The Paradox of the Incarnation... Merry Christmas

"Infinite, and an infant.
Eternal, and yet born of a woman.
Almighty, and yet hanging on a woman's breast.
Supporting a universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother's arms.
King of angels, and yet the reputed son of Joseph.
Heir of all things, and yet the carpenter's despised son."

-Charles Spurgeon

Caroling at Palm Gardens

Palm Garden of Gainesville
227 S.W. 62nd Boulevard
Gainesville, FL 32607

we'll meet in the parking lot just before 5 so we can sing to the folks during their five o' clock meal

then we'll head over to a soup dinner & bonfire

Immanuel means God...With...US

Live in a realizing sense of the Lord's presence. Do not be satisfied with a religion of which this is not an essential element. Seek to live in this atmosphere, and in no other. Go nowhere, and indulge in no recreation from which your Lord will be absent. O be jealous of His presence! Let not worldliness, or levity, or coldness thrust Him from your arms. And should you walk in darkness, or wade through affliction, or battle with Satan, unconscious of the sustaining, cheering presence of Emmanuel, yet fear not. He is nearer to you than you imagine. Unseen, unheard, and unfelt, Christ is still at your side, "A very present help in time of need." He knows your sorrow, sees your difficulty, is acquainted with all your mental despondency and spiritual distress, and presently your tear-dimmed, cloud-veiled eye, shall be open, and you shall see Emmanuel at your side, in all the benignity of His love, and in all the might of His power. Soon we shall realize this presence in glory, unshaded by a cloud, unmingled with a tear. No more darkness, no more grief- no more sin, and no more separation- "Forever with the Lord." Walk in the sunshine of this blessed hope, and you shall walk in the light of life. ---Octavius Winslow (more)

How God's grace meets us in our sufferings

How does God’s grace meet you in your sufferings? We can make
the right answer sound old hat, but I guarantee this: God will surprise you. He will make you stop. You will struggle. He will bring you up short. You will hurt. He will take his time. You will grow in faith and in love. He will deeply delight you. You will find the process harder than
you ever imagined—and better. Goodness and mercy will follow you all
the days of your life (Ps. 23:6). No matter how many times you’ve heard
it, no matter how long you’ve known it, no matter how well you can
say it, God’s answer will come to mean something better than you could
ever imagine. --David Powlison

Joseph's SOng

Have you thought lately of the place Joseph plays in the life of our King Jesus? I've always thought Michael Card's song rings true:

How could it be this baby in my arms
Sleeping now, so peacefullyThe Son of God,
the angel said
How could it be, Lord? I know He's not my ownNot of my flesh, not of my bone
Still Father let this baby be The son of my love

Father show me where I fit into this plan of yours
How can a man be father to the Son of God
Lord for all my life I've been a simple carpenter
How can I raise a king, How can I raise a king?

Elisabeth Moore Matthews

7 pounds 10 ounces
20-21 inches

They are calling her Elise! Mother and child are spending tonite (Tuesday) at home.

Jesus took your tears and made them His own

From the very beginning, two thousand years ago, the followers of Jesus have always maintained that he took the tears of the world and made them his own, carrying them all the way to his cruel and unjust death to carry out God's rescue operation; and that he took the joy of the world and brought it to new birth as he rose from the dead and thereby launched God's new creation. --NT Wright

safe & happy baby Matthews girl is born!

details Tuesday!

Christmas Gift Idea

What do you give that person who has everything? Perhaps you give clean water to people in Africa, in honor of your friend/family member/co-worker???

It is difficult to argue whether or not a person should have clean water. It is also difficult to deny the equation: $1= clean water for 1 person for 1 year.

more at www.bloodwatermission.com

A Moral Imagination

"We will need to nurture in our children (and ourselves!) a moral imagination which can distinguish between prudence and prudishness."

quote from Steven Garber in an article about movie-watching, Don't Leave Your Brains at the Door

What is a "family" worship service

We are having a "family" worship service on December 24th at 10am, and again on 31st. What does this mean? Basically:
1.) no long sermon
2.) no childcare except for wee ones
3.) entire service is singing & scripture readings
4.) the noise of children is expected (and appreciated, for the most part)
5.) the entire service lasts 50 minutes

Jesus, King of the World

Thinking today of in our worship service, people from:

USA
Canada
Puerto Rico
Cuba
Australia
Guatemala
Texas!

and these are just the ones I (Rob) personally know of and can remember to mention

sunday december 17

ZERO nada NOTHING at 9am
10am worship service in theater (children's church during sermon for K-2nd grade)
child care for ages 4 and below throughout the service

Chrisianity 101

"If there is, among the distinctive articles of the Christian faith, one which is basic to all others, it is this: that our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man for our salvation. (F. F. Bruce)

Membership Class for Children

Please be aware that Frank & I are teaching a new members class to children in early 2007. There is PREP work for parents to do... and registration! So check it out.... here

http://www.christcommunitychurch.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=276

The Virgin Birth, a Miracle

Sunday I will be preaching on...

"Why the Virgin Birth is Necessary"

and i won't have time to go into depth about Miracles in general.... so i will post some stuff this week.... Batting Leadoff, CS Lewis:
The Grand Miracle.
One is very often asked at present whether we could not have a Christianity stripped, or, as people who asked it say, 'freed' from its miraculous elements, a Christianity with the miraculous elements suppressed. Now, it seems to me that precisely the one religion in the world, or, at least the only one I know, with which you could not do that is Christianity. In a religion like Buddhism, if you took away the miracles attributed to Gautama Buddha in some very late sources, there would be no loss; in fact, the religion would get on very much better without them because in that case the miracles largely contradict the teaching. Or even in the case of a religion like Mohammedanism, nothing essential would be altered if you took away the miracles. You could have a great prophet preaching his dogmas without bringing in any miracles; they are only in the nature of a digression, or illuminated capitals. But you cannot possibly do that with Christianity, because the Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion being that what is beyond all space and time, what is uncreated, eternal, came into nature, into human nature, descended into His own universe, and rose again, bringing nature up with Him. It is precisely one great miracle. If you take that away there nothing specifically Christian left. There may be many admirable human things which Christianity shares with all other systems in the world, but there would be nothing specifically Christian. Conversely, once you have accepted that, then you will see that all other well-established Christian miracles--because, of course, there are ill-established Christian miracles; there are Christian legends just as much as there are heathen legends, or modern journalistic legends--you will see that all the well-established Christian miracles are part of it, that they all either prepare for, or exhibit, or result from the Incarnation. Just as every natural event exhibits the total character of the natural universe at a particular point and space of time; so every miracle exhibits the character of the Incarnation. Now, if one asks whether that central grand miracle in Christianity is itself probable or improbable, of course, quite clearly you cannot be applying Hume's kind of probability. You cannot mean a probability based on statistics according to which the more often a thing has happened, the more likely it is to happen again (the more often you get indigestion from eating a certain food, the more probable it is, if you eat it again, that you again have indigestion). Certainly the Incarnation cannot be probable in that sense. It is of its very nature to have happened only once. But then it is of the very nature of the history of this world to have happened only once; and if the Incarnation happened at all, it is the central chapter of that history. It is improbable in the same way in which the whole of nature is improbable, because it is only there once, and will happen only once. (God in the Dock pp. 80-82)

Pascal and the movie "Crash"

This summer i watched CRASH. What a movie! This film does a tremendous job of helping you see that every person is both remarkable and repulsive. As Pascal put it:

It is dangerous to let a man recognize too clearly how much he has in common with the animals without at the same time helping him to realize his greatness. It is also unwise to let him see his greatness too clearly without realizing his baseness. It is even more dangerous still to leave him in ignorance of them both. So it is advantageous to draw attention to them both.

Every person you have seen today. Every person you'll see at the Mall this Christmas. Dignity beyond our imaginations b/c they are image bearers of the eternal God. Every person you saw in church yesterday, especially those two pastors!... depraved beyond your imagination and in need of the blood of Jesus. Schaeffer called us glorious ruins.... broken & beautiful.

Extending God's Grace through Christmas Blessings

Over the past several weeks CCC has generously been pouring out Gods love to others. Here some ways this has taken place not to say look at us BUT more to say see GOD in us.

Operation Christmas Child- 101 boxes sent- huge thanks to Bonnie Hall and Leslie Marshall

CCC Christmas Event- 345$ offering collected to be given to Arbor House Ministries for unwed mothers here in G-ville

Work day at Arbor House and church house. Many great hands on things accomplished but many relationships developed too.

Women’s Christmas night collected many items for Ronald McDonald house.

These are all formal events there are many more people that are reaching out in lots of different ways that I cannot mention here or don’t even know about.

It is exciting to see the awareness and passion grow to extend God’s grace to others in some many ways.

