Post

Ok so for real this time...fall Community Groups kick off tonight!! Be here at 6:15 for fellowship and coffee, 7 for worship, and 7:30 for community groups. See you in a few hours!

Post

Once Upon a Time … In Real Life. Parables of Jesus Kingdom Rewards (Matt 20:1-16) ---- --------------------------------------------------- In the parable of vineyard, only the first worker group was told a wage. The later groups were told that they would be paid what was right. They were all paid the same amount, whether they worked all day or only an hour. The early workers didn’t think that the pay was fair because they bore the burden of the work. This is a worldly view of the situation. This parable is about heaven. We need to be careful not to treat God like unappreciative children (asking “why?”, or saying “This is not fair!”) Consider that the master didn’t need to hire any of them. We can trust God to treat us better than we deserve. He already has, because Jesus bore the burden of our sin. There is ALWAYS an opening in God’s kingdom, even at the final hour. (Do we who came to Christ early in our lives resent those who came to know Him later in life?) We should fall on our faces in awe of His incredible gift. We get to go to heaven and spend eternity with God, where there will be or sickness or dying, The Bible describes heaven as the most valuable things on earth being used for mundane things (like roads of gold). God has better things for us than we can imagine. (I Cor 2: 8) The thrill will never be gone. I Peter 1:3-4 says that we will receive an inheritance that is imperishable, incorruptible and unfading. God is MORE than fair to us. Jesus is the foundation, and nothing else (I Cor 3:11-15). In the parable of the talents, it is obvious that the steward who only had one talent didn’t really know the master. (He was on the outside). His master gave his talent to the one who had done the most with the talents. (to those who handles a lot is given more responsibility). We might not think it is fair, but remember, it was never the stewards stuff. It was always the master’s stuff. Likewise, all we have is God’s stuff. The REWARD is to hear the master say “Well done my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.” We want the Lord to smile because He is proud of us. We don’t know exactly what our heavenly rewards will be, but God will do so much more than the best we can imagine. We need to trust God. He is already better to us than we deserve. He has done the most important work, and He isn’t even finished yet! Application Points -- Trust God’s promise of eternal life when you surrender your life to Jesus. -- Rejoice whenever someone does surrender their life to Christ. -- Work for the joy of Jesus; His praise is the greatest reward. We need to enter the joy of our Master.

Post

Once Upon a Time – In Real Life The Parables of Jesus The King’s Judgment – (Mt. 12:1-12; Mt 13:24-30; Luke 13:6-9, 16:19-31) ------------------------------------------------------- These days, we Christians are being called judgmental. All we should be saying is that there is a God who says certain thoughts, actions, and behaviors are wrong, and they are a sin against Him. Those actions separate us from a holy God, and the consequence is death. But the story continues – God is love, mercy, and grace, and He made provisions for us. We Christians are not better than non-believers. Our sin might not have the same immediate consequences, but we are all in the same boat. Jesus’ death and resurrection pays for our forgiveness. He is our ONLY hope. We are not being judgmental when we are trying to tell a broken world the truth. Our deepest offense doesn’t compare with the offense that we have been to God. When we are offended, our first thought is not to give our offender more time, but God’s is. He is patient, wanting all to be saved. Matt 13:24-30 is a parable about the wheat and the weeds in a field. In verses 36-43, Jesus explains how it describes the harvest. By the power of God, weeds (unbelievers) can turn to wheat (believers). God wants to give us every opportunity. Jesus will one day return, and then the weeds will be gathered up and thrown into the fire. God is more than fair. He has waited 2000 years for us. God created a perfect world – we humans rebelled against Him and sided with Satan, but our identity is not about what we’ve done. It’s about what He’s done. God provides a way of salvation. He wants us to know and follow Him, and share Him with others. Change is motivated by faith or fear. We need to follow Jesus to be fruitful, not fearful. Luke 13:6-9 is a parable about a fig tree that didn’t bear fruit for 3 years. God expects fruitfulness from us. He is more than patient, and in His grace, has given us more time. We need to receive it, but not abuse it. There is a judgment if we remain unfruitful. The values of this world are very different than ours, from how we handle money to what we do on Sunday morning. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (who was poor), both men died. The Bible says that the rich man was buried, but it says that Lazarus was carried by angels. The rich man could see those in heaven and wants to warn his brothers. Hell is living in eternal agony. To be fruitful, we need to stop doing stupid things, and stop making excuses for doing wrong things. We need to live our lives connected to Jesus. God will create the fruitfulness. Application points: -- Faith is what God wants; believe Him. -- Focus on growing ad serving; fruit will come. We worry too much about producing fruit. Let God do it through us. -- Make no mistake; heaven and hell are real … and eternal. We need to know where we’re going.

