BUCKET LIST. Have you had a chance to see the movie yet? If not, it's about a blue-collar mechanic and a billionaire hospital magnate who meet for the first time in the hospital after both are diagnosed with cancer and given a death date. The mechanic begins making up a "bucket list"---things he'd like to do before he "kicks the bucket."
After seeing the movie with some of our family, we found ourselves caught up in a very healthy conversation about life and death and wrestling with the question, What would you do differently if you got the news that you only had a certain number of weeks or months to live? It wasn't morbid or heavy, but appropriately refreshing in light of the conversation it fostered.
That was the day the idea was born for our upcoming series by that title. This is where I and a great team have invested much of our time and energy over the past number of weeks working on mapping it out, incorporating relevant music selections like 'This Is Your Life' by Switchfoot and 'Say' by John Mayer. Each week of the series will also include personal stories from people we know who have had to face or are currently facing their own mortality. Sobering?! Yes---but life-changing as well! Engaging in open, honest, unguarded conversation with a few incredible people who have had to face their own mortality head-on, has been some of the richest experiences I've had in recent months.
We've also put together a small group booklet to coincide with the weekend messages. We're asking everyone to join a small group and all of our small groups at all five of our campuses to go through this study together for five weeks. We are convinced that this series has the potential to change thousands of lives!
As we recognize that our days on earth are numbered, we begin to look at life differently and more importantly, we begin to live differently. We become more authentic about who we are and more deliberate about how we spend the time we do have. Don't wait until it's too late to live for what really matters---begin praying and planning now to be fully engaged in this experience with us! Oh yea, because we really can change this world one life at a time, pray and invite someone to join you at whatever campus you attend!
