"Hitting the Target: What Do You Want?"

Welcome to February!  Suddenly, it’s snowing again, so for those of us who like that, it’s great to be back in wintertime again... though for those of us who don’t like that, it’s hard to be back in wintertime again...

Nonetheless, we all stayed nice and warm here at FCC this past Sunday -- and some of us stayed all day, since we hosted our annual Super Bowl party on Sunday night (and watched an excellent game on the giant screen TV projected against the wall).

We also started up a new Adult Sunday School class this week, looking at Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi.  We just did the introductory work this week, looking at the background and cultural atmosphere of Philippi, so it’s not too late to jump in and join us next week as we crack open the letter itself.

Oh, and remember that we’ll be hosting our annual Valentine’s Day Dinner this coming Saturday evening.  I’m betting that you could still get tickets if you contacted Sara Diemer -- but even if you can’t come, please do keep that evening in prayer.  It’s intended to be a fundraiser for our Youth Group, but it’s also an opportunity for our teens to grow their hearts in serving others, as well as an opportunity for us as a church family to reach out to others by inviting them to the event.

In our message this week, we began a new sermon series looking at “Hitting the Target” in life.  When I took archery in college, my teacher was very “zen” about the whole thing, reminding us constantly that archery was at least as mental as it is physical.  You can have the best bow in the world, but with no technique, you’ll never hit the target.  You can have the best technique in the world, but if you don’t aim at the target, you’ll never hit it.  You can try aiming at the bullseye, but before you do, you need to know just what exactly you’re trying to accomplish -- are you just trying to get a decent grade, are you just trying to shoot an arrow, or are you trying to hit the target?  Deciding precisely what you’re wanting focuses your aim.

The same is true in any part of our lives.  Before you do something or say something or decide something, stop and think about what you’re actually trying to accomplish by it -- what’s the end goal here?  When Solomon was asked what he wanted, he said that he just wanted wisdom and discernment -- he wanted the ability to discern right from wrong.

Perhaps that’s a good place for all of us to start when we’re trying to hit a target in life.  More than just following our hearts or figuring everything out with our brains, it’s crucially important to discern what the wise move is -- what honors God and reflects His glory.  Emotive people are blown around by every breeze, and stupid people don’t understand what they’re doing, but foolish people don’t care about what’s right or wrong -- they only want what they want -- and that’s not the kind of Christians we want to be.

So stop and discern what you’re trying to accomplish today, and pray that God gives you the wisdom to do it in ways that honor Him.