Post

Once Upon a Time … In Real Life. Parables of Jesus Kingdom Accounting (Luke 12: 13-21, 41-48; 14:25-35) ---- --------------------------------------------------- Pastor David says that our Christian life has some similarities with how to be successful while hunting: 1) plan and prepare. 2) make the effort needed. 3) report any harvest. In our Christian life, we need to live with great faith and EFFORT and need to count the cost of being a disciple. Luke 14: 26 tells us to hate our mother and father, which means that our love of others shouldn’t compare to our love of God. We need to discipline ourselves to love Jesus more than anyone and anything else in our lives. It is a false gospel to say that all God wants from us is our sin. God wants us to die to ourselves and be 100% surrendered to him. Life is hard, but if we are surrendered to God, when life overwhelms us, we can follow and trust Him even when we don’t understand what is happening. Are we willing to be open-handed to God with our kids, our spouse, and our stuff? We are blessed and wealthy compared to so many and we need to be willing to let it go. We do not need to make a vow of poverty. Money isn’t bad, but God values people. It is our mindset that matters. We need to be truly willing to let things go, be ready for service and live in the reality of Jesus’ return. (Luke 12: 35-40). Luke 12: 13-21 is a parable about a rich fool who stores up treasures for himself but is not rich towards God. Jesus came to give us life, not arbitrate about stuff on our behalf. The American Dream tends to take us away from being effective in our Christian life. Young people want to hang out with the young and active and older people want to kick back and take it easy. It is silly to not use and value people who have trained their entire life. God says that those who pile up treasures are foolish. Are we willing to love God more than our stuff? We will have to give an account. How much does God require of us? Everything! We need to sell out to following Jesus. To live rich towards God, we need to obey his commands and follow the Great Commandment: serve God, make disciples, do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. We are all on a mission trip. We should live our lives consistent with the way of Jesus Christ, disciple people, and hold all we have with an open hand. Practical take-ways to be ready for Jesus’ return: -- Get rid of greed. This was the rich fool’s problem. -- Put aside power trips. -- First Jesus, then our families. To love our families most, we must love Jesus best. -- Stay surrendered from our stuff

Post

Once Upon a Time … In Real Life. Parables of Jesus The Kingdom Come in You (Luke 15) ------------------------------------------------------- The context of the parable of the lost sheep, coin, and son is that the Pharisees and scribes were upset that Jesus not only accepted, but also welcomed and ate with “sinners”. Paul did not presume upon God. Instead, he saw himself as the servant or slave of God. We are not equal to God. It is God who initiates calling us His child and His friend. God is at work in the life of each believer to transform us into who He made us to be. We ALL matter to Him. Our role is to love and serve the Lord. God is the seeker, and we are the sought or the others. The Seeker cannot abide that the lost are lost, and he rejoices when he finds and rescues someone who was lost. God is not against us, He is FOR us. God is about restoration… building His family and His kingdom. Are we self-righteous and full of ourselves? Do we under-estimate ourselves and are filled with loathing? Or do we see things as they really are? Our attitude toward our sin should always be the same. We should weep and mourn, and turn away from it, but then, we should put the shame and guilt behind us and rejoice in God’s forgiveness and love. We should look clearly at where we started from so that we can clearly see what we are becoming. Application points: -- View ourselves humbly, but not without worth -- Consider that God seeks us, even though we’ve wandered off. He wants us to have a repentant heart. Repentance is confessing our sin and turning away from it and toward God. -- God’s goal is redemption and restoration. We need to welcome who God welcomes.

Post

Once Upon a Time … In Real Life. Parables of Jesus Kingdom Communication (Luke 11:1-13, 18:1-8) ------------------------------------------------------- We sometimes struggle with how to live as a child of God in the world today. We exist to have a relationship with Him and share His message, and He sustains us. Even when we go through trials, we should focus on the eternal (2 Cor 4:16-18). We pray to the eternal, holy, infinite God, and He knows us better than we know ourselves. He wants to hear what we have to say, but also knows that we struggle to believe that prayer does any good. To help us remember what God has already done for us, we should engrave His unshakeable and eternal gift in our minds. Jesus told two parables: Luke 11: 5-13 – Here, Jesus used the model prayer: worship; surrender; request/confession of reliance; confession; application; and plea. Then he told a parable, and admonished people to ask, search, and knock. The parable tells us that, just as we who fail do things for our children, how much more will God do for us? It tells us that we are not an inconvenience to God. Luke 8: 1-8 – A widow keeps going to a judge on the take because she needs justice. The judge eventually wears down. Unlike this judge, God will swiftly grant justice. In this fallen world, life is hard. We need to engrave what God has already done for us on our mind and heart so that we remember that God will do the best thing for us in every situation. Prayer is not about getting God to do what we want. It is about worship, praise, intercession, and bringing our requests before God. It is about knowing that He is the only One who can do anything about the situation. We need to pray always and not get discouraged. We need to keep calling the God of so much more. Application points: -- Let urgent and pressing need drive persistence in prayer. -- Don’t despair; the dynamic of prayer is different than other conversations. Prayer is not ineffective. God absolutely hears you. -- God is better than we are at our best. If you’re writing your troubles in stone and blessings in sand, try switching it up. Let’s remind ourselves of what God has already done, and that we can trust Him with our current situation.

