Let us know if you'd like to lead this!

Spurgeon on private prayer, fight thru the Old English---worth it

“Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide.”

Genesis 24:63
 

Very admirable was his occupation. If those who spend so many hours in idle company, light reading, and useless pastimes, could learn wisdom, they would find more profitable society and more interesting engagements in meditation than in the vanities which now have such charms for them. We should all know more, live nearer to God, and grow in grace, if we were more alone. Meditation chews the cud and extracts the real nutriment from the mental food gathered elsewhere. When Jesus is the theme, meditation is sweet indeed. Isaac found Rebecca while engaged in private musings; many others have found their best beloved there.

Very admirable was the choice of place. In the field we have a study hung round with texts for thought. From the cedar to the hyssop, from the soaring eagle down to the chirping grasshopper, from the blue expanse of heaven to a drop of dew, all things are full of teaching, and when the eye is divinely opened, that teaching flashes upon the mind far more vividly than from written books. Our little rooms are neither so healthy, so suggestive, so agreeable, or so inspiring as the fields. Let us count nothing common or unclean, but feel that all created things point to their Maker, and the field will at once be hallowed.

Very admirable was the season. The season of sunset as it draws a veil over the day, befits that repose of the soul when earthborn cares yield to the joys of heavenly communion. The glory of the setting sun excites our wonder, and the solemnity of approaching night awakens our awe. If the business of this day will permit it, it will be well, dear reader, if you can spare an hour to walk in the field at eventide, but if not, the Lord is in the town too, and will meet with thee in thy chamber or in the crowded street. Let thy heart go forth to meet him.

spurgeon morning devotion for August 15

Starting NOW

Prayer Week--Sanctuary open 6-8am & 4-8pm Mon-Fri

As we approach some new initiatives (2 service schedule, new zeal towards education/training hour) we will pursue praying together.

Of course one can pray anywhere and everywhere.  This week, we thought it might be helpful to give you opportunity to pray in the sanctuary.


Envisioned was
-- families dropping by and dropping to their collective knees and saying, "Jesus, build your Church--and use us to do it."
-- folks walking from parking lot to the building and remembering, "Oh yeh, I think THAT friend of mine might appreciate an invite to one of the 2 services."
-- much more

Tomorrow, hang time @ 10am, service starts 10:30

The 2nd Advent of Jesus Christ

A transcendent event

An example of the importance of considering each part of Scripture's teaching on any subject in the light of the whole is the second coming of Christ.  It would be easy (and dangerous) to be selective in the texts from which we build up our doctrine.  Thus, some passages indicate that Christ's return will be personal and visible, indeed that he will come 'in the same way' as he went (Acts 1:11).  But before we press this into meaning that the return will be a kind of ascension in reverse, like a film played backwards, and that Christ will set his feet on the precise spot on the Mount of Olives from which he was taken up, we need to consider something Jesus said to counter those who wanted to localize his return:

  For the Son of Man in his day will be like the  lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from  one end to the other (Lk. 17:24).

The truly biblical Christian, anxious to be faithful to all Scripture, will want to do equal justice to both these strands of teaching.  The coming of the Lord will indeed be personal, historical and visible; but it will also be 'in power and great glory', as universal as the lightning, a transcendent event of which the whole human population of both hemispheres will be simultaneously aware.

--From "Understanding the Bible" (rev. edn. London: Scripture Union, 1984), p. 179.

John Stott

Youth Retreat Menana

The Yuts head out for their JumpStart Retreat tomorrow.

Pray for them, please.

Sunday, can help a brutha out?

I'm speaking on prayer Sunday. I'm 99% sure there will be a point in the sermon when we stop and pray. I'll invite all y'all to cry aloud some gift you'd love to see God bestow upon Christ Community.

One to 3 word phrases will be the parameters. If you can help by launching our prayer time--just say it out loud and others will follow you.

I'll probably say, "Father, for the glory of your name, we ask for ________"

And you guys pray:
Joy!
Love!
Unity
Youth Group conversions
Etc.

Merci beaucoup.

Not FOR but WITH

It's not about doing anything FOR Jesus, but everything WITH Jesus. HE'S the one making all things new, including us.

--Scotty Smith

School uniform shirts to give

Walgreens has school uni shirts 2 for $10

I bought some to give away.

Now praying for opportunity.

Join me?

When does the church accomplish the most

“The church has always accomplished the most when she has most deeply realized her own helplessness.  Dependence upon God is our greatest need; it focuses our attention on what He can do; and it makes His glory a supreme reason for all our concerns.”    --Ian Murray

Our greatest danger

“Our greatest danger is not liberalism, modernism, postmodernism, bible criticism.... the greatest danger is the church doing the work of the ministry in the power of the flesh.”  


 --Francis Schaeffer

Spiritual Gifts

Amid many obscurities and debated questions regarding

New Testament charismata, three certainties

stand out. First, a spiritual gift is an ability in some

way to express, celebrate, display, and so communicate

Christ. We are told that gifts, rightly used, build

up Christians and churches. But only knowledge of

God in Christ builds up, so each charisma must be an

ability from Christ to show and share Christ in an

upbuilding way.

