I hate road construction. Take the Fortify Project on the Beltline in Raleigh. The DOT's thrown a massive monkey wrench into my commute to and from work. And because of it, I totally avoid that section of highway.
But lets face it. Road construction and maintenance is necessary. In the end, all of the hard work on the highway is going to make it a lot easier for me to get where I’m going.
Did you know that the Bible talks about road construction?
Back in the ancient Middle East, before kings and emperors hit the road, they would send out construction crews ahead of them to get the road ready.
Their job was to fill all the potholes, straighten out the curves, and freshly pave the highways. Maybe even build a road where there was no road before.
That’s why the prophet Isaiah talked about the arrival of God’s Son and like he worked for the DOT.
Isaiah 40:3-5 reads, "Clear the way through the wilderness for the LORD! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! Fill in the valleys and level the hills. Straighten out the curves and smooth off the rough spots. Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and the people will see it together.” (Is 40:3-5 NLT).
Isaiah was encouraging folks to do everything possible to get ready for a personal appearance by God and the first arrival of Jesus.
It’s VERY similar what we do in First Impressions here at Hope Community Church. We just turn it upside down.
God sends people to His church every weekend. And they come in all flavors. Believers. Unbelievers. Disciples. Seekers. Doubters. He gives those of us serving there the privilege of filling in the valleys and leveling the hills. Straightening out the curves and smoothing off the rough spots.
How do we do that? We take away all the distractions and all the stuff that gets in the way of folks meeting Jesus.
Bill Hybels says church should be "a safe place to hear a dangerous message.” The Gospel is dangerous. A relationship with Christ rocks your world and turns your life upside down.
We needed a safe place on our first visit here at Hope back in 2009. My wife Debbie and I were already followers of Jesus. But the day we pulled into the church parking lot, we were beat up and bruised.
Over the past 15-plus years, we had been part of three consecutive church plants that closed. We basically washed up on the shore like survivors of a shipwreck.
That’s just when Jesus used the folks of First Impressions to come to our rescue. God used them to welcome us from the moment we got out of the car. We didn’t realize how burned out we were until the FI team rolled out the red carpet for us as first time guests.
It became obvious that Hope was a VERY safe place. They filled in the valleys. Leveled the hills. Straightened out the curves. Smoothed off the rough spots. God has put us in position to play big part in making it safe for everyone who walks through our doors.
Let's do absolutely everything to remove all distractions. There’s too much at stake. Let’s do the hard work of spiritual road construction. Once we do everything we can to remove stuff that gets in the way, folks have a better chance of hearing the Good News and meeting Jesus.
That’s why we smile. We provide a place to park. We open doors. We answer questions. Maybe even give them a hug. We tell people that they matter to God. We tell them we’re really glad they’re here.
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