Zach White

Welcome

Twenty-one is a reading plan we created with the hope that it will help you connect with God and prepare your heart for Easter. We’re glad you’ve opted to join us on this journey and look forward to celebrating Easter with you!

Text BEACHSIDE21 to 97000 to receive these readings straight to your mobile device every morning.

Day 10

Have you ever not been invited to a party?
Maybe you’ve seen people posting about a big party or event that you missed.
Maybe you were left off the list of friends going out to dinner.
Maybe the boss picked somebody else for the opportunity you felt you deserved.
Maybe the coach selected others for the team.

Most of us know what it’s like to be left out or uninvited. It can be awful. 

Maybe that’s why Jesus is so intent on teaching his followers to be inviters.
He doesn’t want anybody left out.
He longs that all be invited, that everybody discovers the gift of grace he gave to the world. His compassion compelled him to teach his followers to be inviters. 

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.’”

— MATTHEW 9:36

Plenty of people need an invitation. If you know Jesus, you have unlimited invitations to hand out. Apparently, people are ready to be invited. The harvest is ready. The workers, the inviters, are scarce. What might happen if we all started inviting? We might incite some partying. Check this out . . .

“If one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the missing one till he has found it? How delighted he is then! He lifts it onto his shoulders, and home he goes to call his friends and neighbors together. ‘Celebrate with me!’ he cries. ‘I have found my lost sheep.’”

— LUKE 15:4–6

Jesus told that story in an effort to illustrate what happens in heaven when just one person understands God’s love and meets the Savior. A party breaks out.  Celebration ensues. It’s a big deal to God when people who need him meet him. And he lets you and me carry the invitations. That’s a big deal. We’ve got a big job. 

So if you know Jesus and you want to invite people to the party, maybe this week you can start to make your guest list. Then take some time and make praying for your invitees a regular part of your week. 

Jesus wants you to be a harvest-gathering, sheep-finding, party-starting inviter.
Start some parties.
Triple dog dare. 

Welcome

Twenty-one is a reading plan we created with the hope that it will help you connect with God and prepare your heart for Easter. We’re glad you’ve opted to join us on this journey and look forward to celebrating Easter with you!

Text BEACHSIDE21 to 97000 to receive these readings straight to your mobile device every morning.

Day 7

Jesus followed God’s backward path to greatness and we can too.
We all want to be special. We all want to be great.  

While we may not want to stand on a stage or be recognized by millions, we all want to be great in our own right and in our own way. 
You want to be a great mom.
You want to be a great friend.
You want to be a great fashion designer.
You want to be known for your charitable heart.
You desire deeply to be a great teacher, husband, artist, businessman or businesswoman, nurse, leader, follower, pastor, or athlete.
You have your way that you want to be great.  

Nothing in you walks around hoping to be average or below average or terrible. We don’t desire insignificance. We don’t long to be unimportant and menial. We long for greatness, which makes it so awesome that God has a plan for greatness. 

It’s no surprise that as the men following Jesus witnessed his power through healings and other miracles, they began to feel pretty good about themselves. They had been invited into Jesus’ inner circle! 

Within the inner circle of the inner circle, a debate began to form. They assumed they were great because they had been called to follow him so closely . . . but who was the greatest of the great? 

As they walked one day, that debate was at the center of their conversation. 

Of course, Jesus caught wind of the conversation and wanted to give clarity to the actual path to greatness. He sat them down and said this: 

“Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

— Mark 9:35

Can you imagine the looks on their faces?
“Wait, what? Hold up. To be first, I have to be last? To be great, I have to be nothing?”
That’s so backwards. 

But Jesus followed God’s backward path to greatness and we can too.
Jesus became nothing, dying a criminal’s death on the cross. 

And that made him the greatest of all. 

So what is making you great today? Is it your success? Is that what makes you great? Or is it the moment you die to yourself and become a servant to those around you? 

You can be great today. You know you want to be.
So become no big deal as you make a big deal of someone else. That’s what makes you great. 

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We would love for you to join us for Beachside Online this morning at 9:30am or 11:00am. We’ll see you then at Online.Beachsidecc.org!