Post

Once Upon a Time … In Real Life. Parables of Jesus (Two-for-One) ------------------------------------------------------- Pastor Dave shared two parables about the return of Christ from Mt 25:1-30. Part 1: Parable of the 10 Virgins ------------------------------------------ In Biblical times, the bride would wait for the groom at his family’s house. Then, bridesmaids would circle him with torches and escort him to his bride. In this parable, the groom was delayed. When he arrived to meet with the bridesmaids, 5 of them were ready with the oil that they needed and 5 were not. If the 5 that were ready shared their oil, they would not have had enough light to escort the groom to his bride. When the foolish bridesmaids were finally ready, it was too late. This parable shows that those outside of God’s family do not get to come in after Christ comes again. We need to live ready for Jesus’ return Application points: -- Don’t sleep on Jesus. Nobody knows when Christ will return (Matt 24: 36-44). Stay alert! -- It’s been a while and sometimes it’s hard, but keep living in the light of Jesus’ return. -- This is personal, and your true identity is at stake. You are a child of God. Being ready for His return means that we need to live and do what he told us to. Part 2: Parable of the Talents ---------------------------------------- God expects some things from us, not because we want to perform for him, but because of who we are. We can’t do all of God’s work alone, and it would be easy to feel like a failure. God asks us to act justly, love faithfully, and walk humbly with Him (Micah 6:8). We should live our daily life with ALL belonging to God. We don’t know all that we can do, but God does. He gives us our talent and capacity, and entrusts us with people, life, minute, hours, and days. We need to be faithful with what God gives to us. He doesn’t set us up for failure. And remember, He not only calls us, but also equips us. Application points: -- God knows you; He is way more than fair. (We don’t want “fair.” We want to hear Him say that we are a good and faithful servant. -- Give your best. God is worth it. -- Never forget to who it all belongs. Receive your reward from Him. -- Trust God that he is your solution, not your problem. It all comes down to who doesn’t know the Master – who doesn’t know Jesus. As a child of God, the greatest joy in life is not “our” success, but instead to be faithful to Him. God blesses the faithful. We are to be a voice of hope in a dark world. Our job is to tell people about Jesus, even if they don’t want to hear it. Be inspired that He KNOWS us, and still entrusts us, and equips us to do His work.

Post

Once Upon a Time – In Real Life The Parables of Jesus The Nature of the Kingdom – (Mt. 13:33; Lk. 13:18-21; Mk. 4:26-29) ------------------------------------------------------- Application points: -- Ground your hope in Kingdom victory. "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep in order to gain that which he cannot lose." -Jim Eliot -- Don't be so discouraged by appearances that you miss the reality: -- -- The Kingdom of God is growing. -- -- Never forget that history has a point! God's at work... and He is winning. The harvest will come!

Post

We will be having a church wide garage sale Friday, July 17 and Sat, July 18 from 7am-12pm! All proceeds support our youth attending camps, retreats and mission trips so come see what treasures you can find and support our students in the process!

Post

Celebration Baptist Church will be having a church wide garage sale Friday, July 17 and Sat, July 18 from 7am-12pm! All proceeds support our youth attending camps, retreats and mission trips! 5620 Laredo Rd. NE, Rio Ranco

Post

Once Upon a Time … in Real Life The Parables of Jesus Living the Kingdom Agenda The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) ------------------------------------------------------- Jesus simplified God’s law to 1) Love God with all that you are, and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, we try to identify with the priest or Levite, not the Samaritan, a person who would be despised by the Jews. But it is the Samaritan who spends his time and money (equivalent to 2 days wages) on helping the victim. The Samaritan is the hero in this parable. There are only 3 kinds of people: 1) Natural that don’t know God. 2) Spiritual who walk with God. 3) Worldly who know God but don’t walk with Him. Jesus won’t answer questions that defend our prejudice (Gal 3:27-29). Instead, He answers questions that get us closer to God’s plan. We need to be careful NOT to put our thoughts, prejudice and beliefs into the Bible. We need to ask questions that get us to God’s plan, not just our prejudice. And we need to be honest with ourselves. Application Points: -- Learn that the Kingdom agenda is to love God, love others, and make disciples. -- Ask who and how you can influence for the kingdom. -- Hope, pray, speak, and work for salvation, even when it cuts against your grain. Let’s pray that God help us to see people through His eyes, and that He helps us to be willing to give of our time and share Him.

Post

Once Upon a Time – In Real Life The Parables of Jesus To the King (or the Singer)! (Matt 11:16-19) ------------------------------------------------------- John the Baptist didn’t come to make friends. He came to pave the way to Jesus. Jesus also ignored the social dos and don’ts of the day. He talked to tax collectors, and talked to women in public, even a Samaritan woman and one who had a bad reputation. In fact, although many shunned Jesus, He only shunned the prideful. John was direct. Like John, we should say the message straight and not make it about ourselves. We should decrease as God increases. Life has lost its heart. Today, many younger people think that God and Jesus are myths. Their opinion does nothing to change the truth. Jesus is still crying out in the marketplace. How will we respond to God’s reaching out to us? We should dance to the music, love, share His grace and forgiveness, share hope and glory. Point people to Him. Application points: -- Don’t expect the masses to help you make the right choices. They will often lead you wrong. -- Find God in the serious and the joyous. Embrace life with God. It’s about our relationships with others and Him throughout your life. -- Ultimately, what we do proves who we are and Whose we are.