Haiti Haiti Haiti 9am sunday

come to the media center to experience a multi-media presentation as steve and mo omli and kevin phegley report on their recent trip to help the Church in Haiti

Jan 3:16 (Haitian Creole Version)
Paske, Bondye sitèlman renmen lèzòm li bay sèl Pitit li a pou yo. Tout moun ki va mete konfyans yo nan li p'ap pedi lavi yo. Okontrè y'a gen lavi ki p'ap janm fini an.

The Prophet Isaiah advent readings

Friday, Dec. 8 Isa. 3:8-15

'Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him.'-Isaiah 3:10

It is well with the righteous ALWAYS. If it had said, 'Say ye to the righteous, that it is well with him in his prosperity,' we must have been thankful for so great a boon, for prosperity is an hour of peril, and it is a gift from heaven to be secured from its snares: or if it had been written, 'It is well with him when under persecution,' we must have been thankful for so sustaining an assurance, for persecution is hard to bear; but when no time is mentioned, all time is included. God's 'shalls' must be understood always in their largest sense. From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, from the first gathering of evening shadows until the day-star shines, in all conditions and under all circumstances, it shall be well with the righteous. It is so well with him that we could not imagine it to be better, for he is well fed, he feeds upon the flesh and blood of Jesus; he is well clothed, he wears the imputed righteousness of Christ; he is well housed, he dwells in God; he is well married, his soul is knit in bonds of marriage union to Christ; he is well provided for, for the Lord is his Shepherd; he is well endowed, for heaven is his inheritance. It is well with the righteous-well upon divine authority; the mouth of God speaks the comforting assurance. O beloved, if God declares that all is well, ten thousand devils may declare it to be ill, but we laugh them all to scorn. Blessed be God for a faith which enables us to believe God when the creatures contradict Him. It is, says the Word, at all times well with thee, thou righteous one; then, beloved, if thou canst not see it, let God's word stand thee in stead of sight; yea, believe it on divine authority more confidently than if thine eyes and thy feelings told it to thee. Whom God blesses is blest indeed, and what His lip declares is truth most sure and steadfast.

- Charles Spurgeon

Emanual:God is with us Christmas offering

This Thursday night during the CCC Christmas event at Oak Hall that begins at 7 to 8 pm, there will be an OFFERING taken. ALL of this MONEY will go to ARBOR HOUSE MINISTIRES, a local Christian ministry that we support.

Arbor house focuses it's ministry to unwed mothers, providing them with resources, a place to stay, counseling and more during this their time of being with child and helps them beyond getting back into the world with a child.

Please consider being a financial blessing to this Gainesville ministry this Christmas season through the offering tomorrow night. You can write checks to CCC or give cash- all the money will go to support them.

Tomorrow Night 7pm

An hour of Christmas music & Scripture readings for the whole family.

spurgeon hymn

Charles Spurgeon wrote a verse in a communion hymn,
“What food luxurious loads the board,
When at His tablesits the Lord!
The wine how rich, the bread how sweet,
When Jesus deigns theguests to meet!

Tradition

G.K. Chesterton:

Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of death.(Orthodoxy, pp. 64-65)

Isaiah 1 commentary

Not only feel sorrow for the sin committed, but break off the practice. We must be doing, not stand idle. We must be doing the good the Lord our God requires. It is plain that the sacrifices of the law could not atone, even for outward national crimes. But, blessed be God, there is a Fountain opened, in which sinners of every age and rank may be cleansed. Though our sins have been as scarlet and crimson, a deep dye, a double dye, first in the wool of original corruption, and afterwards in the many threads of actual transgression; though we have often dipped into sin, by many backslidings; yet pardoning mercy will take out the stain, Psalm 51:7. They should have all the happiness and comfort they could desire. Life and death, good and evil, are set before us. O Lord, incline all of us to live to thy glory.
matthew henry

women's christmas party

This group was runner-up last night. We can't publish a picture of the winning team because they are already struggling with pride and being pictured here as champs could be their undoing!
Several pictures here

7pm Thursday Night

Still, Still, Still is what you heard y'day in the worship service.

That and more, including solos and scripture readings. Thursday nights one hour program begins at 7pm in the Oak Hall Theater.

word for the day...

puckish \PUHK-ish\, adjective:
Whimsical; mischievous; impish.

No one has ever seen God...

2 times in the bible this phrase is used... No one has ever seen God...

John 1:18
No one has ever seen God;
the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.
1 John 4:12
No one has ever seen God;
if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Once God's answer to his "unseen-ness" is Jesus, and once it is... His church loving each other!

With Whom Do We Commune in Communion?

The Lord's Supper is not all about you and your private relationship with God. Its about your vertical relationship with God of course, but it is also about your horizontal relationship with your fellow believers as well. We have been reconciled to Christ corporately, and one of the functions of communion is to bind us to each other. --Ben Witherington

WORK DAY for Women children and men

Just a quick update for the confused- Workday which is Sat from 8-12 am is for everyone who is willing. Men women and children.

There are 2 work sites.

1 - is at Arbor House doing some yard work and decorating the house for the single pregnant moms. Tamara Johnston is the contact. She would love to have you join the group that is going. Call here for more details. 332-5403

2-Church Property.- leaf blowing, tree/bush cutting, bathroom fixing, lights to be worked on -great fellowship and fun together. show up at 8 with work gloves, saws, bush cutters, and anything else you meet think would be helpful. Call Frank for more. 275-2687

hope to see you there rain or shine

Nativity Movie that comes out Friday

from al mohler

My family and I attended a media screening for The Nativity Story last night. Here is my instant review -- the movie is in season and on message. In other words, the movie faithfully presents the main thrust of the Christmas story. That is no small achievement.

Christ the Matchmaker

“For the Christian, there are, strictly speaking, no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you” can truly say to every group of Christian friends, “You have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another!” The friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of all the others.” --C.S. Lewis

Vows

1. Do you acknowledge yourself to be a sinner in the sight of God, justly deserving his displeasure, and without hope, except through his sovereign mercy?
2. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and savior of sinners, and do you receive and trust him alone for salvation as he is offered in the gospel?
3. Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes a follower of Christ?
4. Do you promise to support the church in it's worship and work to the best of your ability?
5. Do you submit yourself to the government and discipline of the church, and promise to strive for its purity and peace?

These are the vows people take to unite themselves to Christ Community.

Pray for Mo

Please pray for Morrow Omli. She caught the
dengue fever while in Haiti. After going to ER last night, she is now resting at home. Pray for strength, healing, and joy.

Plethora of Haiti Pics

Gatornation rolls on in Haiti... click here to see pics at website

devotional thoughts on isaiah 1:1-9

During this Advent/Christmas season you are encouraged to read through the first few chapters of the writings of the prophet Isaiah. I will seek to post some devotional thoughts on each section.

Isaiah 1:1-9, Reading for Sunday December 3
The prophet's name--Isaiah-- signifies, "The salvation of the Lord;" a very suitable name for this prophet, who prophesies so much of Jesus the Saviour, and his salvation. God's professing people did not know or consider that they owed their lives and comforts to God's fatherly care and kindness. How many are very careless in the affairs of their souls! Not considering what we do know in religion, does us as much harm, as ignorance of what we should know. The wickedness was universal. Here is a comparison taken from a sick and diseased body. The distemper threatens to be mortal. From the sole of the foot even to the head; from the meanest peasant to the greatest peer, there is no soundness, no good principle, no religion, for that is the health of the soul. Nothing but guilt and corruption; the sad effects of Adam's fall. This passage declares the total depravity of human nature. While sin remains unrepented, nothing is done toward healing these wounds, and preventing fatal effects. Jerusalem was exposed and unprotected, like the huts or sheds built up to guard ripening fruits. These are still to be seen in the East, where fruits form a large part of the summer food of the people. But the Lord had a small remnant of pious servants at Jerusalem. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. The evil nature is in every one of us; only Jesus and his sanctifying Spirit can restore us to spiritual health. --Matthew Henry

Parental Reminder

More info here:... but bottom line...

Childrens Christmas Rehearsals:



Monday, November 27: 5:30-7:30pm, Pizza dinner provided. Held @ the Church House

A Psalm for giving thanks.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his; [1]
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

The Bible: A Biography of Song in the Church.... giving props

I failed to mention on Sunday where i got the overview of song and music in the bible. I was using work done by Reggie Kidd in his book With One Voice. Here is an excerpt...


In the biblical history, ironically, music begins outside the
covenantal line as God’s gift to nonbelieving Jubal. But song
eventually comes to mark the most significant of moments in
the relationship between Israel and Yahweh, Israel’s redeeming
Lord. In fact, over the course of Old Testament history, singing
emerges as a sure gauge of Israel’s relationship to the Lord and
the progress of her redemption.
Yahweh parts the Red Sea and the children of Israel sing, play
instruments, and dance. Just before Yahweh takes them across the
River Jordan, lest they forget what is going on, Moses teaches the
Israelites a song about who is waging the upcoming campaign of
conquest. Singing gets built into the covenant relationship both
as fortification for battle and as warning against faithlessness.

