Saturday, March 29, 2008

Friday, March 28, 2008

Learning to Celebrate

8"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Luke 15:8-10 (NIV)

Today I watched the videos from Unleash 2008 at Newspring Church. Perry Noble is a great speaker and during one of the sessions he used the parable of the lost son. One of the things he mentioned was Celebration for new believers. It really hit me that sometimes I don't get pumped up enough about someone finding Jesus for the first time. That's something I need God to help me with. I get excited on the inside, but for some reason I just can't show it all the time on the outside. How about when God just does something really cool in someone's life? Do I get excited about that? Probably not like I should.

I get excited when my Braves win a game, my favorite Bull rider gets that 8 second ride, or whenever David Cook from this season's American Idol nails another song pushing him towards winning the season. If I have that much excitement over these things why can my excitement for new believers not exceed that by great lengths.

In these verses, God says this

10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Even for just one new believer the angels have a party in heaven for them. Perry talked about God not caring if we recycle or who gets elected next or even if we boycott Disney. He's interested in finding those who are lost. He looks for each and everyone of us and if we just reach out to Him He will find us.

That's my prayer is that I will celebrate more whenever God does something cool in people's lives - especially when He finds them for the very first time.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

He is Risen

Easter Sunday was great. We had a good crowd and worship was awesome. Here is Sunday's set list.

3/23

My Redeemer Lives - Hillsong
When I Survey / Wonderful Cross - Chris Tomlin
You Are My King - Billy Foote
Here I Am to Worship - Tim Hughes

I introduced the song Lead Me To the Cross by Hillsong United during the time of response. Our band will hopefully start working on that soon. I need to find some upbeat songs to start working on. We are wearing out the ones we know. If you know of any great female worship leaders out there for me to check out their stuff please send them my way.

God is good all the time. All the time God is good.

I'm trying to remain FAITHFUL so He can make my FAITH FULL.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Good Friday thoughts

2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Hebrews 12:2-4 (NIV)



Today is Good Friday. A day where we should reflect upon the death of Christ. If you watched the movie the Passion of the Christ, it only gives you a glimpse of what Christ endured on the cross for you. He went through so much that I could never comprehend the hardships He faced that day. Even if it was just one person He needed to do it for, He would have done it.

There was a time on the cross when God could not even look upon His own son. This is because Christ became sin. God had to turn away as Christ paid the price for my sin. I'm so grateful for all Christ has done for me in my life. I can't imagine living my life without Him. He is the only way to heaven.

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

I often have to remind myself that no matter what I go through in this life, Christ suffered much more. Even if I suffer persectution about my faith, I have not died for it yet. There have been so many who have died in the name of Jesus Christ and I admire those people. Is that something that I could do? I couldn't say for sure, but I would hope that if ever in that situation, I would die for my Jesus.

The good thing about the Easter story is that it does not end at the cross. Three days after his death, Christ rose from the grave. That is the best part of all. My God is alive.

So as you go through this Easter season, remember Christ died on that cross for you. He did it because He loved you and He wants you to live with Him for eternity. Christ told his disciples that He did not come into this world to condemn or judge the world, but to offer a way out of the judgment that would someday come. That judgment day is coming and I hope that Christ will be able to stand up for you.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Sunday's set list

Last Sunday was a good time of worship. Here is the set list for Sunday 3/16.

Trading My Sorrows
Famous One
Hear My Worship
Be the Center

Looking forward to Easter Sunday.

Friday, March 14, 2008

God will supply

"You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus." Phillipians 4:19
(the Message)



God will take care of me I know. I'm hoping things are going to finally come together her in a few weeks. I'm not holding my breath yet, but i think it's somewhat starting to come together. In the meantime, I'm just going to keep trucking along until it does. I know he'll supply my needs but he may not always supply my wants.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Passion week is coming

Sunday was a pretty good day in church. Considering we lost an hour of sleep we had a pretty full crowd. Here's our set list for Sunday.

Meet With Me
Enough
You Alone
All who Are Thirsty

I love those last two because of the arrangement we do. They just flow together so smoothly.

we will be finidng out the fate of our building this week and hopefully see about getting some help from the association in finding a new place to worship. I really do love this church and hope that if things do work out, we'll be able to grow and offer some more ways to do Bible study. We'll just have to wait and see.

During our Bible study on Sunday, I was looking through the gospels because I was just bored. I'm being honest here. I use the Life Application Study Bible and i think it is something every Christian should get in order to study God's Word. One of the things that was listed in there was the events for Passion week. Next week (some call it Holy Week others call it Passion week) is the week before we celebrate Easter. I plan to read the Scriptures they have listed in the study guide in order to remind myself of what happened as Christ prepared for His death, burial, and resurrection. I will try to list the Scriputures for you to read as well if you chose to do so. I challenge you next week to reflect on what Christ did for you on the cross and to celebrate the fact that He is alive today.

I am still praying about my future and what God's next step is for my life. I will just have to try to continue being patient and keep walking daily with Him.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Just what I needed to hear

1 Thessalonians 5:24
God, who calls you, is faithful; he will do this. (NLT)

Romans 12:12
Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful. (NLT)


It's so amazing the Scripture you need to hear at exactly the right time in your life. God is always showing me how great He is whenever I get verses in my daily inbox from a particular organization that are what I need to hear at that moment.

Things are up in the air right now with life. About a month ago, I finally let go of some things and said "Ok God whatever happens next I'm with ya." I don't know what my future holds, but I sure know who holds my future. Last night, I just had a really cool time with God. It's not often that I have those special moments and I'm really thankful whenever I can truly feel His arms wrapped around me.

God is gonna take care of me no matter what happens in my life. It's possible I may be moving on to a new adventure, but I don't know 100% about a particular situation. I should have a little bit clearer picture within a week.

For now, I am just gonna be glad for all that God is planning for me and remain faithful to Him.