Post

Happy Monday everyone! Remember, this weekend is the Big Picture conference at Celebration. Ages 6th grade - adult are welcome to attend; cost is $20 and only $10 for each additional family member and includes 3 meals. Come learn, engage, worship, and fellowship with us! Contact the church office or email agrafe@celebratechrist.net to sign up!

Post

From last Sunday, Once Upon a Time – In Real Life The Parables of Jesus ------------------------------------------------------- To help people understand life in God’s kingdom, Jesus told parables that they could understand from their life experiences. Parables typically have the same number of points as there are characters in the story, and there is always a twist that shows the gulf from where we are now and where we should be in God’s kingdom. The parable of the sower is the key to understanding all parables. The sower sows the Word of God, the gospel message. This parable shows us the 3 main things that get in the way of His Word being productive: 1) Satan. This is like the seed falling on the path for the birds to eat. If a person is intent on being against God, do not make them your focus. Instead, cultivate the soil. Our role is to influence people. 2) Self. Some people are shallow and only want part of the story. This is like the seed falling on rocky ground where there is no soil. We need to surrender our whole life to Him. The Christian life is not always easy or comfortable, and some never really fully surrender to Him. 3) World. There may be persecution, or the person might chase the wrong stuff. This is like the seed falling amongst the thorns. We need to be careful not to lead someone to believe that they are right when they disagree with God. That is not love. We need to take time to build bridges and cultivate the soil. But if we don’t plant, then we won’t harvest. We need to live wide open to God’s good news to make a world of difference, and swallow the hook! Application points: -- Remember that the gospel is Jesus’. -- Cultivate some soil. -- Play the sower; share the good news. -- Don’t leave your fruitfulness in doubt: Influence people for Christ; Let the Spirit grow love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control in you until they show change.

Post

Let God's commands design your plan. 1)Soak in the Scripture, pray on, and stay in fellowship to counter identity confusion. 2)Men: Lead, love, train, and serve. 3)Women: Complement/submit, respect, train, and serve. 4)Children: Obey, honor, and grow.

Post

Summer community groups begin tonight! Join us at 6:15 for coffee and fellowship (and games for the youth!) then at 7 for worship and small group Bible study. See you there!

Post

Learn to Love by Faith (1 John 4:7-21) ------------------------------------------------------- Love is more than a powerful feeling of deep affection, as the world would have us believe. It involves choice, intention, desire, and caring enough about the one being loved to want the best for them. Some people ask why a loving God would send someone to Hell. They think that love means that they can do whatever they want and God will give them a pass. But God is holy and perfect and He cannot allow sin in his presence. We wouldn’t survive in his presence. God knows exactly who He created us to be, and He loves us too much to let us waste our lives. He created us to be His children. Yes, people who rebel against Him will end up in hell. When we live life the way we want, it is not love, that is death. The better question is how can God love us so much that He would choose to send His Son to die for us even when He knows us so well? We need to love because we are loved. God commands that we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt 22:36-39). When we accept Jesus, we are forgiven and can truly LIVE, because He stands in the line of fire of God’s coming wrath. Love is not about warm fuzzies. We may not always FEEL like loving someone. But when we want to hang on to a grudge, let’s remember that nobody has ever done to us what we have done to God. We need to love others not in our own strength, but with the love that He has shown us. We love because He first loved us, and we should be an agent for God’s love. Some people want us to not only accept their rebellious lifestyle, but celebrate it. That is not love. We don’t need to agree with people’s choices, but we do need to ask ourselves whether we are influencing others for Christ. We should point people to Jesus and pray for those who persecute us. Application points: -- Spend time reflecting on God’s love for and forgiveness of you. -- Thank and pray for those you need to love and forgive. Make it a conscious decision and change your self-talk. Ask a friend for prayer to help. -- Demonstrate Christ-like love. Take loving actions: speak graciously; pray regularly. The most important thing you will ever do is to encourage people toward Christ.

Post

Risk Becoming a Great Lover (Gen 2: 18-25; Eph 5:22-33) ------------------------------------------------------- The church should teach on marriage and intimacy, because the world twists this beautiful relationship that God created. Wouldn’t it be great if our marriages at Celebration are so good that the community takes notice? We do not FIND our soulmate or get lucky in love as the world would have us believe. The reality is that that we must risk enough for love, need to work at it, and be strong enough to not walk out when things get tough. The world celebrates conquests and people’s lives are destroyed. God’s design is so much better!! We need to forge a one-flesh love that this world cannot break or tear apart! God recognized that man needed someone special on earth. He took a piece from Adam’s side to make woman. Note that we are not 2 people to battle, but are SIDE by SIDE working together. God’s plan is 1 man and 1 woman for life. Marriage is a spiritual covenant between man, woman, and God. For a good marriage, we can’t be selfish; we can’t try to fix each other; and we can’t dwell on the negative. Remember, we CHOSE to marry this person. Now we need to follow through. God chooses the marriage relationship to describe the relationship of Christ and the Church. Man is commanded to love his wife like Jesus loves us, dying to self, with a life-giving love. Wives are told to submit to their husband, but this means to CHOOSE to submit, not to become a doormat. Men have a God-given responsibility to lead, not to repress, and women are to respect and submit to their husband not because he deserves it, but because it is God’s way. If a couple fights over their individual rights, then a marriage crumbles. Forging is done through heat and pressure. We need to consider whether our marriage will fail when there is heat and pressure, or whether it becomes stronger through the power of God because it is forged. Application points: -- Do yourself the favor of coming in second to your spouse! -- Recapture the wonder! -- Dwell on the good and pray for the rest. Stop trying to fix each other and forget about the past. Pray for God to make the change. Men, love her to greater inner beauty, and women, respect him to greater inner strength.

