutes.  We look at the time, make a call, answer a call, write a text, read a text, visit a social media site, browse the web, listen to music, check weather.  Imagine how it could transform our lives if we tuned into God’s Spirit as much as we tuned into our phone?  We could even use our phone as a reminder.

Consider this phone challenge.  What if we committed to reading a passage of Scripture each morning before using our phone?  We could read the Bible on our free Bible app or even out of the book, asking the Spirit to speak to us through that passage and guide our thoughts and actions for that day.  If you don’t know what to read, I’d love to help you with that.  What if every time we unplugged or plugged our phone into a charger, we reminded ourselves to depend on the power of God’s Spirit to battle temptation and to live the life God created us to live?  What if when we placed our phone in our bag or pocket to keep it close to us, we reminded ourselves to keep our mind and heart close to God’s love?  What if every time we paused to check what other people are saying to us via phone, text, social media, or web, we paused for a moment to check what God is saying to us?  We could reflect on the Scripture we read earlier and pray, “God, is there anything you want to say to me?  Are there any thoughts, words, or actions that I need to adjust or align with the help of your Spirit?  How are you moving and leading in my life? ”  This is a step we could repeat each time we picked up our phone.  And what if – I know this will sound crazy – what if we actually turned off our phone and other electronics for a portion of the day to focus on God and the people God has placed in our lives?"