(you can read chapter one of this book here)

or you can read the rest of this little riff here

Psalm 98....

Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord
A Psalm.

Oh sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The Lord has made known his salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.

4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody!
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!

7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who dwell in it!
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills sing for joy together
9 before the Lord, for he comes
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.

We get questions

Recently i was asked what i thought of the term "free will".... well, per usual--my homey JI Packer says it the way i would if i was (were?) smarter and knew more of my bible and history...

FALLEN HUMAN BEINGS ARE BOTH FREE AND ENSLAVED by J.I. Packer
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? JEREMIAH 17:9
Clear thought about the fallen human condition requires a distinction between what for the past two centuries has been called free agency and what since the start of Christianity has been called free will. Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and others spoke of free will in two senses, the first trivial, the second important; but this was confusing, and it is better always to use free agency for their first sense.
Free agency is a mark of human beings as such. All humans are free agents in the sense that they make their own decisions as to what they will do, choosing as they please in the light of their sense of right and wrong and the inclinations they feel. Thus they are moral agents, answerable to God and each other for their voluntary choices. So was Adam, both before and after he sinned; so are we now, and so are the glorified saints who are confirmed in grace in such a sense that they no longer have it in them to sin. Inability to sin will be one of the delights and glories of heaven, but it will not terminate anyone’s humanness; glorified saints will still make choices in accordance with their nature, and those choices will not be any the less the product of human free agency just because they will always be good and right.
Free will, however, has been defined by Christian teachers from the second century on as the ability to choose all the moral options that a situation offers, and Augustine affirmed against Pelagius and most of the Greek Fathers that original sin has robbed us of free will in this sense. We have no natural ability to discern and choose God’s way because we have no natural inclination Godward; our hearts are in bondage to sin, and only the grace of regeneration can free us from that slavery. This, for substance, was what Paul taught in Romans 6:16-23; only the freed will (Paul says, the freed person) freely and heartily chooses righteousness. A permanent love of righteousness—that is, an inclination of heart to the way of living that pleases God—is one aspect of the freedom that Christ gives (John 8:34-36; Gal. 5:1, 13).
It is worth observing that will is an abstraction. My will is not a part of me which I choose to move or not to move, like my hand or my foot; it is precisely me choosing to act and then going into action. The truth about free agency, and about Christ freeing sin’s slave from sin’s dominion, can be expressed more clearly if the word will is dropped and each person says: I am the morally responsible free agency; I am the slave of sin whom Christ must liberate; I am the fallen being who only have it in me to choose against God till God renews my heart.

Old Guys Continue Turkey Bowl Dominance

In both the Division I game and the Division I-AA game the older fellas came out victorious y'day on a glorious afternoon for football.

The injury report is beginning to roll in... i (rob) type this with my middle finger "buddy-taped" to the ring finger... i know matthews has a gash in his hand... and rumor has it that the old guys had an IBUPROFEN party after the game... feel free to send in your aches and pains

great job putting TB4 together: b.schackow, m. o'neal, s.donovan

When God Sings...

When I think of the voice of God singing I hear the booming of Niagara Falls mingled with the trickle of a mossy mountain stream. I hear the blast of Mt. St. Hellens mingled with the a kitten's purr. I hear the power of an East coast hurricane and the barely audible puff of a night snow in the woods. And I hear the unimaginable roar of the sun 865,000 miles thick, one million three hundred thousand times bigger than the earth, and nothing but fire, 1,000,000 degrees centigrade on the cooler surface of the corona. But I hear this unimaginable roar mingled with the tender, warm crackling of the living room logs on a cozy winter's night. --John Piper

Agnes' Birthday Party Story

Here

God throws a party

“We must banish from our minds forever any thought that God admits us begrudgingly into his kingdom, as though Christ found a loophole in the law, did some fancy plea-bargaining, and squeaked us by the Judge. No way! God himself, the Judge, put Christ forward as our substitutionary sacrifice, and when we trust him, God welcomes us with bells on. He puts a ring on our finger, kills the fatted calf, throws a party, shouts a shout that shakes the ends of creation, and leads in the festal dance.” --John Piper

Haitian Gators Discovered

Mo & Steve Omli found out the Gatornation is quite large!

Our text on Sunday

Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall never again fear evil.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing. --Zephaniah 3

“Think of the great Jehovah singing! Can you imagine it? Is it possible to conceive of the Deity breaking into a song: Father, Son and Holy Ghost together singing over the redeemed? God is so happy in the love which he bears to his people that he breaks the eternal silence, and sun and moon and stars with astonishment hear God chanting a hymn of joy.” (Spurgeon)

2 pictures

A story from Haiti trip taken by our folks

This young girl came to the medical clinic with 104 degree fever. We immediately gave her IV fluids suspecting she had meningitis. We prayed for her healing.
At our request, she returned for 2 more days to receive additional IV fluids. She always wore a beautiful dress. Her temperature returned to normal after the third day, and she left clinic with a candy bracelet and a smile on her face.

(more stories to come... kevin phegley, and mo & steve omli travelled to haiti this month on a medical/construction trip)

should we get married?

such a good question... and i'm glad to have THIS resource on our website to help people who are asking this question and working w/ people who are asking that question

How Can I Keep from Singing?

These next 2 sundays we are focusing on the role of song in Scripture and in the Christian life... while preparing I have found numerous quotes and hymns that you might be helped by

What tho' my joys and comfort die?
The Lord my Saviour liveth;
And though the darkness round me close,
Songs in the night he giveth.

No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that Rock I'm clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing? --composed during Civil War, by Anne Warner

Turkey Bowl IV

College age boys versus older fellas

immediately after the worship service--Sunday November 19... bring your clothes!

Community Groups Why we need them part 1

As a new blogger-recently introduced by Roberto- I figured I would focus on one of the key areas we are continuing to grow in at CCC- Community Groups

While there are several great groups already going- why is there a need to start more?? The biggest reason lies in the word Fellowship which is a commonly used word in the NT. This word is used to describe our relationship with Christ and our relationship to each other as the body of Christ.

It denotes something that is vital to a Christan's spiritual health and central to the church's true life... The church, CCC included, will flourish and Christians will be strong only whin there is fellowship.

more to come, please join us on Sunday mornings in the hour before church if you would like to study this idea more. I am leading a study on this topic then-all are welcome.

Interesting, to me at least

On am850 this morning they interviewed someone with UF who reported that there are about 6,000 non-Americans (aka "internationals") enrolled at UF. Almost 1000 of these are from two countries, China and India.

What does it look like for the Christ's Church to respond appropriately to these "visitors" among us? What role does CCC play in that? What role do you play?

And yes, now is great opportunity to praise God for granting Sid Gaitonde new life in Christ. How rich is Christ Community due to the addition of this native of Mumbai? Yes, very.

D'ship Course -- last mtg

lessons 15 & 33
mtg at oak hall

FOUND: bible & shades

Recently found at Oak Hall
1 small bible
1 pair sunglasses

write to lizette AT christcommunitychurch DOT com if you think we found something that is yours

Great Hymn... posted in bite size portions this week

Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow Thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou from hence my all shall be.

Christians and Tipping... Ouch

"I had an up-close and extremely personal view that night of how many people see American Christians. I hate to admit that my co-workers were right when they told me the “Church table” would be one of the most frustrating things I would encounter at my job. Now, because of the way my colleagues have been treated Sunday after Sunday, their hearts have been hardened to the message of Christ. I’m fortunate that I came to the truth earlier in my life and have the realization that not all who call themselves Christians actually follow the principles of Christ, or for that matter have any clue whatsoever what those principles are."


The full post is here.

Elder Training Nominations... what's next?

The next step in the process that we've been walking through is for the men who were nominated, and their wives, to meet with Rob Pendley & Frank Matthews. An honest discussion of life situation and the training process will help determine if God is calling the man to enter into the elder training process at this time.
Please continue to pray for God to raise up elders in Christ Community.

Steve & Mo Omli and Kevin Phegley return from Haiti

The trip's purpose was accomplished. Medical supplies were delivered and distributed and construction work on the orphanage was done. Praise God for bringing them back to us. You can look forward to hearing more from them about Haiti... as well as from Frank Stankunas about Tanzania.