Post

Learn to Treat Your Parents Right (Ex 20:12; Col 3:20; Pr 1:8-9) ------------------------------------------------------- Pastor David shared about how he took a job nearer to his parents so he could be near enough to care for them in their old age even though the job was for less money than he could have made. All of our relationships start with God, but our first and most important human relationship is with our parents. We don’t honor them because they are perfect, and it doesn’t mean that everything they do is OK. We don’t need to always agree with them. We need to make sure that we don’t ignore God in favor of honoring our parents. Obedience to our parents pleases the Lord, but obeying Him always has higher priority. We must treat our parents rightly within the bounds of what God requires of us (Col 3:20; Eph 6:1). Moms and dads are to be the “front line” of discipleship. Children may not always appreciate their parent’s rules and instructions, but these come from love. Some parents want to be a friend to their children, so they don’t correct, rebuke, and discipline them when they need it. Children need for their parents to be adults who love and obey God more than anyone or anything else. The church partners with the parents to help them raise up Godly children. Parents need to make the most of every day they have with their children, and children need to realize that they won’t always have their parents around. God matters. Trivial, temporary things don’t. Doing things His way is the best path to having a blessed life (Prov 1:8-9). Honoring our parents results in being honored and respected by others because of our character. We should honor our parents for a lifetime. It will sometimes be hard, but it is a command from God. A society that doesn’t honor its parents will not last. Application points: -- Work to have the best attitude toward your parents you can -- As children, obey them in anything that doesn’t disobey God. -- As we get older, treat them well. Keep listening, keep loving, and be there when it gets hard. There is a fight for life in our society about “expendable” human lives. The older and weaker, those whose “quality of life” isn’t as good as it once was are increasingly vulnerable to being institutionalized or even euthanized.

Post

Start With God (Dt 6:4-5; Ex 20:2-11; Lk 14:25-33) ------------------------------------------------------- Whether we are introverted or extroverted, God created all of us to be successful in our relationships. But even people that we trust might betray us or mislead us. Over the next 7 weeks, we will learn how to pursue good relationships. We first need to look at our PASSION and ASSURANCE. Our passion is what we really care about, what consumes our thoughts. Our assurance is that our God is perfect and He doesn’t make mistakes. He made us to have great relationships. God made us to know and love Him, not part time but full time. He loves us unconditionally and when we respond to Him, we enter into an unbreakable relationship on His terms (not ours) (John 10:27-30; Ro 8:35-39). He knows all things and He teaches us. (I John 4:19). We need to live abandoned to God. Let nothing rival God in our heart, and let’s not settle for less than Who He really is. We need to not treat God lightly, and make sure to take time for Him and for us. God will change us. We can get off track really fast and take a wrong turn, but God keeps us on the right track. He knows what we need. Let Him be our security and let’s learn to live a life in worship and trust (Ex 20:2-11). All good relationships start with our relationship with Him. In fact, loving God is the key to loving everyone else. We need to love God most before we can love someone else the right way. (Luke 14: 25-23) We need to surrender everything else and trust Him in everything. Application points: -- Keep God first in everything. -- Surrender your life. -- Surrender your other relationships. Trust God with them. -- Surrender your “stuff”.

Post

The Power of Passing it On (Aquilla and Priscilla) (Acts 18:1-4, 18-21, 24-28) ------------------------------------------------------- Our purpose on earth is to make disciples, which goes beyond introducing people to Christ. The Holy Spirit empowers us to do what God designed us to do. The hang up is in our attitude. We need to be teachable (willing to learn) and “teach-able” (able to teach others what we learned). We also need to be available and show up. Aquilla and Priscilla went to Corinth when they were kicked out of Rome. Paul connected with them there and taught them more about Christ. So first, they had a connection, and then had a conversation. Aquilla and Priscilla were willing to leave their business and their security to go with Paul to Assyria. Paul left them in Ephesus where they then poured themselves into Apollos. This shows God’s plan: 1) We should make a connection. There is no need to change who we are. We just need to live out our faith, and shouldn’t stay quiet because we are afraid to offend or are afraid that we will mess it up. God just asks to share what we have learned. We need to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. 2) We should share life together 3) We need to make disciples who then make disciples (II Tim 2:2). We should consider what we are doing to pour ourselves into someone else. Application points: -- Make an effort. Carve out some time. It takes effort to learn sound doctrine. -- Take an interest in people , in the Lord, and in things of the Lord. -- Decide that it matters. Issues of faith are not trivial. We are willing to work extra hours, go the gym, and enjoy entertainment, but sometimes not willing to learn about God’s love and share it with others. We should be so in love with Him that our desire is to know Him better and be as useful to Him as we can be.

