1
It’s Time to Get Started
Eventually, we all have to have a Lift-Off moment in our lives. Yes, we need to prepare, to train, to rehearse, but if the lift-off never happens, then it’s possible we’ll have wasted our journey around the Sun. — Today can be the day that you say to God that you are ready to do something with Him this year. Today could be the day that you start to repair that relationship, improve your health, and take an actual step towards joining God in what He is doing in and around us. So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get started.
2
Who’s in Your Crew?
None of us are on this journey alone. We fly through the galaxy surrounded by 7+ Billion other people, yet amidst all of them, the feeling of loneliness is at an all-time high. It’s a wild thought that in the most connected time in human history, we can genuinely feel as though we have no one in our corner.—On this trip around the sun, you and I have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to look at who is in our inner circle. Do we have the right people helping us navigate our lives? Do we have anyone that we’ve even let that far in? At the end of the day, the people we keep closest to us and walk with through our faith journey are the people who will influence the direction of our lives the most, so you have to ask yourself… who’s in your crew?
3
This is Us
None of us are on this journey around the Sun alone. 7+ Billion people share our planet, and the truth is that throughout the World, throughout your Country, and even in your Neighborhood and church, there are people who disagree with you on the matters you hold closest. and yet… they will know us by our love. On this journey around the Sun, we can choose to be peacemakers and uniters, people following Jesus’ lead and extending the same Grace that has been offered to us. We can be the agents of reconciliation in a World that grows more divided by the day, starting with the relationships right in front of us. This is our call, this is our opportunity, this is us.
4
Boost or Bury
One time around the sun, 584 Million mile journey, what will be the banner over your journey this year? Will it be said about you that you grew in wisdom and stature? God has gifted you with opportunity, ability, and experience. This can be the year where you put them together for the Glory of God, or another year can pass by as they are so prone to do. So you have to decide; how will you steward what God has given you in 2018?
5
The Invitation is on the Table
What would it take for an invitation to wow you these days? With all of the access we have to entertainers, celebrities, and icons via social media, what invitation would seem worth it to interrupt your daily life? Most of us would jump at an opportunity to meet our favorite actor or athlete, yet we barely give attention to the greatest invitation that has and will ever come across our desk. The God of the Cosmos is inviting you today, not just to know Him (although that alone would be a miracle) but to walk with Him daily. To hear His heart, learn from His wisdom, and align your life with His vision of life. The invitation is on the table.
6
Nothing is Ordinary
Right now, at this moment, the Earth with you on it is spinning on its axis at close to a thousand miles an hour. Today alone, you will travel over a million miles while screaming through space at 67,000 miles an hour. This year, filled with celebrations, holidays, workweeks and weekends, birthdays, graduations, good times, and hard times, you will travel 584 Million miles around the Sun. The question for you is simple: how will you spend this time? As we kick off this new collection, Louie Giglio implores you not to let yourself slip into a place where you miss out on the extraordinary and let this year pass you by.
7
Amazingly Small
We are amazingly small and undeniably significant. Need proof? The sheer size of our sun, an average star in an average galaxy, is evidence enough of our smallness. In comparison, the fact that the One who breathed out that very star chose to give His life on the Cross is an overwhelming confirmation that we are significant in the eyes of Almighty God. As we continue our journey around the Sun, we can take comfort in our smallness, in our significance, and in the fact God has a plan and a purpose for each of us: to worship Him in all of His wonders. After all, if the stars were made to worship, then so will we.
8
An Astronaut’s Perspective
Astronaut Shane Kimbrough has had a perspective that few people in history have ever beheld. He has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles, flown at mind-numbing speeds, and sat in the stillness of space above the Earth, reading God’s Word aloud on Christmas morning. Through it all, Shane’s perspective and faith have remained resolute. There is an incredible Creator who not only formed the Earth that Shane orbited for six months but who sacrificed Himself on that very same planet for all of us. This is the perspective of a Jesus follower. That all around us is evidence we serve an Extraordinary God who has an Extraordinary purpose for each of us.