Fellowshipchurch.com

I don't know how familiar you are with Ed Young Jr. and his church Fellowshipchurch.com in Grapevine, TX., but I was watching him on T.V. Sunday morning as I was getting ready for worship and he had a great lesson on Lust. Yes, you read that right lust. He didn't just mention lust, the entire 30 minutes he was talking about the sin of lust. I thought to myself when was the last time I heard a sermon on that subject? But in typical Ed Young style he did the lesson in a creative way.

He used 6 points all ending in "ize" to represent eyes. He showed the progression from first being Tantalized (tempted to look), then Plagiarize (Satan takes what God has made good and puts his own spin on it), third is customize (Satan knows what is the weakness of each person). I liked how he compared Satan's strategies to fishing lures each meant to attract a different type. Then he said "but Satan does not practice catch and release." Fourth was vandalize ( God's best is taken from us) Then he talked about positive actions we can take: Mobilize (do not let your eyes linger) He used Job 31:1 "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl". He actually had the boldness to suggest that people not subscribe to movie channels and said he does not channel surf as a way of guarding his own heart. His final point was Realize. His text was I Corinthians 10:13 that we realize that with every temptation God provides a way out.

You can actually view this sermon at http://www.edyoung.com/watch.php

Several years ago our staff at Richardson East went to the Creative Church Conference that Fellowship Church has each year (and is now taking on tour). I remember that Ed showed a video of a sermon that he gave in which he told his congregation that over the weekend while he and his wife were at a spa they had a chance encounter with Celion Dion and she had told them she was looking for a church to attend while she was in Dallas. So as he started introducing her and showing her picture on their large screens, the crowd was going wild and standing on their feet applauding. He then said "Not". He said "imagine if you can get that excited about a person like Celine Dion what it should be like to know that Jesus Christ is here in this building today how will you celebrate His presence?"

If you are wanting some insights into how to "think outside of the box" you might want to check out Ed Young's website at www.fellowshipchurch.com. His Creative Church Conference tour dates are also available on the site.