Post

When God Rocks your World (The Philippian jailor) (Acts 16:16-34) ------------------------------------------------------- We need to open ourselves completely to God so that we can release our problems to Him. Jesus died for all (II Cor 5: 11-15; Luke 4: 16-21). Acts 16: 16-34 is more about the Philippians jailor being freed from sin rather than about Paul and Silas being freed from jail. Application points: -- Remember Who has real power. God alone. We should give our worries to Him (I Peter 5:7) -- Trust God for and with your family. -- Suicide is never the answer. -- Jesus wants you too!! Believe in Him.

Post

Using our Resources for Eternal Investment (Lydia) (Acts 16:11-15, 40; Phil 4: 10-20) ------------------------------------------------------- Our investment can make a difference in God’s Kingdom. Lydia, a wealthy business woman, understood that she had resources that Paul and others didn’t have and they had knowledge that she didn’t have. She influenced her household and others to think about God and was willing to support Paul and others in their mission. Lydia was bold in her invitation. She set the precedent of eternal investment. Like Lydia, we are to invest in disciple-making and be messengers. Paul’s joy was not tied to circumstances, but instead through a relationship with Christ. He went through great turmoil and poverty, was rejected or put into prison, and was still content with what he had. His gratitude (vs 7) was because he knew that the giver would be blessed, not because he received the gift. Today, people come and remain in the church not because of programs, but because the people share life with each other. When investing generously in eternal investment, there is no need to worry about if we will have enough. Our God will supply all of our needs (Phil 4: 19). When we support the Kingdom by serving Jesus, by investing our money, time, skills, and abilities in disciple-makings. God loves us trusting Him and will reward our part in the mission. Application points: -- Give significantly of your time, treasure and talent. Share your life with others. -- Be generous to those of particular callings. Make good choices with what you support. -- Prepare for “space invaders”. You may need to change your schedule to make room in your life to encourage people in Christ.

Post

The Power of Influence (Paul) (Acts 16:10; Luke 1: 1-4; Acts 1: 1-3; 2 Tim 4: 11) ------------------------------------------------------- Every choice we make moves us closer to or away from Christ, and we influence those around us. Within our own self (whether introvert, extrovert, etc), we can all affect the world for Jesus. In fact, our different ways let us influence more people to Christ. Paul was not perfect, but he understood that he represented Christ every day. We never really know when God will use us to change someone’s eternity because they see Jesus in us. God knows what He made us to be. As we become more like Jesus, we will discover our true self as God made us to be. We need to influence everyone we can for Christ … we never know what they’ll do. Application points: -- Keep a “come and see” attitude. It is beautiful to see people living out their faith. Be who we are in Christ. -- Disciple who we can and influence people to Jesus. -- Remember that God is at work. We don’t know and see everything. We might influence people and never know it.

Post

When Zero plus Zero Equals Everything 3 sermons – Acts 2, 13, 17 2 testimonies – Acts 23, 27 2 visions- Acts 7, 9 ------------------------------------------------------- The empty cross + the empty tomb = everything (infinity). We need to voice the HOPE of life! There were more than 500 witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection, which is more proof than anything else in history. The resurrection changes EVERYTHING. Jesus was born into the world, lived a perfect life, and then died for us so that we can be right in God’s eyes. He transformed death (John 11: 25-26). Our bodies that we cling to may die, but death has no victory. He is our example, our sins are forgiven and our hope is restored. Application points: -- Live the truth and let it permeate your life. -- Say “Yes” to salvation -- Say “Yes” to mission -- Embrace life; keep the sound of hope I your voice.

Post

Christ. Is. Risen!!! Whether here at Celebration or somewhere else, go rejoice today - Jesus is alive!

Post

Don’t Give Up on Your Loved Ones (Acts 15:12-35; I Cor 15:7) (James) ------------------------------------------------------- We need to be careful that we don’t come across as having “arrived.” Instead, we should share with humility because none of us deserve to be in God’s family. We should be amazed at how great God is and always have that tone when we share the good news. We should love them too much not to do all that we can to share Jesus – not because we are trying to fix them, but want to share Jesus with them because He is better than ANYTHING. If you have lovingly been sharing Jesus with your loved one, don’t get discouraged. Even if you don’t see it, the power of Jesus Christ is doing its work. Trust Him! Keep showing your “James” the savior. (Ro 6:4-5) God and Jesus want it more than you do. You are not alone. Application points: -- Don’t despair; keep on. (Despair doesn’t look good on Christians). Trust that Jesus still moves in extraordinary ways. He will bear testimony through you.. -- Show Jesus clearly. (They already see Him, but pray for an eye-opening moment. -- Salvation is the beginning. (Read the conversion story of C. S. Lewis)

Post

Post

We will be having a church wide garage sale Friday, July 17 and Sat, July 18 from 7am-12pm! All proceeds support our youth attending camps, retreats and mission trips so come see what treasures you can find and support our students in the process!

