The LION CHASER’S MANIFESTO

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshipping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion!

Taken from The Community Fellowship’s series of Chase the Lion adapted from Mark Batterron’s In A Pit With A Lion on a Snowy Day.

The Real Star Trek

For Matthew 2:1-12


In 1966, Star Trek was first aired, but it lasted only three seasons. It was in syndication during the 70s that the show’s popularity grew. Then there was Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Star Trek: Voyager, and finally Star Trek: Enterprise. Each of these Star Trek television series had a different cast.

In addition to the five different Star Trek television series there are ten feature films with another one scheduled to be released in May. There is also the Star Trek animated series. The Guinness Book of World Records reports that the original Star Trek has spawned more spin-offs than any television show in history.

Star Trek has been called “one of the most culturally influential television shows – and perhaps the most influential science fiction television series – in history” (Wikipedia – Cultural Impact of Star Trek). In 1976, NASA named the first Space Shuttle orbiter Enterprise after the mother ship of the original Star Trek. There are scientists and engineers who say that they were influenced by Star Trek to go into their chosen professions.

As much impact as Star Trek has had, there is another star trek that has had even more. That’s the star trek of our gospel lesson this morning.

Note: the full sermon is posted at Sermoncentral.com.