"All things are possible”. Who believes this more? A Disney executive? Or a church leader?
From the beginning, the Disney team have been innovators. They dreamt of things that simply look impossible. They cast their minds into the future and designed concepts that had never been imagined before. If you look at their breakthrough use of animation; their futuristic transport services; their audio-animatronics wizardry; the dreams that they turned into reality - they were never tied down by the negativity of their surroundings. They were driven by a passion which made them believe that with enough perseverance; with enough imagination; with enough creative thinking - they could achieve things that had never been achieved before.
In the christian church we have all the resources of God at our disposal. We have a Master who makes the impossible possible. We worship the Lord who created the universe and who sustains every living being. We serve a mighty God who harnessed every power in the universe to raise his son Jesus from the dead. We live in anticipation of a glorious future where Jesus will return as Lord of the Cosmos and gather his people to live with him in paradise forever.
But is there any chance that there are churches that do not believe in achieving the impossible? Do we have congregations who simply keep doing things the same way - because that’s the way it’s always been done? Are we limiting our ideas to the tried and true formulas of the past? Do we demand that the emerging generation simply join in with the way we do things?
I sometimes wonder if we have erected a wall around the breakthrough power of impossibility. I suspect that in our keenness to protect the boundaries of a phrase like “all things are possible” - that we’ve created this huge asterisk that says: “conditions apply”? I wonder, in our enthusiasm to appear sensible, sober and realistic - have made the asterisk larger than the miracle?
We worship a God who has already achieved the impossible. We pray with a certain hope of experiencing the impossible. We believe in the future which is only possible through the majestic power of our great and glorious God.
As Christians, we give assent to the thought that “all things are possible”. But what would it look like if we really lived this way?
”All things are possible”.
Who has a greater commitment to this vision? A Disney executive? Or you?
From the beginning, the Disney team have been innovators. They dreamt of things that simply look impossible. They cast their minds into the future and designed concepts that had never been imagined before. If you look at their breakthrough use of animation; their futuristic transport services; their audio-animatronics wizardry; the dreams that they turned into reality - they were never tied down by the negativity of their surroundings. They were driven by a passion which made them believe that with enough perseverance; with enough imagination; with enough creative thinking - they could achieve things that had never been achieved before.
In the christian church we have all the resources of God at our disposal. We have a Master who makes the impossible possible. We worship the Lord who created the universe and who sustains every living being. We serve a mighty God who harnessed every power in the universe to raise his son Jesus from the dead. We live in anticipation of a glorious future where Jesus will return as Lord of the Cosmos and gather his people to live with him in paradise forever.
But is there any chance that there are churches that do not believe in achieving the impossible? Do we have congregations who simply keep doing things the same way - because that’s the way it’s always been done? Are we limiting our ideas to the tried and true formulas of the past? Do we demand that the emerging generation simply join in with the way we do things?
I sometimes wonder if we have erected a wall around the breakthrough power of impossibility. I suspect that in our keenness to protect the boundaries of a phrase like “all things are possible” - that we’ve created this huge asterisk that says: “conditions apply”? I wonder, in our enthusiasm to appear sensible, sober and realistic - have made the asterisk larger than the miracle?
We worship a God who has already achieved the impossible. We pray with a certain hope of experiencing the impossible. We believe in the future which is only possible through the majestic power of our great and glorious God.
As Christians, we give assent to the thought that “all things are possible”. But what would it look like if we really lived this way?
”All things are possible”.
Who has a greater commitment to this vision? A Disney executive? Or you?
Quicklinks to the five commitments:
1. Embrace your guests: Every staff member knows their real job
2. Embrace Excellence
3. Embrace the unexpected
4. Embrace the future
5. Embrace possibility thinking
1. Embrace your guests: Every staff member knows their real job
2. Embrace Excellence
3. Embrace the unexpected
4. Embrace the future
5. Embrace possibility thinking
RSS Feed