This is from a helpful couple o' brief articles by JI Packer, available here 

No classes on August 8 and 15

Morning schedule for today and next Sunday:

10:00am Gather to hang out

10:30am Worship Service and childcare for youngest and children's church for K-2nd grade

New friends getting it done @ work day

Dan & Debbie Doran---can someone get 'em Gator shirts

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - August 7

--------------------------------
Morning Devotional




"The upright love thee"
- Song of Solomon 1:4



Believers love Jesus with a deeper affection then they dare to give to any
other being. They would sooner lose father and mother then part with
Christ. They hold all earthly comforts with a loose hand, but they carry
him fast locked in their bosoms. They voluntarily deny themselves for his
sake, but they are not to be driven to deny him. It is scant love which
the fire of persecution can dry up; the true believer's love is a deeper
stream than this. Men have laboured to divide the faithful from their
Master, but their attempts have been fruitless in every age. Neither
crowns of honour, now frowns of anger, have untied this more than Gordian
knot. This is no every-day attachment which the world's power may at
length dissolve. Neither man nor devil have found a key which opens this
lock. Never has the craft of Satan been more at fault than when he has
exercised it in seeking to rend in sunder this union of two divinely
welded hearts. It is written, and nothing can blot out the sentence, "The
upright love thee." The intensity of the love of the upright, however, is
not so much to be judged by what it appears as by what the upright long
for. It is our daily lament that we cannot love enough. Would that our
hearts were capable of holding more, and reaching further. Like Samuel
Rutherford, we sigh and cry, "Oh, for as much love as would go round about
the earth, and over heaven-yea, the heaven of heavens, and ten thousand
worlds-that I might let all out upon fair, fair, only fair Christ.
" Alas! our longest reach is but a span of love, and our affection is but
as a drop of a bucket compared with his deserts.
Measure our love by our intentions, and it is high indeed; 'tis thus, we
trust, our Lord doth judge of it.
Oh, that we could give all the love in all hearts in one great mass, a
gathering together of all loves to him who is altogether lovely!



--------------------------------

when it DOESN'T work

Last night I missed an opportunity.

I was at Borders.  As I was taking in Rolling Stones special issue "500 greatest songs of all time" a fellow was returning the copy he'd been perusing.  We stopped and talked a bit and he moved on.  After a few minutes, he returned--he just wanted to talk @ music.  We had a great time together.  I was just about to invite him when I realized I had no invite cards on me.

It would have been a natural transition to say, "I'm a part of a church that values the creativity and artistic expression we've been talking about.  I'm not sure what you think about God, Christ and the Church---but I'd love to have you as a guest some Sunday soon."

But I didn't.  So this morning I loaded up on those cards and pray that the fella will cross my path again.  But I'm ready for the next natural time to invite.

(by the way, that RS issue is incredibly interesting)

Inner health made audible

The humblest praise most, while cranks & malcontents praise least. Praise almost seems to be inner health made audible.

Lewis! of course

Mark Sheplak's personal testimony from Sunday August 1

(the audio will be available at the website soon)

My wife Jeanniel and I with our children, Rachel and Matthew started attending Christ Community Church in late January of this year.  During our first visit, we were drawn in by the warmth and grace of Christ reflected by the congregation.

 

When I say warmth and grace, I don't mean this figuratively.  

After attending a few times, we went through a very difficult time with my Mother passing away suddenly and unexpectedly from cancer.

 So many people supported us in a variety of ways.  People called to encourage us and reminded us that we were being prayed for. 

Many families brought by meals.  Words cannot express our

gratitude for all of the help and support that we received.   This

experience further confirmed us that Christ Community is where God wanted us to serve and worship Him.

 

We felt led to serve in the area of children's ministries. 

Because we have two small children, we know first-hand how vital this ministry is to any church.  The quality of the children's ministry program was also one of the major factors we considered when we were looking for a church home.    At our previous church, Jeanniel served in the children's ministries by herself and I felt like I was missing out something.  Given our new start, I wanted to jump in and help out.  This experience has been a real blessing for both of us.  It is a privilege to help the children learn about Jesus.  From a practical perspective, it has helped both Jeanniel and I to meet many people in the congregation and accelerate the process of becoming fully "plugged in".

 

We especially loved the "church-community integration" of Vacation Bible School.  It was a great demonstration of how Christ Community Church serves the community collectively in a Christ-centered manner.  The kids not only learned about Jesus via "study", but were also part of "applying" Christ's teachings.   In the morning, the children's crafts were focused on serving local ministries like Bread of the Mighty, Arbor House, St. Francis House. It was explained to the children how the respective ministries served the Lord and tied it into scripture.  For example, the kids went packed groceries for the Bread of the Mighty and the scripture was story of Jesus feeding 5000.  In the afternoon, the youth group, which assisted all day with VBS,  then brought the items from the craft time to the ministries and then served them usually by performing hard labor.  In the evening, the Community Groups, in our case the Gallagher group, then prepared and brought food to Frank and Sharon's guest house to share dinner with the youth group.  This made the VBS more Kingdom-minded and provided a great demonstration about how the body of Christ comprised of many different parts comes together to bring Him glory.

 

As you have heard and read, there are plenty of opportunities to serve, especially with the new dual service schedule coming up.  I would like to encourage anyone who is considering serving, but may be a bit shy about doing so like I was, to give it a shot.  I think that 1 Peter 4:10 sums up the call to become engaged and serve each other, 

 

"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms."

 

In our brief time here at Christ Community, it has been a great encouragement to see God's people using their various gifts to build His kingdom and extend His grace to the surrounding community.

Sat 8am-1pm

Workday

All the cool kids are doing it