In this passage we see Jesus talking to the religious leaders of His day and telling them what they are doing wrong and how they have made this church thing all bad. That they only want to be seen for what they do but they do not live out the rules and regulations that they put on every one else.
I want to leave a few questions for discussion this week!
What is Church to you?
Why do you come to Church?
What is the difference between religion and God?
I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
IN HIM <><
Monday, April 28, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
About Me!
Ok today's post is some random thoughts that have been going through my head from different things that have happen in my life over the past couple of weeks. It is funny to me how God works. God used me to talk to this lady in our Church about baptism and then God used another one of our members to talk to her as he came from the same background. I really got to see in the past couple of weeks how I plant, someone else waters and God makes it grow.
Second, we (Lake Christian Church) just had our first annual Men's Retreat. It was awesome all of the guys that went, came in with open hearts and open minds, and it was just neat to see a group of men get together and have a good time but also be able to be really challenged by God's word. We talked about a lot about concerns and influences. We all have a great deal of concerns in our life dealing with all sorts of things, but we have a limited amount of influence. I believe that we could have almost an unlimited amount on influence as well but we allow our concerns to take over therefore limiting our influence. I hope that this week you will be challenged to look at your influence for Christ and how are you limiting it by getting caught up in your concerns.
IN HIM <><
Second, we (Lake Christian Church) just had our first annual Men's Retreat. It was awesome all of the guys that went, came in with open hearts and open minds, and it was just neat to see a group of men get together and have a good time but also be able to be really challenged by God's word. We talked about a lot about concerns and influences. We all have a great deal of concerns in our life dealing with all sorts of things, but we have a limited amount of influence. I believe that we could have almost an unlimited amount on influence as well but we allow our concerns to take over therefore limiting our influence. I hope that this week you will be challenged to look at your influence for Christ and how are you limiting it by getting caught up in your concerns.
IN HIM <><
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Matthew 7:13-23
In this passage we read about "The Narrow Gate." I really like what the NLT (New Living Translation) says "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way." I believe that all to often we fail to see hell as a real place. We like to tell ourselves that "everyone is good and that all people are going to heaven, especially because we have a loving God." Let me just be honest with you for a second, not everyone is going to heaven, and the God that I serve has made it quite clear that if YOU chose to disobey Him then hell is a very real place of torment and that will be your eternal destiny if YOU so chose. I believe that part that we get wrong all to often is that we would rather be the judge than the servant. It amazes me that we as humans feel that we can judge someone else, when most of the time we are not even close to doing what we ourselves are suppose to be doing. Pretty funny when you think about it! God has asked that we "love one another". Its funny that the thing that God says we have not part in (judging people) we want the biggest part of and the thing that God says we are to do (love one another) we want no part of. I have come to the conclusion that we are completely messed up!!!!!
IN HIM <><
IN HIM <><
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Marriage and Christianity
Ok, so what you are about to read I took from the "Bridge" handout that Brian (our minister) put in your bulletin a couple of weeks ago. I believe that this will help you in the way that things work as far as salvation, especially since we have been talking about this a lot in the past couple of weeks. I hope that this helps! Please if you have any questions please call me or if it is more comfortable for you leave comments and we will chat!
COVENANT OF MARRIAGE
This relationship begins with a special kind of love that says, "I've found the one I've been looking for."
This love responds by...
Deciding to submit myself to the other's best interest.
"You first"
Telling others of the decision made.
Wedding Ceremony
*Giving the oath of allegiance
*An end and a beginning
*Leaving the single life for a shared life.
Now, you can't just sit back and do nothing! You need to get to know your mate better and better. Te depth and quality of the relationship will be determined by the amount of effort exerted at this point.
COVENANT WITH CHRIST
This relationship begins with a faith that says, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
This faith responds by...
Deciding to submit myself to Jesus' best interest; repentance.
"You First"
Telling others of the decision made; public confession.