Finishing Up Isaiah 6

As we complete our look at CCC's cycle's of worship... we'll look at Cycle 3: Commmitment
The text shows that it is:
I. Total
II. Purposeful
III. Compelled

Union With Christ

Here's a list w/ tons o' passages on our living, loving, lasting connection with Jesus http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/8449/union.html

The List of Martyrs Grows

Assyrian Christian Boy Beheaded – source:Assyrian International News Agency (AINA)
The AINA has reported that a 14-year-old Assyrian boy, Ayad Tariq, was beheaded by Muslim militants in Baqouba, Iraq, on October 21. Ayad was beginning his shift of maintaining an electrical generator when a group of disguised Muslim militants approached him and asked to see his identification. When the Muslims saw his identification and noted he was a "Christian," they (called him) a "dirty Christian sinner!" They then threw him to the ground, held down his arms and legs, shouting "Allah Akbar!" (God is great), and beheaded him. Pray God will comfort Ayad's family and friends, giving them the supernatural gift of peace that comes from forgiving our enemies. Matthew 18:21, 22

clarification on Elder Nomination

These nominations are for men to ENTER a season of training and evaluation to discover if God is calling them to the office of elder...

These nominations are not for these men to be an elder now.

Hope this helps. Remember, there's a primer on church site that might answer other questions.

I’m forgiven because You were forsaken
I’m accepted, You were condemned
I’m alive and well, Your Spirit is within me
Because You died and rose again

Sting & Believing promises

As i've been thinking about 2 peter and believing promises of God.... ie Faith, this song keeps popping in my head:

You could say I lost my faith in science and progress
You could say I lost my belief in the holy church
You could say I lost my sense of direction
You could say all of this and worse but....

If I ever lose my faith in you
Thered be nothing left for me to do

(Trivia: I saw Sting when he was member of THE POLICE, saw 'em twice! in Memphis... Ghost in the Machine tour & Synchronicity tour--yep i'm that old!)

2nd Letter of Peter, chapter 1

God's divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Great Words: Resplendent

re·splen·dent
Function: adjective
definition:
shining brilliantly : characterized by a glowing splendor

Discipleship Course

D'ship course reminders: lessons 14 (union w/ Christ) and 15 (believing promises) are the prep work for nov 8
nov 15 is lessson 33

Great Prayer Need

Christ Community needs laborers for the harvest in our ministry to children. Please pray.

Communion Sunday

It is our practice as a church family to celebrate Holy Communion on the 1st Sunday of the month. In preparation, I encourage you to meditate/reflect on
Your great need for a Savior/Rescuer...
and
The great Savior/Rescuer provided for your need...

When we come to the Lord's Table we are non-verbally saying, "I'm yours Jesus. You've bought me with your body & blood and I'm responding. Spend me."

Helping you think about scandal

RP here: I just saw this on the front page of GOOGLE NEWS. I don't report it to gossip... but to help you think biblically to things people are and will be talking about. I think the post by Justin Taylor that begins below is helpful.

By now I'm sure many of you have heard that following news about Ted Haggard:

A Colorado Springs-based giant of the conservative Christian movement, with direct access to President Bush, stepped down Thursday as leader of the National Association of Evangelicals in the wake of allegations by a former male escort that the two had a three-year sexual relationship.

Read the whole post

put this in your ipod

think your (or anyone's) relationship is a result of ANYTHING other than the tenacious kindness of God???? then unleash yourself with this....CH Spurgeon is one of the great preachers in the history of Christianity. Spurgeon also communicates brilliantly through the written word, and his giftedness to proclaim the doctrine of grace shines in his little gem, All of Grace. Many Christians believe that this small book presents better than any other non-canonical work the gospel of salvation alone by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This short book is one of the bright jewels in post-apostolic writings on grace.

Go to the Free Download Page at christianaudio.com and use the coupon code NOV2006 to redeem the digital download format of All of Grace.

Communion and Rich Mullins

Listening to these words this morning made me think of the Lord's Supper

"There's a loyalty that's deeper than mere sentiments." --from song, If i stand, by rich mullins

My great fear is that many people, yes, even in Christ Community, are sentimental about the Lord's Supper.... viewing this as some cleaned-up talisman we can rub for good luck... but it is really about our declaring our small "l" loyalty to Jesus and his allCAPS LOYALTY to His people, which includes little ol' me. Anyway,
Here is a link to the 1st of a 4 part interview with the late Rich Mullins. Listening to him will make you:
--Mad
--Cry
--Laugh

and at every few minutes you notice you have moved across the room towards Jesus because you want to be closer to Him... people like this are such a rush...

Christian venture capitalists

very interesting stuff (HERE) about connecting capitalism and bringing justice to world....

Jr Hi Retreat

January 26-28, 2007

grace at home

Keeping Grace in Place

Keeping grace in place in our homes, that is the task. We experience many temptations to leave out the grace and the hope of the gospel when our children require correction and motivation.

How does keeping grace in place look and sound? Your message to your children is this: “People who fail can find hope in the God of grace.” Think of it this way, the gospel must be the core of your nurturing interaction with your children. The gospel is more than just the simple plan of salvation. It is all the grace and power of the gospel - forgiveness, cleansing, internal transformation, and empowerment (Ezekiel 36:25-26).

rest is here

set your heart on the Father's love

"This will be exceeding effectual to endear your soul unto God, to cause you to delight in him, and to make your abode with him. Many saints have no greater burden in their lives, than that their hearts do not come clearly and fully up, constantly to delight and rejoice in God—that there is still an indisposedness of spirit unto close walking with him. What is at the bottom of this distemper? Is it not their unskillfulness in or neglect of this duty, even of holding communion with the Father in love? So much as we see of the love of God, so much shall we delight in him, and no more. Every other discovery of God, without this, will but make the soul fly from him; but if the heart be once much taken up with this the eminency of the Father’s love, it cannot choose but be overpowered, conquered, and endeared unto him. This, if any thing, will work upon us to make our abode with him. If the love of a father will not make a child delight in him, what will? Put, then, this to the venture: exercise your thoughts upon this very thing, the eternal, free, and fruitful love of the Father, and see if your hearts be not wrought upon to delight in him. I dare boldly say: believers will find it as thriving a course as ever they pitched on in their lives. Sit down a little at the fountain, and you will quickly have a further discovery of the sweetness of the streams. You who have run from him, will not be able, after a while, to keep at a distance for a moment."

John Owen, Communion with God, chapt. 4

Now it is there

Just spoke with Frank Stankunas. About a year ago I was having coffee with a student who told me about an orphanage in Tanzania that didn't have a place to keep the children... so these orphans were "homeless" during the nights. I put the student in touch with Frank Stankunas... and voila (almost) and by the enabling grace of God... there was a building built over the past week or so by Frank and a team he led. The children begin sleeping there in January. An idea and need was there, no there is reality. Thy Kingdom Come...

Chili Cook-off Controversy II

What a great day together on Sunday! The promises of God displayed in baptism... the hope of renewal in the grace of Jesus Christ... and hanging together around the fountain while enjoying chili and each other.

The winner will be announced Sunday. Apparently there are charges of voter fraud and hanging chads that still need to be worked out. I think Katherine Harris is being brought in to help!

Enjoying Christ

It is only "Christ enjoyed" which can loosen our hold
of things seen, and of those earthly attractions which
have long entwined themselves around the heart--for
then we have found something infinitely better! --Ruth Bryan

quotes

1. There is really only one thing that can minimize Christ's saving work and that is our failing to lay hold of it. I'm convinced…that this is when we begin to make our forward steps as Christians: When I know through experience that I can lay hold of Christ's blood by faith to cover my sins this morning, and then to cover my sins this afternoon, even if they're the same sins—when I know this, the preciousness of Christ's blood becomes a tremendous reality, I begin to live in the light of His presence and in the light of His work—not just in the past or in the future, but in the present. I begin to live in the reality of the supernatural world…a true Christian is that person who knows, by experience, the ever-present wonder of being able to lay hold of the blood of Jesus and then being able to say thank you, knowing that his or her fellowship with God is completely restored.

--Francis Schaeffer

2. The life of the believer is here described as a delight in God, and we are thus certified of the great fact that true religion overflows with happiness and joy. Ungodly persons and mere professors never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. –Charles Spurgeon

4. “The believer is in spiritual danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the love of Christ.” --Maurice Roberts

5. Sometimes our religious systems make Jesus so ethereal that He is no longer relevant to anything but theological polemics and doctrinal propositions. You need your soul "washed out" and once again drawn to the One who loves you beyond anything you could possibly imagine. I need it because sometimes I forget. --Steve Brown

6. Cling to the Lord Jesus in your feebleness, in your fickleness, in your nothingness; and
abidingly take him to be everything to you. –Spurgeon

7. “Though your faith is as weak as a single strand of a spider's web, if it is faith in Christ, it is saving faith; because it is not faith that saves… it is Christ who saves.” --John Murray

8. We did not merely say "Be good, come to church." We did not merely say "Keep the commandments" but above all, "Christ is risen, Christ is risen." --THOMAS MERTON

9. “For decades we psychologists looked upon the whole matter of sin and moral accountability as a great incubus and acclaimed our liberation from it as epoch making. But at length we have discovered that to be free in this sense, that is, to have the excuse of being sick rather than sinful, is to court the danger of also becoming lost. For in becoming amoral, ethically neutral and free, we have cut the very roots of our being, lost our deepest sense of selfhood and identity, and with neurotics we find ourselves asking, ‘Who am I, what is my deepest destiny, what does living mean?’” --Hobart Mowrer— former Professor of Psychology at Harvard and former President of the American Psychological Assoc.