Post

Once Upon a Time … in Real Life The Parables of Jesus Living the Kingdom Agenda The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) ------------------------------------------------------- Jesus simplified God’s law to 1) Love God with all that you are, and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, we try to identify with the priest or Levite, not the Samaritan, a person who would be despised by the Jews. But it is the Samaritan who spends his time and money (equivalent to 2 days wages) on helping the victim. The Samaritan is the hero in this parable. There are only 3 kinds of people: 1) Natural that don’t know God. 2) Spiritual who walk with God. 3) Worldly who know God but don’t walk with Him. Jesus won’t answer questions that defend our prejudice (Gal 3:27-29). Instead, He answers questions that get us closer to God’s plan. We need to be careful NOT to put our thoughts, prejudice and beliefs into the Bible. We need to ask questions that get us to God’s plan, not just our prejudice. And we need to be honest with ourselves. Application Points: -- Learn that the Kingdom agenda is to love God, love others, and make disciples. -- Ask who and how you can influence for the kingdom. -- Hope, pray, speak, and work for salvation, even when it cuts against your grain. Let’s pray that God help us to see people through His eyes, and that He helps us to be willing to give of our time and share Him.

Post

Once Upon a Time – In Real Life The Parables of Jesus To the King (or the Singer)! (Matt 11:16-19) ------------------------------------------------------- John the Baptist didn’t come to make friends. He came to pave the way to Jesus. Jesus also ignored the social dos and don’ts of the day. He talked to tax collectors, and talked to women in public, even a Samaritan woman and one who had a bad reputation. In fact, although many shunned Jesus, He only shunned the prideful. John was direct. Like John, we should say the message straight and not make it about ourselves. We should decrease as God increases. Life has lost its heart. Today, many younger people think that God and Jesus are myths. Their opinion does nothing to change the truth. Jesus is still crying out in the marketplace. How will we respond to God’s reaching out to us? We should dance to the music, love, share His grace and forgiveness, share hope and glory. Point people to Him. Application points: -- Don’t expect the masses to help you make the right choices. They will often lead you wrong. -- Find God in the serious and the joyous. Embrace life with God. It’s about our relationships with others and Him throughout your life. -- Ultimately, what we do proves who we are and Whose we are.

Post

From last Sunday, Once Upon a Time – In Real Life The Parables of Jesus ------------------------------------------------------- To help people understand life in God’s kingdom, Jesus told parables that they could understand from their life experiences. Parables typically have the same number of points as there are characters in the story, and there is always a twist that shows the gulf from where we are now and where we should be in God’s kingdom. The parable of the sower is the key to understanding all parables. The sower sows the Word of God, the gospel message. This parable shows us the 3 main things that get in the way of His Word being productive: 1) Satan. This is like the seed falling on the path for the birds to eat. If a person is intent on being against God, do not make them your focus. Instead, cultivate the soil. Our role is to influence people. 2) Self. Some people are shallow and only want part of the story. This is like the seed falling on rocky ground where there is no soil. We need to surrender our whole life to Him. The Christian life is not always easy or comfortable, and some never really fully surrender to Him. 3) World. There may be persecution, or the person might chase the wrong stuff. This is like the seed falling amongst the thorns. We need to be careful not to lead someone to believe that they are right when they disagree with God. That is not love. We need to take time to build bridges and cultivate the soil. But if we don’t plant, then we won’t harvest. We need to live wide open to God’s good news to make a world of difference, and swallow the hook! Application points: -- Remember that the gospel is Jesus’. -- Cultivate some soil. -- Play the sower; share the good news. -- Don’t leave your fruitfulness in doubt: Influence people for Christ; Let the Spirit grow love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control in you until they show change.

Post

Let God's commands design your plan. 1)Soak in the Scripture, pray on, and stay in fellowship to counter identity confusion. 2)Men: Lead, love, train, and serve. 3)Women: Complement/submit, respect, train, and serve. 4)Children: Obey, honor, and grow.

Post

Summer community groups begin tonight! Join us at 6:15 for coffee and fellowship (and games for the youth!) then at 7 for worship and small group Bible study. See you there!

Post

Learn to Love by Faith (1 John 4:7-21) ------------------------------------------------------- Love is more than a powerful feeling of deep affection, as the world would have us believe. It involves choice, intention, desire, and caring enough about the one being loved to want the best for them. Some people ask why a loving God would send someone to Hell. They think that love means that they can do whatever they want and God will give them a pass. But God is holy and perfect and He cannot allow sin in his presence. We wouldn’t survive in his presence. God knows exactly who He created us to be, and He loves us too much to let us waste our lives. He created us to be His children. Yes, people who rebel against Him will end up in hell. When we live life the way we want, it is not love, that is death. The better question is how can God love us so much that He would choose to send His Son to die for us even when He knows us so well? We need to love because we are loved. God commands that we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt 22:36-39). When we accept Jesus, we are forgiven and can truly LIVE, because He stands in the line of fire of God’s coming wrath. Love is not about warm fuzzies. We may not always FEEL like loving someone. But when we want to hang on to a grudge, let’s remember that nobody has ever done to us what we have done to God. We need to love others not in our own strength, but with the love that He has shown us. We love because He first loved us, and we should be an agent for God’s love. Some people want us to not only accept their rebellious lifestyle, but celebrate it. That is not love. We don’t need to agree with people’s choices, but we do need to ask ourselves whether we are influencing others for Christ. We should point people to Jesus and pray for those who persecute us. Application points: -- Spend time reflecting on God’s love for and forgiveness of you. -- Thank and pray for those you need to love and forgive. Make it a conscious decision and change your self-talk. Ask a friend for prayer to help. -- Demonstrate Christ-like love. Take loving actions: speak graciously; pray regularly. The most important thing you will ever do is to encourage people toward Christ.

