³⁷ When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:  ³⁸ “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”  “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

  Luke 19:37-38

  Palm leaves symbolize victory and joy among many Christians.  Jesus’ triumphal entry was seen by the people of his day as a declaration that he had come to fulfill the traditional prophecies about the Jewish Messiah.

 After this Jesus “cleansed” the Temple of Jerusalem by violently driving out the money-changers and other merchants associated with Temple commerce.  This act resulted in the Temple authorities seeking to arrest him as a threat to public order and a danger to the peace between the Jews and Rome. They succeeded in bribing his disciple Judas to betray him and were able to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, leading to his trial by Pontius Pilate and his crucifixion as a traitor to Rome.

 Gone were the Palm leaves that symbolized victory and joy.

God wants to change the world with you right now. Are you ready to get started?

You’ve seen how God uses ordinary people. You’ve seen how important it is to make time with God and the power of prayer. You’ve seen how God can use you to help.

No matter what Satan may whisper in your ear are your downfalls, you can still fulfill God’s plan for you and make an eternal difference in the world! And the world is waiting for what you can give.

There are people all over the place who need you. You may not even notice them, a kid at school who needs a friend, someone in your neighborhood who need a smile or a helping hand, perhaps a co-worker or maybe even a family member.

We change the world by loving others, by telling people that they matter and that God loves them. If the first believers in Jesus had kept him to themselves, we probably would not even know His name today.

The National Center for Health Statistics says the average life expectancy of an American is 77.9 years. That’s an average lifetime of 28,453 days. That’s a lot of days to make a difference! So don’t let another day pass without seizing the day with God and making a difference.

Here at the office we use rechargeable batteries. Why? Because if we don’t then we are constantly throwing away batteries and buying new ones. Trust me; we go through a lot of batteries.

Life’s like that. We go through a lot of “things” we think will recharge our lives. Things such as vacations, shopping excursions, food, drugs, alcohol—to recharge ourselves, to fill an emptiness, to give us a pick-me up. Because when we are feeling empty or run down we become anxious, shallow, confused, selfish, easily angered, lack compassion and more vulnerable to temptation. We begin to distance ourselves from God.

Don’t stay satisfied with that emptiness. Join us Sunday, July 24 for “RECHARGE”. Because in that emptiness I know there is a desire and passion to reconnect with God.

God is very creative–all you have to do is look around. He also likes variety. But everything He created and does has one agenda and that is a kingdom agenda which is our need for Him as our Lord and Savior. We’re chasing the Kingdom. If you’re chasing the Kingdom then know that the might of many becomes the clout of ONE-Jesus Christ. That’s real IMPACT.

Loving God…Loving Others…Serving Others is our motto at Impact. Yeah it is not very original. In the Bible it’s stated as: “You shall not have any other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3 NIV); the greatest commandment is “love one another..” (John 13:34 NIV) and “Go into all the world….” (Mark 16:15 NIV)

There are a lot of distractions these days and it’s easy to get off course. The paraphrased version just helps with keeping the focus. The better the focus, the better the impact.

While Loving God…Loving Others…Serving Others is our motto, believe me we are all about being the Gospel in work clothes. That’s IMPACT.

Since the name of our church is “Impact Church” someone asked, “What are you impacting?” Of course, my immediate response was lives. How were we doing that? By loving God, loving others and serving others. As you can imagine, trying to do that in our own strength, abilities and knowledge is fruitless. It is only by our understanding of God’s grace can “Impact” take place. Impact is not about what we are doing, it is about God’s grace. A radical grace that flies in the face of religious legalism. Sound familiar? What existed back in Jesus’ day is still with us today. What is that? People are in need of God’s grace and God’s grace is all wrapped in His son, Jesus Christ. That is why having a personal relationship with Jesus is the only way–that is radical grace. That is IMPACT!

Christmas is just a few weeks away. I know those are words that create panic for some of you. For many, Christmas is about shopping and about things that need to be done or haven’t gotten done. Christmas doesn’t have to be filled with all that stress. We make it a lot more complicated than it really is.

The Christmas Season is truly the time we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He has done so much for us, and while we could never repay Him, we do offer our lives as living sacrifices to be used for His glory.

Our Christmas sermon series is titled, “The Purpose of Christmas”. So as we celebrate this Christmas remember that we need to share the good news with our fellow co-workers, friends, and family members by inviting them to visit Impact Church with you.