Theme for 2018 - Surrender by Charles Stanley

THEME FOR 2018

In times like these, we want to change the world. Or at least if we’re honest, we would like the world to be different than it is. We look around—in our local communities, our country, and beyond—and we see many problems, brokenness. Though we may have pursued every earthly solution, we still find ourselves angry, joyless, and afraid. No matter what we do, nothing really changes—not for long, anyway. Yes, there are problems in the world. But there’s one problem that’s not “out there” somewhere but within each of us: the hardness of our hearts. We want to change the world, but first we must change ourselves. We need to surrender. It’s a word the world understands to mean failure, defeat, giving up. But for followers of Jesus, it’s the beginning of victory. We surrender to His will and ways, inviting His kingdom to be fully established in our lives—its principles and culture permeating every aspect of who we are. We lose our lives so that we would gain Christ’s, and come to resemble Him so completely in the process, that the world around us begins to change as the Holy Spirit leads us to deeper levels of humility, sacrifice, compassion, and forgiveness. Maybe we’ve spent years in churches, small groups, and prayer meetings. Perhaps we believe that we’ve already surrendered fully to Jesus, but the way we conduct our daily lives—often indistinguishable from those who haven’t yet embraced Christ—shows otherwise. What would happen if all Christians decided to fully surrender to Jesus Christ every hour, every day of their lives? What would it look like if our homes and businesses became vibrant outposts of God’s kingdom? In 2018, join us in exploring the freedom, power, and victory of a surrendered life.