10. "Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among them. So we remain alone with our sin, living lies and hypocrisy. The fact is we are sinners. But it is the grace of the Gospel, which is so hard for the pious to understand, that it confronts us with the truth and says: You are a sinner, a great desperate sinner; now come as the sinner that you are, to God who loves you…He does not want anything from you, a sacrifice, a work; He wants you alone. God has come to save the sinner." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

11. Although sorrow for sin is certainly a legitimate aspect of worship, it should be understood as only a moment in worship, not a pervasive tone or atmosphere. In Psalm 51 and Isaiah 6, sorrow for sin soon dissolves into joy as the sinner finds forgiveness through the grace of God. The overall tone of our worship of God is to be a tone of reverent joy. –John Frame

Transforming Grace

"Love in response to goodness, perfection, and
obedience isn't love; it's reward. Only those who don't deserve it can be
loved, and only those who have been loved can love." Steve Brown

What do you mean when you say, "Our Father, in heaven"

2nd in series on concise explanations of the Lord's Prayer, line by line.... you can search for the 1st one on this site...

OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN: The balance is found not in toning down either God's transcendence or immanence or by taking a middle path between this world (the here and now) and heaven (the eternal), but by understanding what our Lord is teaching us as we address God in prayer: "Our Father[immanence] who art in Heaven[transcendence]." Even in this brief prayer our Lord gave us, we have the proper balance between transcendence and immanence. God is completely above and beyond us (transcendent), but we are instructed to call him "our Father." Isn't this a contradiction? Not at all. For in Christ, the Father reconciles us to himself and adopts us as his own children, co-heirs with Christ. --Mike Horton

Offering Hope & Healing

While i was in Crystal River last Sunday I spoke with a dear friend who is open to the idea of coming to Gainesville once per week to do counseling. He is a 50'something who has learned alot from schools and trials. He was on a mission team in Japan for almost 20 years and now has been called to help people appropriate the love of Christ in their times of trial. Do you think there would be enough need in West Gainesville for him to come one day per week?

please email me robp AT christcommunitychurch DOT com
if you think there would be serious interest

sunday at 10 we gather

here is a song lyric that captures part of what we come to do:
"Sing to the King who is coming to reign
Glory to Jesus the Lamb that was slain
Life and salvation, His empire shall bring
Joy to the nations when Jesus is King"
---Billy Foote and Candi Pearon

"You can’t handle the truth!”

So said Col. Nathan R. Jessep in A Few Good Men. Handling the truth is not an easy thing to do, particularly when it reveals things about us that we would rather not be known. But when it comes to the light of truth exposing the depth of our own sinfulness and idolatry, we find the truth not just difficult but impossible to handle. Only in the gospel can we “handle the truth” about ourselves. Richard Lovelace writes:

“Through faith in the Messiah, the soul is able to face reality again with cleared vision. As T.S. Eliot said, ‘Humankind cannot bear very much reality.’ But through the light shed by the Holy Spirit on the Messiah and his saving work, the soul can take in at a glance the truth about its own standing before God. It can bear the bad news about the justice of God and the depth of its sin, because it can see in the same glance the good news of the grace of Christ available simply through faith”.
HT to this dude

GLOCAL missions

GLObal and
LoCAL.... GLOCAL missions had a great 1st meeting sunday after service. Frank Matthews is mobilizing this group that currently has about 20 people involved.

Who wants welfare?

"Perhaps the most difficult task for us to perform is to rely on God's grace and God's grace alone for our salvation. It is difficult for our pride to rest on grace. Grace is for other people—for beggars. We don't want to live by a heavenly welfare system. We want to earn our own way and atone for our own sins. We like to think that we will go to heaven because we deserve to be there." --R C Sproul.

Missio Dei

The mission of God... missio Dei. God is renewing all things through the ongoing work of His Son... Do you want to hear more about how CCC seeks to extend the grace & mission of God? then come to a brief missions meeting after the worship service sunday

more info on church site

Note to Preachers... YES! this means you, "normal Christian"

“The gospel of Christ crucified and risen is meant to be preached to our soul–both in corporate worship where we hear it week after week, and from hour to hour as we preach it to ourselves in the daily fight for joy…The cross must be central in the fight for joy. We must put ourselves under is preaching on the Lord’s day, and we must preach it to ourselves all day every day” (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy, 76-77).

Faith & Love

Faith brings and gives Christ to you with all his possessions. Love gives you to your neighbor with all your possessions.

Martin Luther, in Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, Vol 1, pg 34.

Share in the Joy of God

"We are questioning, doubting, sorrowing, trembling; and all the while he who sees the end from the beginning knows what will come out of the present disquietude, and therefore rejoices. Let us rise in faith to share the joy of God.” Charles Spurgeon

Discipleship Course Reminders

faith and union with Christ, lessons 13 and 14

Reminder over instruction

"People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed." --Samuel Johnson, made famous b/c CS Lewis quoted it in Mere Xnity

One Look at Sin, 10 at the Cross

Although sorrow for sin is certainly a legitimate aspect of worship, it should be understood as only a moment in worship, not a pervasive tone or atmosphere. In Psalm 51 and Isaiah 6, sorrow for sin soon dissolves into joy as the sinner finds forgiveness through the grace of God. The overall tone of our worship of God is to be a tone of reverent joy. –John Frame

Why God Invented Elders

Why God Invented Elders Ligon Duncan Titus 1:5-9

We already have a divinely inspired model for ministry in the pastoral epistles.
The people of Crete were being transformed by the culture – Paul writes to Titus to tell him how to deal with these matters. He offers apostolic counsel on how a church can deal with pressure to conform to the world.
If God’s people are to adorn the gospel of God in all things, then they need godly elders, who by example in their homes and character, and in their teaching to show people how to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
Why did God invent elders? For . . .
1. Discipleship
v. 5 - The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
Shows the discipleship work of godly men who were necessary for the welfare of the church.
Note the plurality of elders – Paul does not exhort Titus to appoint an elder, but a plurality of godly elders.
v. 7 – the elders are overseers. They are appointed for discipleship in the local church – Christian discipleship takes place in the local church. This involves the careful ministry of elder shepherds – that is what elders are for.
In our day it is common for elders to see themselves as a spiritual board of directors. We must not denigrate the administrative function of elders, but we must never let this overshadow his role as a discipling shepherd.
2. Example
Elders are to be an example in two areas:
1. In home life – v. 6
v. 6 shows the importance of faithfulness in the home. These men are examples of what a Christian is like in their husbandry and parenting.
These are those whose children share their faith. If this is what God wants in all the church then it is essential that the elder’s homes show what it looks like to be a Christian in the family.
2. In character – vv. 7-8
vv. 7-8 – when the world says that the reality of the church as embodying the gospel is a lie the church is to be able to point to the elders and say “there are examples of lives transformed by the gospel.” Elders are to be the proof of the power of God in the lives of men.
The elder’s character is a witness to the truth of the gospel.
Paul shows how people can be gripped by sins of the self in verse 7 and says that elders are not characterized by such things.
The elder must love people and he must equally love truth and virtue.
Every qualification in this list has to do with behavior in the home and with character, not a person’s place in society.
Notice that it is godly men that Paul is calling to step up to the plate here.
3. Doctrine.
v. 9 – elders are for the conveying of truth and the confronting of error.
Elders must be orthodox – able to teach and defend the faith. Not only an assent to the truth, but an embrace of the truth. If you don’t love truth you can’t love people the way God calls you to love people.
They are able to convey the truth of the Christian faith. This does not mean that they have to have pulpit power. Elders have different ways of teaching. They don’t have to be grand orators, but they do have to be competent to teach.
Ability to teach is the only competency, outside of the family life and character, which elders are required to have.
Elders are also to be able to warn people against the errors that are the enemies of their soul. They are zealous to defend and promote sound doctrine.
Elders, along with all the heralds of God’s word, will one day stand before God to give an account for how they have shepherded the people of God.

