During the 2017 Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays, intrepid adventurer Betty Wade Jones traveled to Seattle, Colorado Springs, and Boston to spend time with her children, Sarah Elizabeth, Blanton, and Hall, and their families. Upon her return, Betty Wade showed me a spiral notebook from a Bible Study she attended at Sarah Elizabeth’s church. It’s a study called Chase the Goose by Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C.
Pastor Mark notes that Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit: An Geadh-Glas, or “The Wild Goose.” He says, “The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed … I can’t think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Holy Spirit through life. The truth is, most of us have no idea where we’re going most of the time. That’s unsettling, but circumstantial uncertainty goes by another name – adventure … Have we clipped the wings of the Wild Goose and settled for something less than God intended? Are we missing out on what God created us to experience?”
Pastor Mark says that while trying to remove the risk and struggle that arises from following Jesus, we may end up as caged Christians. We are comfortable, but at what cost? Deep down most of us long for something more in our spiritual lives. He identifies six cages which keep people from living the spiritual adventure God designed for us: Responsibility, Routine, Assumptions, Guilt, Failure, and Fear.
On April 29th during morning worship, we will begin a series on the Wild Goose and the cages that Pastor Mark outlines in his Bible study.
- April 29 – Introduction to the Wild Goose and Cages
- May 6 Cage #1 – The Cage of Responsibility
- May 13 Cage #2 – The Cage of Routine (Mother’s Day)
- May 20 Pentecost – Celebrate the Birthday of the Worldwide Church/Welcome New Members
- May 27 Cage #3 – The Cage of Assumptions
- June 3 Cage #4 – The Cage of Guilt
- June 10 Cage #5 – The Cage of Failure
- June 17 Cage #6 – The Cage of Fear (Father’s Day)
God is constantly working God’s plan behind the scenes of our lives and our world. Chasing the Wild Goose is about learning how to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit as you seek to discover God’s will for your life. Come to worship April 29th as we begin the Chase the Goose series, and hear how you can pursue God with excitement and passion along paths you may never have expected.