Wednesday, May 11, 2011
KNOW WHATS HAPPENING
Friday, April 22, 2011
Praying through Good Friday
Ten (or Eleven) Things to Pray on Good Friday
By Pastor Tim Chambers
- Make me understand sin in light of the cross. I don't want to evaluate it from my own senses. I want to know the hurtfulness of sin by knowing the price that was paid for it.
- Allow me to understand righteousness in light of the cross. Let me see clearly there the perfection of Jesus, that I may long to be fully clothed in him and in him alone.
- Teach me obedience through the cross of Jesus. Set his submission there before me as a standard, causing me to renounce my own will and follow his obedient example.
- Let me understand eternity in light of the cross. I want to see history as the cross reveals history. I want to see the future as the cross reveals the future.
- Make me understand service to your church in view of the cross. We each have gifts, and by those gifts we serve. But our model for service is one who gave himself to suffer for her whom he loved.
- Allow me to see people in the light of the cross. Let me know their value and determine their need by what it reveals.
- Confront arrogance and division in your church with the message and the power of the cross. Bring my pride to the cross and let it die.
- Stamp a picture of the cross upon my soul. Let the cross of Christ dominate my mind, my will, and my emotions. Touch my heart with what is revealed there.
- Capture my children's hearts with the love Jesus showed when he died for them at Calvary.
- Raise the cross above this city. Let it be a beacon to all who are weary and broken and sick of sin. Let them see the Son of Man lifted up from the earth and let them be drawn to him.
- May the love of Jesus that was demonstrated on the cross capture the affections of all the nations. Let him see the reward of his soul’s anguish and be satisfied.
Original Post
Monday, March 14, 2011
Set List for Yesterday...
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
What is Lent? Should I participate?
Today is Fat Tuesday, and people all over are doing something to celebrate – eating another doughnut, planning a big meal tonight, or all out partying until midnight tonight. Maybe you’re one of the ones celebrating today, or maybe you’re been asked the question, “What are you giving up for Lent?” and you have no idea what the person asking you is talking about.
Lent can be beneficial, but also harmful. The purpose of Lent isn’t to lose some weight or kick some habit. Lent isn’t a way to curry favor from Jesus, or prove that you’re on the Christian Varsity Team. If you’re observing Lent, if you’re thinking about it, or if you’re wondering why mess with it, Bruce Benedict of Christ the King in Raleigh, NC has some good words for you:
WHY BOTHER WITH LENT?
The Lenten Season starts on Ash Wednesday. For many recognizing Lent, that day marks the first day of a forty-day fast from something.
The day before Ash Wednesday is known as Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras (French for Fat Tuesday). Many people have at least a day of feasting before the season of fasting. Perhaps no city in America celebrates Mardi Gras better than New Orleans.
The weeks leading up to Mardi Gras (again, the Tuesday before the first day of Lent) as well as the actual day are a season of parties and parades throughout New Orleans. Many revelers— especially those who have traveled to New Orleans to celebrate—gather on Bourbon Street on Tuesday evening. The party goes long into the night, ending at Midnight on Tuesday night. Since Lent starts at 12:01 a.m. on Ash Wednesday, the New Orleans Police Department gather at Midnight on Mardi Gras, form a wall of officers and horses, and use that wall to clear Bourbon Street.
In the minds of many, that’s a great picture of Lent: Party up to the last minute before the Lenten Season starts. Get what you can before you have to give it up. Feast before you have to fast. It’s the reason the celebrations associated with Mardi Gras are often referred to as Carnival—a word that comes from the Latin for “goodbye meat.”
In the minds of many, that’s also what makes the Lenten Season at best a disappointment and at worst a farce. It seems almost hypocritical to celebrate the Seven Deadly Sins before suppressing them.
CONFUSION REGARDING LENT
There is much confusion in the American Evangelical Church regarding Lent. To be sure, the Bible doesn’t require us to recognize seasons like Lent or even Advent. In Romans 14:5, Paul writes that the celebration of holy days is a matter of Christian liberty. Paul continues, “The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord” (Rom. 14:6). Therefore, any recognition of Lent must be done in a way that honors God.
As Jesus made clear when he quoted Isaiah to the Pharisees, external actions void of heart- engagement are not honoring to God.
Well did Isaiah prophecy of you hypocrites… ‘This people honors me with their lips, but
their heart is far from me.’
Therefore, any special attention to the Lenten Season that honors God must include heart-level repentance and real faith, not external obedience to church tradition.
So the Lenten Season and its encouragement to take an extended time to focus on the death and resurrection of Christ provides us with an opportunity to honor God as well as a temptation toward sin. There can be a real value in marking this season, but only if done with a heart that seeks to honor God.
Go HERE if you'd like to read the whole article from The Resurgence.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
ALL CHURCH WORK DAY - Lets Get Ready for Mission!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Leaders Who Last Seminar
Monday, February 07, 2011
A Praying Church
This is not an exhaustive list but merely some thoughts on the content of a Christians prayer as we look at the Apostle Pauls example in Acts and Ephesians.
Prayer Should be:
God Centered
Trinitarian
Reverent
Worshipful
Thankful
Thoughtful
Confessional
Repentant
Relational
Intimate
Kingdom Minded
Missional
Intercessory
Intentional
About Listening as well as Speaking
Specific
Simple
Spirit FilledCorporate
Continual
Confident & Expectant
Friday, February 04, 2011
Personal Renewal Pt 7 - Family
• Bible – Acts, Rom, Eph, 1 & 2 Cor, Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy
• Total Church by Steve Timmis
• Stop Dating the Church by Joshua Harris
• What is a Healthy Church by Mark Dever
• The Trellis and the Vine by Marshall and Payne
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Personal Renewal Pt 6 - Missionary
• Bible – Luke, John, Acts, Rom, Gal, 1 John, Exodus, Nehemiah, Isaiah,
• Culture Making by Andy Crouch
• Crazy Love by Francis Chan
• Radical Reformissionary by Mark Driscoll
• Total Church by Steve Timmis
• Generous Justice by Tim Keller
Monday, January 31, 2011
Personal Renewal Pt 5 - Servant
• Bible – Matthew, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Rom, Gal, *Philippians, James, Philemon, Hosea
• Humility by CJ Mahaney
• Generous Justice by Tim Keller
• Total Church by Steve Timmis
• Radical by David Platt
• The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn (Specifically for issues of Money/Worldliness)