God Welcomes The Sinner, As Should We

"Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among them. So we remain alone with our sin, living lies and hypocrisy. The fact is we are sinners. But it is the grace of the Gospel, which is so hard for the pious to understand, that it confronts us with the truth and says: You are a sinner, a great desperate sinner; now come as the sinner that you are, to God who loves you…He does not want anything from you, a sacrifice, a work; He wants you alone. God has come to save the sinner." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

With Arms Wide Open

True worship always proclaims the gospel, the good news of what God has done in Jesus Christ. It proclaims the work of Christ and it centers in the cross. With the apostle Paul we say, "In the cross of Christ we glory." We proclaim liberty to the captive, grace and pardon to all who believe in His name. If sinners come to Him, He will by no means cast them out. --Al Mohler, on Isaiah 6

One way we try, as a congregation, to convince people that the above is true...
To all who are spiritually weary and seek rest; to all who mourn and long for comfort; to all who struggle and desire victory; to all who sin and need a Savior; to all who are strangers and want to belong; to all who hunger and thirst after righteousness; and to all who will come, this church opens wide her arms and offers welcome in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. --from CCC worship folder

Brief Statement on "Why Male Elders?"

The Biblical Position of Male Elders Briefly Stated
Elders are to be men, as stated in 1 Timothy 3:1-3. In 1 Timothy 2:11 women are forbidden to “teach or have authority” over men. In 1 Corinthians 14:35-36 women are not to take part in determining whether a teacher is teaching sound doctrine.

Elders are leaders who admit or dismiss people from the church, and they do “quality control” of members’ doctrine. These are the only things that elders exclusively can do. Others can teach, disciple, serve, witness.

There are a number of qualifications for this office—God must call and give elder gifts. When the congregation elects elders it is not to elect people it likes, but people God has gifted along the lines of 1 Timothy 3. Most men and all women do not qualify and will never be elders. It is not something they can attain through hard work. It is a calling from God the King.

Why does God call certain ones? Because they are inherently more worthy? That has never been the case. It is the same question: why did the Father rule while the Son submitted? The answer is that both were great and wise persons who did not resent the submission-and-rule pattern but rejoiced in it.

Does exclusion from the eldership mean that women are inherently unfit for leadership in the church? The only thing we can conclude is that women do not fit this particular kind of leadership. Consider the types of leaders in Israel. There were prophets, priests, kings, and elders. Though kings had physical, political power over the priests and elders and prophets, they could not take over their duties. Saul, for example was forbidden from doing priestly work, offering sacrifices.

Women were prophets and also were heads of state. On the other hand women could not be priests or elders. Not only were women precluded from the priesthood, but so were all men not of the tribe of Levi. Was God being arbitrary? No, he was acting like a King. He called some to be people into some kinds of leadership and precluded other people from other kinds. Sometimes the preclusion was done on the basis of gender, other times on the basis of nationality. All people gladly submitted to God’s Lordship if they understood his rights over them. –by Tim & Kathy Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian in NYC

For a much longer article, see Vern Poythress'

Tracing Out the Lord's Prayer

We've been saying the Lord's prayer weekly of late. It seemed wise to begin walking through it...bit by bit.

First my take on OUR FATHER...
The first two words communicates that we are a people. I am part of the community of grace. Also, that we have intimacy, family love, with God.

Now something by Octavius Winslow
To see my Father's smile reflected in the smile of my Savior; to behold His glory beaming in the face of Jesus; to hear His voice in the echoes of Christ's love; to trace His compassion, tenderness, and sympathy in the very words and works and tears of the Great High Priest, even when the discipline of the parental rod is the most severe, this is heaven upon earth.

Read the rest of his teaching here.

Redeeming Science

Redeeming Science is the title of a forthcoming book from Vern Poythress. Poythress has degrees from from Harvard & Westminster Seminary. Here is a link to a longer article that contains link to get contents and chapter 1 as pdfs.

How Can We Keep From Singing?

(I think this is an old civil war song that has been recaptured lately)

My life flows on in endless song
Above earth's lamentation.
I hear the real, thought far off hymn
That hails the new creation
Above the tumult and the strife,
I hear the music ringing;
It sounds an echo in my soul
How can I keep from singing?

What through the tempest loudly.....

Sunday's Sermon

Sunday I am preaching on the formative nature of corporate worship. That is fancy way of saying that the pattern of people's worship SHAPES the way they interact with God, almost subconsciously.

So the points of the sermon will be the cycles of our corporate worship
#1. Praise
#2. Renewal
#3. Commitment

"Scripture sets the terms, and in Isaiah 6:1-8 we see a picture of authentic worship." --Al Mohler

Our Affection for One Another as Christians

What is the point of referring so often (in the New Testament) to very precious friends as being in Christ or in the Lord? It comes from a very intense feeling of being rescued from infinitely long suffering at infinitely great cost and then placed together into an infinitely safe and happy place. Listen to Romans 5:9. “Since . . . we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” And Romans 8:1. “There is . . . now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” We have been rescued from infinitely long suffering, namely, the wrath of God. We have been rescued at infinitely great cost, namely, his blood—the blood of Christ. And then, put together into an infinitely safe and happy place, namely, in Christ Jesus.

Have you ever watched on television as trapped miners are rescued after being hundreds of feet underground for days with their families keeping vigil on the ground above? When they come out, they are not the only ones hugging and kissing. Everybody is hugging. There is something deeply bonding about a family defined by imminent loss and glorious rescue, safe on solid ground, surrounded by people they wouldn’t trade for all the gold in the world. --john piper

What is the gospel?

The Greek term “gospel” (ev-angelion) distinguished the Christian message from that of other
religions. An 'ev-angel' was news of a great historical event, such as a victory in war or the
ascension of a new king, that changed the listeners’ condition and required a response from the
listener. So the gospel is news of what God has done to reach us. It is not advice about what we
must do to reach God. What is this news?
God has entered the world in Jesus Christ to achieve a salvation that we could not achieve for
ourselves which now 1) converts and transforms individuals, forming them into a new humanity,
and eventually 2) will renew the whole world and all creation. --source, Redeemer Pres. Manhattan

Chili Cook-off Controversy

The names of chili that people plan to enter has stirred up some controversy. Here are the first 5 of 12 we received Sunday. Sign up Sunday to participate. The event is Sunday October 29, at Oak Hall immediately after the worship service.

John Eubanks family "Ain't Real Texan Chili"
Larry Eubanks family "Tearfully Excellent"
Krista Wilson "Chomp Chowder"
Brandon Wilson "Gator Heat"
Matthew's family "un-named currently"

Spotlight

Want to use this space to let you know of some local ministries Christ Community supports financially on a monthly basis. The emerging missions team (contact Frank Matthews to be involved) is looking for ways to make CCC support of these ministries more wholistic(sp?) and hands on

Arbor House Christian Maternity Shelter
A shelter for pregnant women ages 18 and up.
(352) 371-2229 http://www.afn.org/~momhome/

Obeying 1 Corinthians 15

excellent 3 minute audio on how to make corporate worship services comprehensible to our unchurched friends who visit with us
http://www.desiringgod.org/media/audio/conferences/national2006/carson_excerpt_how_to_contextualize_a_church_service.mp3

An example of Leaning Hard on Jesus

One man I have learned much from is Paul David Tripp. His book, "HOW PEOPLE CHANGE", is golden. Recently I learned that his twentysomething daughter suffered a tragic injury and Paul is keeping people updated via the internet. It was this young woman to whom I was referring yesterday when I mentioned someone who was emotionally strenghtened by the visit of her elders.

I also recommend you reading some of these entries to see how valuable Christ is as a father wrestles with the suffering of his daughter.

http://nicolenews.blogspot.com/2006/05/accident-and-since.html

Approval Granted by Alachua COunty

On Friday we received word that we have approval to build a church facility on Parker Road!
Celebration gathering to put up the "FUTURE HOME" sign to be announced soon.

No word yet

as of thursday nite we have not heard anything from our land engineer about his presentation of our site plan to alachua county

friday sweat

To those who are interested and have the time available!

Come cut up this Friday at the church house. We will be cutting up a big dead tree and trimming the existing tree canopy for future bon fire wood.
We are getting together some time after the parade (2pm?).
Bring any of the following: gloves, chainsaw, hedge trimmers, yourself, your friends.
A chance to get to know others better and cut and burn, baby! more info? 359-8494 Kevin Phegley

What's the difference?

great quote in a great article by Steve Brown:
"I'm torn between my love for (and particular views on) America and my love for and Jesus' views on the kingdom. Where does compassion for the homeless translate into "get a job, dummy?" Where does my belief in and my promotion of capitalism cross the place in which the clerk where I get my cleaning done has $50,000 in medical bills and no health insurance? Where do I draw the line between being an "in-your-face," angry patriot and being a weenie? How do I deal with my growing weariness of and anger with racial "victim-hood" and my awareness of real racism? What's the difference between creating (perhaps out of compassion) a permanent "underclass" in America and destroying the family fabric of society, and my call to love and to have compassion on the poor? How is one to love gays and lesbians without giving approval to a lifestyle that is clearly not approved by God?

