By Pastor David Neuen
Perhaps the greatest magician in history, Harry Houdini emigrated from Hungary to Wisconsin when he was 4 years old and began his fascination with thrilling illusions and wonders of the mind. He struggled during his early years in show business but he caught a break in 1899, when entertainment manager Martin Beck booked him on a tour of the United States and Europe. Beck coached Houdini to make escapes a central part of his act. Harry began challenging audiences to tie him up or lock him in handcuffs. He promoted his shows by staging escapes from local jails, usually after being strip-searched and put in shackles by police. In one stunt, he jumped into a Rochester, New York river with his hands bound behind his back. As history reveals, the routines were a huge success. Houdini became widely known as the “King of Handcuffs.”
None of us want to find ourselves in lock and chains. We wish we could magically find release. But sadly we get stuck in routines, shackled by past mistakes and current frustrations, and we have no thought of escape. We lock ourselves up going through the motions trying to please others and live up to outside expectations. We fall short into discouragement and defeat.
God created us for more. The Holy Spirit is working in our lives to provide for a new start and space to grow into the person God imagines you and I can be. The presence of Jesus is working to shake up faith that is lukewarm and bring hope to those tangled in mistakes. He wants to show us what true devotion can be.
If he was editing your life, What Would Jesus Undo? What changes would Jesus make to bring release and freedom for a life given fully to God? Join us for a new worship series starting January 20 as we discover the locks in our lives that Jesus wants to undo, so that we can live an authentic faith.
1/20/2019 - Undoing Indifference, Revelation 3:14-21 1/27/2019 - Undoing Hallow Worship, Romans 12:1-2 2/3/2019 - Undoing Hypocrisy, Matthew 23:1-7, 23-28 2/10/2019 - Undoing Pride, Luke 18:9-14 2/17/2019 - Undoing Insecurity, 2 Peter 1:3-11 2/24/2019 - Undoing Hopelessness, Ezekiel 37:1-14