Baptism is to the covenant of Christ what the wedding is to the covenant of marriage:
*The oath of allegiance
*An end and a beginning
*Leaving the "self" life for a shared life.
Now, you can't just sit back and do nothing! You need to get to know God better and better. The depth and quality of the relationship will be determined by the amount of effort exerted at this point.
IN HIM <><
COVENANT OF MARRIAGE
This relationship begins with a special kind of love that says, "I've found the one I've been looking for."
This love responds by...
Deciding to submit myself to the other's best interest.
"You first"
Telling others of the decision made.
Wedding Ceremony
*Giving the oath of allegiance
*An end and a beginning
*Leaving the single life for a shared life.
Now, you can't just sit back and do nothing! You need to get to know your mate better and better. Te depth and quality of the relationship will be determined by the amount of effort exerted at this point.
COVENANT WITH CHRIST
This relationship begins with a faith that says, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
This faith responds by...
Deciding to submit myself to Jesus' best interest; repentance.
"You First"
Telling others of the decision made; public confession.
Baptism is to the covenant of Christ what the wedding is to the covenant of marriage:
*The oath of allegiance
*An end and a beginning
*Leaving the "self" life for a shared life.
Now, you can't just sit back and do nothing! You need to get to know God better and better. The depth and quality of the relationship will be determined by the amount of effort exerted at this point.
IN HIM <><
Thursday, April 3, 2008
2 Corinthians 5:17
2 Corinthians 5:17--"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
As most of you know we have been going through the 3:16 study by Max Lucado. Why is it that our world is so messed up? Why do 3rd graders come up with plans to harm their teachers? Why do men fly planes in to buildings filled with people? Why do people shoot at cars on the interstate? Maybe because they have not been changed into new creations?
As I look at 2 Corinthians 5:17 I can't help but to think about what an amazing thing God does with people. God takes all people and allows them to come to Him and be a part of His family as long as they follow the rules or guidelines (I'm not sure which of those words I like better for this application). Any way as messed up as I am with all the problems that I have God still allows me to work in His service and be a part of His family.
Let me share this statement from the study guide 3:16--"We inadvertently get it wrong when we say that we invited Jesus Christ into our lives. This suggests that he took up residence in the areas we assigned him. Maybe we allotted him Sundays, and we give him fifteen minutes to fix any problem we can't handle. This isn't real salvation! We don't invite Jesus into our lives; he invites us into his purpose. When we understand this nuance, we are ready to experience the life-changing power of God."
I guess the real question is do I allow God to change every area of my life every minute or do I continue to hold somethings back from God in order to experience the pleasures of the flesh? This is not a hard questions to answer I continue to hold things back from God, how about you? Do you hold parts of your life back from God?
As most of you know we have been going through the 3:16 study by Max Lucado. Why is it that our world is so messed up? Why do 3rd graders come up with plans to harm their teachers? Why do men fly planes in to buildings filled with people? Why do people shoot at cars on the interstate? Maybe because they have not been changed into new creations?
As I look at 2 Corinthians 5:17 I can't help but to think about what an amazing thing God does with people. God takes all people and allows them to come to Him and be a part of His family as long as they follow the rules or guidelines (I'm not sure which of those words I like better for this application). Any way as messed up as I am with all the problems that I have God still allows me to work in His service and be a part of His family.
Let me share this statement from the study guide 3:16--"We inadvertently get it wrong when we say that we invited Jesus Christ into our lives. This suggests that he took up residence in the areas we assigned him. Maybe we allotted him Sundays, and we give him fifteen minutes to fix any problem we can't handle. This isn't real salvation! We don't invite Jesus into our lives; he invites us into his purpose. When we understand this nuance, we are ready to experience the life-changing power of God."
I guess the real question is do I allow God to change every area of my life every minute or do I continue to hold somethings back from God in order to experience the pleasures of the flesh? This is not a hard questions to answer I continue to hold things back from God, how about you? Do you hold parts of your life back from God?
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