It goes on and on; and, as you can imagine, I have particular views on all of those issues and a thousand like them. I'm not talking here about the particulars, but the attitude of a Christian (regardless of political persuasion) to the dual citizenship that we all have.

I think I've found the key. The key is in the tears."




Read the Whole thing here

More from Psalm 29

On Oct 1 as we meditated together upon
ASCRIBE TO THE LORD THE GLORY DUE HIS NAME...
and that God has said in Isaiah that he will not give his glory to another. He won't GIVE it, but Romans 8 says He will SHARE it with the ones that by grace he has made fellow-heirs with Christ.

I just saw this from John Piper and it would have fit great there:
"It is true that we have been made his children, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. But we will never treasure that truth the way we should until we tremble at this one.

O that every person in this postmodern, self-exalting world would come to say, “I am totally dependent on God, and immeasurably less valuable than he is. And this is the beginning of my joy.”

The Supremacy of Christ and the Gospel in a Postmodern World :: Desiring God

Tim Keller lectured on the "Supremacy of Christ and the Gospel in Our PostModern World" recentlyThe Supremacy of Christ and the Gospel in a Postmodern World :: Desiring God

Marriage Tune-Up

November 17 & 18 The Marriage Tune-Up Conference offers you the unique chance to work on, and celebrate your marriage in a relaxed atmosphere filled with laughter, insight, and interaction with your spouse. Jeff and Debby McElroy, founders of Forever Families, Inc., have designed the conference to be unlike any other you’ve attended on marriage. They are real people. No psycho-babble. Just plain talk from the heart of their marriage and family to the heart of yours. Their unique blend of comedy, honesty, drama and insight will leave you with more than just information. You’ll have the feeling you’ve experienced a landmark moment in your marriage and family. Conference topics will include God's Design, Communication, Intimacy, Conflict Resolution and Spirituality. Held at Westside Baptist Church

Thursday at 1:30

Christ Community's plan for use of the Parker Road land is scheduled to be decided upon by Alachua County on Thursday October 5.

This falls under Initiative 2 from the Vision Night.

Tonite 8pm... our own Dr. Sarah Hamersma

will be lecturing at the Christian Study Center. 8pm

Zephaniah 3

Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall never again fear evil.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.

Tanzania & Haiti Offering

Sunday as people process forward for communion, there will be a receptacle for offerings given to benefit the people Haiti & Tanzania. Folks from CCC will be journeying to these countries in October with the goal of encouragement.

The Body of Christ, Broken for You

Sunday we will share in the Lord's Supper together during the 10am service. Please begin meditating upon the love of God in Christ for you... and what a loving response to that would look like.

sex and the goodness of God

an excellent lecture by Ben Patterson is available here:
http://www.desiringgod.org/Events/NationalConferences/Archives/2004/

Learning from History

I'm writing this from Fredericksburg, Virginia. I'm touring Civil War historic spots this week with my son, Andrew. You'll be hearing more about this in weeks to come... but one thing stood out from y'day. Confederate President Jeff Davis and USA Pres. Lincoln both seem to have had genuine conversions to Christ FOLLOWING the death of a son. We toured the Confederate White House in Richmond where Davis' 5 year old son plunged to his death from a balcony-porch. Lincoln lost his son to illness. Our tour guide gave testimony from the ministers who knew these men.... of the reality of the gospel in their lives after these tragedys. It does seem that trials send us running toward or away from God.

Example

How do you affirm others, even the resources of other religions--and yet present Jesus Christ as the only hope?
Tim Keller of Redeemer Pres. Manhattan spoke to an "interfaith" gathering for the 5 year anniversary of 9-11. On hand was Pres. Bush... and here's a transcript.

Name Pending: Tim Keller- A way to speak to a diverse audience on "the why question in the face of relentless tragedies and injustices."

Loving God with our Minds

Last Sunday I tried to draw out from Romans 12:1-2 that having our mind renewed was more than simply thinking clearly, logically, and correctly. It involves these things PLUS loving/cherishing what you are thinking clearly about.

Would have been great if i'd thought to say, "Put this in terms of a relationship. MEn, you must know much information and truth about your wife's likes & dislikes, hopes, plans, etc.... but loving your wife is more than being able to pass a pop quiz on her. It is cherishing all these things that you are writing down correctly on the test!"

The Christian way is different: harder, and easier. Christ says, “Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You… No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down… Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked – the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.”

by CS Lewis

Sexual Abuse & The Wounded Heart

Here's a link to part 1 of an audio conversation with Dr. Dan Allender. He's very helpful at applying the gospel of grace to deep darkness and places of sorrow.
The Kindlings Muse � Dan Allender, The Wounded Heart.� Podcast: Journeys Interview Segment 1 of 4

Keep us from just singing

There is a song i learned last year that has been coming back to my mind as we have dwelled on all of life being worship...

Jesus, You have called us
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give

We must go live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken
We must go....stepping forward--keep us from just singing
Move us into action
We must go (Tim Hughes, i think)

psalm 29

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
ESV Bible Online: Passage: psalm 29

DID YOU KNOW?

Our church website consists of...

1. A Church Directory with phone numbers & email addresses
you will need to call the church office for the username & password

2. Audio Files of Sunday Morning Sermons

3. Audio Files of Sunday Morning Announcements

4. Photographs from recent events

5. "Week At A Glance"

6. Update Your Information Form

7. PDF's of all printed materials

8. Directions to the Popular Places we meet

These are just a few of the many recourses available on our website. Visit us @ www.christcommunitychurch.com!

Missional Living in the Suburbs

Here's an excerpt, then a link to an article about a book:
I remember back when I was a kid, during the Cold War '80s, people worried about Soviet communism threatening Christianity. And I thought, never mind communism - our Christianity is already being challenged by suburban secularism, deism, isolationism, materialism and consumerism. We just have a harder time noticing those things.


Between Two Worlds: Burbs Blog

Sunday September 17

As Christ Community gathers tomorrow...
9am Classes for all ages
10 weekly corporate worship

Gospel Brokeness... to be sought

"Jesus shines the light of the gospel on us both to expose our brokenness and to bring us to brokenness. I guess we should call this gospel brokenness, because only the gospel of God's grace can enable us to be completely honest about our stuff without falling into toxic shame or self-contempt. And only the Gospel can humble us, soften us, and give us the power to repent—or at least, not run away or rant.

When followers of Jesus walk openly in this kind of brokenness—gospel brokenness—angels in heaven rejoice, and people without faith, or those with much cynicism about Christians, are likely to reconsider who Jesus is. Write this down: no greater beauty can be found at any point or any place in God's story than the times when God's people manifest this gospel brokenness—for that is where God's glory is revealed most clearly." Scotty Smith, Restoring Broken Things

News from the Field? Ugh

Old way Christendom churches passed on to pass on news from missionarys:
"Here is some news from the mission field."

New way that Missional Churches and Christians should pass on similar news:
"Here is some news and ways to pray from a friend of ours doing the same thing across the globe that we're trying to do in Gainesville."

Feel the difference? Less catchy, but much more Biblical.
Click below for rest Immediate prayer requests:

PROVISION:
Currently we're looking for three apartments to live in this year - a 4 bedroom, a 3 bedroom, and a 2 bedroom, each furnished, and all within walking distance. Anyone who has looked for housing in a university city in September knows the difficulty before us. Currently we're working with four real estate agents and 5 websites, and the local newspaper listings come out today.

WISDOM:
Since this is the first time there are more than four of us on campus together, we are discussing how we should identify ourselves. How do we know each other (11 people from 6 different countries)? Why are we in the country together? This discussion involves a lot of complexity- the dangers of presenting ourselves fully as missionaries and, on the other hand, the impropriety of misleading people.

O Worship the King
All glorious above
O Gratefully sing His pow'r and His love
Our shield and defender,
The Ancient of Days!
Pavilioned in splendor
And girded with praise

It is with these words we will sing Praise together. Get the worship folder here
http://www.christcommunitychurch.com/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=20&Itemid=75

Suffering and the Sovereignty of God - Book endorsement

For all who don’t live a charmed life, for all who have given themselves to the point of exhaustion, for all who have been betrayed by pious back-stabbers, for all who wonder if they can even go on, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God will be green pastures and deep, still waters. The wisdom of this book stands forth like a kind friend, pointing us to the Crucified and Triumphant One, who says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr.
Suffering and the Sovereignty of God - John Piper (Editor), Justin Taylor (Editor)

Gospel Preaching Always Gets Accused of...

