OCTOBER 6 – CELEBRATE – GROW HOPE

 Let this new song be sung; everywhere – to the ends of His earth. Go to the sea, take it to the islands and all their people. Even out in the far wilderness, and from the tops of the mountains they will sing, shouting praises. They will all give glory to the Lord God singing His praises in all the islands. (Isaiah 42:10-12)

                   Are your words full of hope? Or, do you sometimes forget from where your hope comes? Do you speak in ways that convey your fears to your people? Each celebration is an opportunity to show and inspire a hope that sustains confidence in the future. To say, “God loves,” is what enables you to love (1 John 4:19); not just to love Him, but also to love His people. In like manner, celebrating God’s work enables hope for those who are gripped by fear.

                   Isaiah delivers God’s promise that the songs that praise His work on earth will connect to the future. This means, if you sing His songs everywhere, always, to the ends of His earth, then others will inhabit this new life! In still other words, if you are faithful in praising the Lord, God, His earth will be filled with hope-giving celebration and praise.

                   So, speak optimistically, as God leads you. Be careful that your words are filled with His hope rather than with fear.

OCTOBER 5–CELEBRATE–GROW PARTICIPATION

The Holy Spirit of the Father, the Lord God, is covering me; my life. The purpose; the reason He placed that Spirit in my life is to tell the great news to the poor. The captives are now free, those who have been stumbling around blind can now see, and I bring real liberty to the oppressed and enslaved. (Luke 4:18-19)

                  Do some of your people need re-charging? You don’t celebrate just to introduce and invite new people to respond and join the effort. Celebration also promotes and grows participation for those already engaged. Remember that what you talk about as the leader is what your people will do. Your words will have a desire-shaping focus. If you stop talking about vision and values, and you stop telling and celebrating the stories of what God is doing, they will notice. Your actions and words, or your inaction and silence are watched very carefully.

                  Jesus said the Spirit was placed upon Him; “covering His life (completely),” so that He would be constantly telling and celebrating the good news. Every day brought an opportunity to shape focus on God, encourage participation, and grow people together in community. His whole business, and yours, is to replicate workers who will in turn bring more transformation.

                  Let your life be covered with the Spirit. Keep on telling the good news. See the transformation God promises as you allow Him to work through you every day.

OCTOBER 4 – CELEBRATE – GROW COMMUNITY

 When God’s people talk with each other about all He has done, the Lord, God listens. Even He makes note of how they have worked and what has been done through their work because they honor Him and put all their hope in Him. (Malachi 3:16)

                  Do your people have time and opportunity to simply be “us” together? Have you established, in your times of celebration, opportunities to focus on and celebrate the “we?” When you make room for time to appreciate what has happened because God brought you and your people together, it encourages unity. This time of celebration provides opportunity to grow in understanding the common vision and to care for and encourage each other.

                  Malachi urges, “Even He notices” when there is such community. Talking with each other about what God is doing, and seeing the work as His, is the beginning of faith. People become open and receptive to God’s provision and care. Think of all the Israelite feasts. Each one had a purpose, and common to all was that each was a reminder of God’s work in them as a people. Altars and pillars of stone dot the Israeli countryside from times that leaders memorialized God’s great works.

                  Leave your peoples’ memorials as you celebrate what God has done for “us,” the work He has done through “us.” Build a united community where the pronoun is “we.”

OCTOBER 3 – CELEBRATE – GROW OWNERSHIP

 Come, listen – if you want to know what God has done, so I can tell you what He has done for me! (Psalm 66:16)

                   Have you given your people opportunity to listen to God’s vision for you and for them, and to the values He has given you to teach? That work is very important, but it is also important for them to hear the stories of how the vision and values look when they are lived. As people hear how God has used others in their community for His purposes, they will begin to see themselves in those stories. They will understand how to show integrity in living the values and pursuing the community’s shared vision, rather than just talking about them as ideals.

                   Again, the writer focuses on what God has done. It is important that this topic dominate your words, too. When your people listen to – and celebrate - the stories, and they hear, “this is how you have lived,” and “this is how you have participated in pursuing God’s purpose,” they will begin to take ownership. The vision becomes “our vision,” rather than simply the words you have spoken. As the importance of the values become evident, they will be adopted too.

                   Speak in ways that will help your people to hear what God is doing and to embrace that work as their own.

 

OCTOBER 2 – CELEBRATE - GROW AWARENESS

 Sing, show delight, and great joy all who belong to the Lord, God. It is right for you to praise God for what He does. Praise Him using every instrument. Sing with your voice and heart your gratitude for all the new work He does. Give it your best! (Psalm 33:1-3)

                   As you notice the work God is doing in and around you, there is opportunity to help your people share in the celebration you lead to recognize God’s prosperity. Think of the many ways you can provide evidence of Jesus’ work, and call attention to Him as well as the culture He is calling you all to inhabit. You will be teaching them the patterns of worship each time you speak, “We celebrate!”

                   Here, the Psalmist says, “It is right for you to praise God for what He does.” He encourages a full-throated celebration – loud with lots of instruments and joyful gratitude. The encouragement to give it your best, and to be grateful for everything - all of what the Lord does - eliminates any doubt about the importance of this celebration. Clearly, your voice is critical to God’s plan for you and your people.

                   Celebrate loudly, publicly, and give it your best. Bring awareness to God’s purposes and His work in and through your people!

OCTOBER 1 – COMMUNITIES CELEBRATE

 The Lord, God took this man Adam, and He placed him at rest in the place that would be his workplace, Eden’s garden, so that he could work it and make it be what God had planned for it to become. (Genesis 2:15)

   Do you see your work each day as worship? Do you celebrate what the Lord, God is doing through you and your people? If you do this; working as God’s word tells you is His way for you to live, you’ll find that even the smallest details of your work will have real and lasting meaning.

   Adam was placed in the garden with a specific purpose. He and his work were an essential part of God’s plan for the world He had created, and for mankind. Notice too, the work was to be such that he could rest in it. God’s plan was to do the work that would accomplish His plan in and through Adam. Work was not intended to be hard or oppressive. It was because of sin that work is harsh (Genesis 3:17-19). Because of Jesus, work can again be restful and joyful. If you work with Him; do only what He plans for you, each day can be a day of celebration and worship as He uses you for His purposes.

   Embrace the rest Jesus offers. Pursue only His plan as your life and work has always been intended. Lead your community in celebration as you see God’s work being done.

SEPTEMBER 30 – LIVING IN THE STORY

 Nothing else matters. The only thing important is that the story is told. When that happens, I’m elated because I know my story. With your prayers and by God giving me the power of His Spirit, my ending is assured. I just hope and pray that I’ll always be courageous enough to live in Him; exalting Him. You see, for me, my story must be the story of Jesus Christ and even if I die that will lead to a great ending. (Philippians 1:18-21)

                  What does it mean to live in your story? Actors sometimes “step out of character” for a moment. This is a time when they will stop acting their role. For that period, they are no longer a part of the work to present the story. Is there a parallel for you? Do you ever “step out of your role” as leader? Do you ever fail to act consistently with your character? Are you ever too tired, or too distracted, or too worried about yourself to do what you must do to be true to your calling as the leader?

                   Paul’s one, fervent hope as he awaited trial, punishment, and even possible death, was that he would be true to the call of Jesus Christ upon his life. He wanted to be strong, and to live his life faithfully all the way to the end.

                   When you understand the story you have been given to live, it becomes the way you see the world. You will live a story each day. Be sure that Jesus is the center of that story as you face whatever your story provides.