Are you stuck in your comfort zone?

This is a question God is asking me.  

You see I attend a church called the Vineyard and I have received a great deal of healing there.  I began attending the Vineyard in 1999 and I was a beat-up leader looking for a place to hide.  Instead I found a church that believes being a follower of Jesus means you "Do the Stuff" that Jesus did.  A church that believes in seeking healing for our physical, emotional and spiritual wounds.  A church that empowers people to use their spiritual gifts for service of others.  A safe and encouraging church. 

In 2006 I graduated from Vineyard Leadership Institute and was ordained in the Association of Vineyard Churches, USA. I have been waiting for God to show me a clear vision of what He wants me to do with my training, my spiritual gifts and my ordination.  I have become very comfortable with attending the Vineyard in Overland Park, KS and all of the opportunities it has brought me to serve.

I moved to a small town called Louisburg, KS in 2004 and have come to love our small community and I am looking for ways to serve here.  Soon after moving here I ran into a young man, Erik Kingsley, who pastors the New Life Family Church.  It seems that over the past five years God kept creating opportunities for Erik and me to bump into each other.  We have had great talks about how to reach the those who do not attend church in the Louisburg area. 

Yesterday, we had one of those vision setting sessions and Erik challenged me to consider changing where I attend church.  I told him I would think and pray about it.  As I drove off I prayed for God to show me through my wife, Kat, what He wanted.  I felt pretty sure that the answer would be to stay at the Vineyard and continue to wait for doors to open there.  I knew this because Kat loves the Vineyard and would not want to move.  I was comfortable in knowing that. 

After our men's group last night I went home and shared with Kat the discussion I had with Erik. Without hesitation she said, "I would have no problem going to church here in Louisburg as long as it was at the New Life Family Church.  OOPS!  Now my comfort zone was not only being shaken but turned upside down.  

Do you find yourself comfortable where you are?  I am not asking about being comfortable with what church you attend and I am not encouraging you to change where you attend church.

My questions to you are:

"Have you found the pew or chair you sit in each Sunday so comfortable you never do anything else but sit each Sunday, listen to the sermon and never move outside of the walls of your church to serve others?"

"Do you find the group you run with more comfortable than seeking those who need a friend?"

"Are you more comfortable staying where you are than maybe hearing what God wants you to do and doing it?"

These are the questions God is asking me and with this post I believe He is now asking you.  I encourage you to get your butt off the chair, dust off your talents and spiritual gifts and go out and get your hands dirty with the lives of those in need.  

I believe that God has a blessing waiting just beyond our comfort zone. Get up and move beyond your comfort zone and find that blessing.