(by Preaching he means on sunday by a preacher to a crowd or tuesday by a normal Christian to a friend...)
The true preaching of the gospel of salvation by grace alone always leads to the possibility of this charge being brought against it. There is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel of salvation than this, that some people might misunderstand it and misinterpret it to mean that it really amounts to this, that because you are saved by grace alone it does not matter at all what you do; you can go on sinning as much as you like because it will redound all the more to the glory of grace. If my preaching and presentation of the gospel of salvation does not expose it to that misunderstanding, then it is not the gospel. Let me show you what I mean.

If a man preaches justification by works, no one would ever raise this question. If a man’s preaching is, ‘If you want to be Christians, and if you want to go to heaven, you must stop committing sins, you must take up good works, and if you do so regularly and constantly, and do not fail to keep on at it, you will make yourselves Christians, you will reconcile yourselves to God and you will go to heaven’. Obviously a man who preaches in that strain would never be liable to this misunderstanding. Nobody would say to such a man, ‘Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?’, because the man’s whole emphasis is just this, that if you go on sinning you are certain to be damned, and only if you stop sinning can you save yourselves. So that misunderstanding could never arise . . . . . .

Nobody has ever brought this charge against the Church of Rome, but it was brought frequently against Martin Luther; indeed that was precisely what the Church of Rome said about the preaching of Martin Luther. They said, ‘This man who was a priest has changed the doctrine in order to justify his own marriage and his own lust’, and so on. ‘This man’, they said, ‘is an antinomian; and that is heresy.’ That is the very charge they brought against him. It was also brought George Whitfield two hundred years ago. It is the charge that formal dead Christianity – if there is such a thing – has always brought against this startling, staggering message, that God ‘justifies the ungodly’ . . .

That is my comment and it is a very important comment for preachers. I would say to all preachers: If your preaching of salvation has not been misunderstood in that way, then you had better examine your sermons again, and you had better make sure that you are really preaching the salvation that is offered in the New Testament to the ungodly, the sinner, to those who are dead in trespasses and sins, to those who are enemies of God. There is this kind of dangerous element about the true presentation of the doctrine of salvation.

This is from Lloyd-Jones commentary on Romans 6, pp 8-9, and was quoted by Chuck Swindoll in his book The Grace Awakening, pp. 39-40.

Gospel Freedom from Hypocrisy

If I am afraid to let others see the reality of sin in my life, my marriage, my children—it is because I am a slave to the god of “the esteem of man” and that god is a cruel tyrant. I have watched sin gain strength in my life and in the lives of others because they were too committed to their good image. Marriage conflicts became roots of bitterness—resistant children became hard hearted rebels—occasional lust became “addiction” to pornography—all because they are more committed to their image than to the truth about their sin in the presence of the Savior and his people. -M.Lauterbach
rest of article

Worship God! resources

Couple o' resources on worshipping God:

1. a Very challenging article on preparing our children for Sunday's meeting:
http://blog.togetherforthegospel.org/2006/03/fathers_and_son.html

and
2. the seminary class I took on Christian Worship is available online
http://www.covenantseminary.edu/worldwide/en/PT330/PT330.asp

Nature or Disease?

Under the Gospel He looks not upon the weakness of saints as their wickedness, and therefore He pities them. Sin makes those who are under the law the objects of God’s hatred. Sin in a believer makes him the object of God’s pity. Men, you know, hate poison in a snake, but pity it in a man. In the one it is their nature, in the other their disease. Sin in a wicked man is as poison in a snake; God hates it and him; it is the man’s nature. But sin in a child of God is like poison in a man; God pities him. He pities the saints for sins and infirmities, but hates the wicked. It is the nature of the one, the disease of the other.
True Christian Freedom by Samuel Bolton

Life’s Not Supposed To Suck

The article i'm linking is a FABULOUS introduction to one of our adult classes that starts Sunday--the class I'm NOT teaching... read the article, devour the class, join the revolution--9am sunday
Life’s Not Supposed To Suck

Why my car radio ain't set on "Christian" radio

Is Mary J. Blige a Christian? Is U2 a Christian band? As my young children have begun to pick up a taste for music... (and they have at least one foot deeply in the "Christian subculture"--which can be very dangerous spiritually)... they start to ask me questions like these.

How do you begin to answer this question?

Here is a 2 minute video that helps explain...national2006_driscoll_interview12.mov (video/quicktime Object)

and here's my personal answer
There is no such thing as "Christian" music. There are songs that are true and songs that are not true. Songs that are true, whether they are written or sung by a person who has a personal relationship with Jesus or not!--are to be approved, enjoyed, meditated upon, and learned from

Songs that are not true, even if written by Billy Graham himself! or some cool "Christian" band... these are to be rejected, and definately not taking up space on your ipod.

So Dad, you mean I have to think when i'm listening to music? Uh-huh (as John Mellancamp once said!)

Derek Webb has a great line in his song NEW LAW that gets at the weird desire Christians have to turn their brains off.

Don’'t teach me about truth and beauty
just label my music
don’t teach me how to live like a free man
just give me a new law
i don’t wanna know if the answers aren’t easy
so just bring it down from the mountain to me

Examples:
If you've never heard Alanis Morrisette sing "Precious Illusions"
then you are missing out on perhaps THE BEST capturing of the unrealistic expectations we humans can bring into our relationships.... And the last time i check alanis was still rejecting her Roman Catholic upbringing

Conversely...
Developing...

Marriage

That one word, depending on your current status and/or experience... can evoke all kinds of emotional responses. Joy-JOY!, Someday?, Ugh, Fear, Stability, et al

From time to time i need to make you aware of tremendous resources. You are:
~in conversations with married friends
~married yourself
~hoping to be married

THESE TALKS ARE FOR YOU!

Tim Keller did a 10 sermon series on marriage that is, in many circles, like Monty Python--a cult classic. Well, here he boils them all down into an hour lecture followed by an hour Q&A. And better yet, you get the insights of his godly & gifted wife, Kathy. If you can't afford to purchase (i'm guessing $5-7 is total)--but really want/need to hear this data... let us know at church office and we'll help you make arrangements.Cultivating a Healthy Marriage

Discipleship Course Reminders

Fellas, and Ladies...
1. Completed lessons 1-6 in GT
2. Come strong with Romans 3 passage
3. Read ch.1 of WCF, which you could read here
see ya wednesday at hope 7:15pm

Romans 12:1

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.

Not slavish fear, but child-like love

Y'day when ranting about the difference between offering yourself 24/7 to God ALREADY HAVING His acceptance & favor ....rather than FOR His acceptance & favor... i had this quote in mind:

The liberty which Christ has purchased for believers under the Gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, and condemning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law; and, in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin; from the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grace, and everlasting damnation; as also, in their free access to God, and their yielding obedience unto Him, not out of slavish fear, but a child-like love and willing mind.

A Renewed Mind Improves Your Taste

The root of Christian living in verse 2 is a profoundly renewed mind. It doesn't just think clearly, but assesses truly and values accurately and approves strongly and treasures passionately what is good, acceptable and perfect.
The word PROVE… It has two implications: one is the idea of testing and proving something's value. And the other idea is the capacity to assess it and approve of a value when you see it. It is very hard in English to bring out both these ideas with one word. The NIV does it in fact by using two words. It refers to the renewing of your mind, then says, "Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is." That is the full idea. Test and approve. So what is the root issue in verse 2? The root issue is more than right thinking. It is right valuing. Not just right proving, but right approving. Not just right testing, but treasuring. Let me see if I can help you see the difference like this.
<> It would be possible, perhaps to teach an uneducated person to recognize some of the traits of gold without his knowing how valuable gold is. So you might give him a job panning gold with you in a stream and pay him a dollar an hour while he accurately tests the yellow stones and tosses thousands of dollars worth of gold nuggets into your bag.
That is not the kind of renewal Paul is talking about. He is not saying: read enough books or listen to enough tapes or sermons so that you can spot a good deed when you see it and then work up the discipline to do it. He is saying, be renewed so deeply in your mind that you not only can test and spot gold when you see it, but also love gold - approve gold, treasure gold. That's what the word means. (See Romans 1:28; 14:22; 1 Corinthians 16:3.)
Now you can see that the renewal involved is more than a logic lesson. If you want to find out if a certain material is sweet, you might reason logically: it is brown, gooey, comes from a bee hive, crystallizes if you drop water in it, and makes the eyes a two-year-old light up if you put it on toast. Therefore, you infer, it must be honey, and honey is sweet. That is not the main way Romans 12:2 means for you to find the will of God.
The way to know if this material is sweet, is by the power of taste, not logic.The root of Christian living in verse 2 is a profoundly renewed mind. It doesn't just think clearly, but assesses truly and values accurately and approves strongly and treasures passionately what is good, acceptable and perfect.