Devtional: August 4

Good morning Element Church! Hope you guys have had a great week so far! I got the opportunity to preach this past week in Forest City and I loved the thought that came out of the beginning of Romans 12 that I got to share! The big phrase that really jumped out to me was in verse one it says, "in view of God's mercy!" Paul then goes on to say that we should give ourselves up, be transformed, and be able to know God's will! It is amazing to me that Paul uses the word mercy here; chapter 12 is a transition in the book of Romans from the theological to the practical side of the Christian faith! The first 11 chapters are all about what we believe in as Christians and lays the foundation for our entire belief system! In Chapter 12 he could have used anything to make this transition, anything like the resurrection, the wrath of God, the sin of ourselves, the cross, but instead he chooses mercy! This impacted me this week, the fact that Jesus' mercy was for me as Romans 5 says, when I was at my worse, when I could bring nothing to the table, when I was an enemy of Jesus, that is when he died for me, that is when he was spit on, that is when he was a servant! WOW! "In view of this mercy" let's offer ourselves as empty vessels to do his work Element Church, be people that are compassionate and slow to anger! On a side note, often a good gauge of spiritual temperature is how quickly someone gets irritated and how easily discouraged they are! Let's be a church that has a long fuse and an audacity to stick things out! I love you all and I am praying for you guys! Walk in the Spirit today and choose mercy! Can't wait for Sunday!

--Jeff Marburger

Set List: August 5

Gladiator: Week 5

Shelby Campus--Mackenzie Wray, worship leader
Go--Hillsong United
Our God--Chris Tomlin
Hungry--Kathryn Scott
A Mighty Fortress--Christy Nockels

North Campus
Majestic--Lincoln Brewster
Always--Kristian Stanfill
Comatose--Skillet

South Campus
All Things New--Brett Younker
Our God--Chris Tomlin
I Found A Love--Jesus Culture