We started our series entitled "Love is a Battlefield" last Sunday. I really felt it was important that before we talked about relationships in general that we needed to understand God's love towards us. If we don't understand God's love, then we will not be able to show true love towards others. Remember that Jesus prayed that we would be filled with the same love that He and His Father have for each other. (John 17) God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit are able to express perfect love. There is no selfishness in the Trinity. We are to be filled with this love and then give this same type of love. This was Jesus' prayer for the church. Let us know our worth in Christ! Know the the battle that Jesus went through on the cross so that we can experience this love. When we understand this truth, then we will be able to go to the battlefield for others.

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

More Snow!

Anyone tired of snow yet? Working at home today because we are snowed in once again. Looking forward to Spring and warmer weather.

Blogging Again

Hey everyone, so it has been a long while since I have blogged. It has been a crazy year for me especially in my family life. I am excited to say that things are starting to slow down and so I want to try to blog again. There are many things happening right now at CH and I am excited about what God is doing. I feel that the blog is a great way to keep everyone posted and share their thoughts. Please stayed tuned!

Monday, February 08, 2010

Chutzpah

We concluded our series on "Parables" yesterday. I wish we could have taken more more time on the parables as there are so many of them and they are all so important. Yesterday we talked about 'chutzpah' faith. It is a bold, persistent, shameless faith that presses in until we receive an answer. Jesus taught in His parables that God is moved by this type of faith. There are times in our prayer lives that it seems that God is not listening and may seem that when we pray things don't get better but they get worse. It is in these times that people tend to give up. They may give up on prayer or worse yet give up on God. Jesus told us that it is in these times that we press in and hold on to the promises of God. Jesus said at the end of the parable in Luke 8 that we need to ask, seek and knock until the door is opened. I want to encourage everyone to not give up on whatever you are asking from God. God is faithful and He is moved by our persistent prayers.

Monday, March 09, 2009

Leaders Meeting

We are our first all leaders meeting on Sunday night and I am very excited about what the Lord is doing in our church. This past October I was challenged by the author of "Good to Great" to get the right people on the right seats of the bus to move the vision forward. I feel that God is definitely putting the right people in the seats. John Bushong has just took over our Christian Education and I am very excited about the possibilities of what we can do with Sunday School and Vacation Bible School and other events this year. My wife Jennifer is also doing a great job with our children's ministry department and we are moving in the right direction with new curriculum and a vision for outreach. Our youth team is becoming stronger and I believe that over the next few months we will see strong leadership arise to take over this ministry. I was very excited to hear reports from our Missions Team as well as they are seeing the needs in the community and world and taking action. God is doing some great things and I believe the vision is moving forward and best is yet to come.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Desiring God

Last week I got the opportunity to got to Minneapolis to the Desiring God conference. One of the speakers was Matt Chandler and Matt did a great job explaining the role of ministry. Here are the seven things he taught from 1 Timothy chapter 4.

1. The Gospel matters- If we don't get the Gospel right people will conform to a pattern of religion not the pattern of Christ.

2. Avoid myths and train in godliness

3. The Gospel will be a stench to some- I think we sometimes forget this principle. Not everyone accepted the message of Jesus. Some turned away and did not receive the truth. If we are offending some with the Gospel we must be doing something right.

4. Be the example- As a leader I must be devoted to the scriptures and not what every other church is doing.

5. Pastoring is a part of sanctification- Our calling is to Christ not the church.

6. Practice the Word- If we are not careful our faith can stagnate. As I grow the church will grow.

7. Pay attention to myself and my teaching- If I pay to attention to my own life and my teaching I will be able to save myself and those who hear what I teach.

Monday, February 09, 2009

Valentines Outreach

This will be our third year that we will be doing our Valentine Cookie Outreach. I am always amazed on how a simple thing like handing out plates of cookies to people in our community makes a huge difference. This year we will be inserting our new Hope Cards (more on that on a later time.) in each plate. If you know someone who could use a plate of cookies, make sure you mark their name down and put it in the offering as it passes by. We will be delivering the cookies the week of the 9th. Can't wait to see what God is going to do through this outreach!

Friday, January 30, 2009

Faith vs. Works

I was reading in my devotion time this morning from Romans 4 when Paul is talking to the Jews about forcing circumcision on the Gentiles. I am not going into details on the chapter but I encourage you to read it. The point of the chapter was Paul was telling the people that circumcision was just an outward sign of what God had already done in the heart. Paul uses Abraham as the example. Abraham was a man of faith and had faith in God and His promises. God told him to go to a land where he had never been and Abraham went. God told Abraham that he would have a son in his old age and Abraham believed. Paul makes the point that Abraham had faith before he had circumcision. It was faith that allowed him to receive God's promises not circumcision. The point is simply this; God doesn't judge us by our outward works but God judges us by our faith. This is so important! As a pastor, I am simply judged by many outward things; whether or not my sermon was good on Sunday, what was our attendance as a church and even our budget and finances. These are all measurable things that we can look at and say whether or not a pastor is a success or not. If you are not a pastor you have other measurable outward things that people possibly measure about you. Here is the point: God doesn't measure our outward works, He measures our faith in Him. Here are some questions I am asking myself:

1. Am I doing something right now that requires faith? Something bigger then myself and something I cannot do on my own.
2. Am I trusting God's promises and His Word as my resource?
3. Am I believing that God will come through and am I taking action towards that thing that requires faith?

I would rather be known as a person of faith then any other outward works. If this matters to God then it should also matter to me.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009