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"Empty at the Pump"
Max Lucado once told a story on Spirit FM that has stayed with me. He pulled into a gas station, paid at the pump, slipped the nozzle into his car, and walked inside to grab a drink. When he came back out, he put the nozzle away, climbed into his car, and prepared to drive off—only to notice his gas gauge had not moved. His tank was still empty. That is when it hit him: he had never squeezed the trigger.
He was sitting at a gas station, with the pump in his tank, surrounded by everything he needed to be filled; and yet, he could not go any farther than when he arrived.
At some point, we all live our spiritual lives in a similar way.
We pull into the church parking lot. We sit through worship. We hear Scripture. We bow our heads in prayer. We do all the right things. And yet, if we are honest, something still feels empty. Not because God is absent. But because we have not actually squeezed the trigger.
This January, we will begin a new sermon series called Spiritual Rhythms—a journey into the spiritual practices that Christians have relied on for centuries to open themselves fully to the presence of God. Drawing from Scripture and the wisdom of voices like Ruth Haley Barton, this series is not about adding more religious tasks to your already full life. It’s about moving beyond spiritual checklists and learning how to become genuinely available to God.
These practices are not about trying harder. They are about creating space where God’s Spirit can actually fill us from the inside.
Each week, we’ll explore a different practice. Some will feel familiar: silence and solitude, Scripture, and prayer. Others may feel less comfortable: discernment, confession, Sabbath, and generosity. These are not techniques for spiritual achievement. They are postures of openness; they are ways of positioning our lives so that God can do what only God can do.
Many of us are more spiritually tired than we realize. We are busy, informed, and active; yet we remain inwardly depleted. The spiritual disciplines of the ancients invite us to slow down, to listen, to tell the truth, to rest, to notice where God is already at work, and to align our lives with that movement. Over time, these disciplines become daily rhythms, and these rhythms become less like isolated practices and more like a way of living that is sustainable and life-giving.
You will not be asked to master anything. You will not be given formulas or guarantees. You will be invited to experiment, to practice, to show up honestly, and to trust that God is far more eager to meet us and be available to us than we often realize.
If you have ever felt like you were doing all the right things and still running on empty. If you have ever wondered whether there is more to the Christian life than information and activity. If you are longing not just to believe in God, but to actually experience His presence. Then this series is for you.
This January, we’re not pulling into the station just to go through the motions. We’re learning how to squeeze the trigger and be filled.
-- Travis
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