Post

Risk Becoming a Great Lover (Gen 2: 18-25; Eph 5:22-33) ------------------------------------------------------- The church should teach on marriage and intimacy, because the world twists this beautiful relationship that God created. Wouldn’t it be great if our marriages at Celebration are so good that the community takes notice? We do not FIND our soulmate or get lucky in love as the world would have us believe. The reality is that that we must risk enough for love, need to work at it, and be strong enough to not walk out when things get tough. The world celebrates conquests and people’s lives are destroyed. God’s design is so much better!! We need to forge a one-flesh love that this world cannot break or tear apart! God recognized that man needed someone special on earth. He took a piece from Adam’s side to make woman. Note that we are not 2 people to battle, but are SIDE by SIDE working together. God’s plan is 1 man and 1 woman for life. Marriage is a spiritual covenant between man, woman, and God. For a good marriage, we can’t be selfish; we can’t try to fix each other; and we can’t dwell on the negative. Remember, we CHOSE to marry this person. Now we need to follow through. God chooses the marriage relationship to describe the relationship of Christ and the Church. Man is commanded to love his wife like Jesus loves us, dying to self, with a life-giving love. Wives are told to submit to their husband, but this means to CHOOSE to submit, not to become a doormat. Men have a God-given responsibility to lead, not to repress, and women are to respect and submit to their husband not because he deserves it, but because it is God’s way. If a couple fights over their individual rights, then a marriage crumbles. Forging is done through heat and pressure. We need to consider whether our marriage will fail when there is heat and pressure, or whether it becomes stronger through the power of God because it is forged. Application points: -- Do yourself the favor of coming in second to your spouse! -- Recapture the wonder! -- Dwell on the good and pray for the rest. Stop trying to fix each other and forget about the past. Pray for God to make the change. Men, love her to greater inner beauty, and women, respect him to greater inner strength.

Post

Learn to Treat Your Parents Right (Ex 20:12; Col 3:20; Pr 1:8-9) ------------------------------------------------------- Pastor David shared about how he took a job nearer to his parents so he could be near enough to care for them in their old age even though the job was for less money than he could have made. All of our relationships start with God, but our first and most important human relationship is with our parents. We don’t honor them because they are perfect, and it doesn’t mean that everything they do is OK. We don’t need to always agree with them. We need to make sure that we don’t ignore God in favor of honoring our parents. Obedience to our parents pleases the Lord, but obeying Him always has higher priority. We must treat our parents rightly within the bounds of what God requires of us (Col 3:20; Eph 6:1). Moms and dads are to be the “front line” of discipleship. Children may not always appreciate their parent’s rules and instructions, but these come from love. Some parents want to be a friend to their children, so they don’t correct, rebuke, and discipline them when they need it. Children need for their parents to be adults who love and obey God more than anyone or anything else. The church partners with the parents to help them raise up Godly children. Parents need to make the most of every day they have with their children, and children need to realize that they won’t always have their parents around. God matters. Trivial, temporary things don’t. Doing things His way is the best path to having a blessed life (Prov 1:8-9). Honoring our parents results in being honored and respected by others because of our character. We should honor our parents for a lifetime. It will sometimes be hard, but it is a command from God. A society that doesn’t honor its parents will not last. Application points: -- Work to have the best attitude toward your parents you can -- As children, obey them in anything that doesn’t disobey God. -- As we get older, treat them well. Keep listening, keep loving, and be there when it gets hard. There is a fight for life in our society about “expendable” human lives. The older and weaker, those whose “quality of life” isn’t as good as it once was are increasingly vulnerable to being institutionalized or even euthanized.

Post

Start With God (Dt 6:4-5; Ex 20:2-11; Lk 14:25-33) ------------------------------------------------------- Whether we are introverted or extroverted, God created all of us to be successful in our relationships. But even people that we trust might betray us or mislead us. Over the next 7 weeks, we will learn how to pursue good relationships. We first need to look at our PASSION and ASSURANCE. Our passion is what we really care about, what consumes our thoughts. Our assurance is that our God is perfect and He doesn’t make mistakes. He made us to have great relationships. God made us to know and love Him, not part time but full time. He loves us unconditionally and when we respond to Him, we enter into an unbreakable relationship on His terms (not ours) (John 10:27-30; Ro 8:35-39). He knows all things and He teaches us. (I John 4:19). We need to live abandoned to God. Let nothing rival God in our heart, and let’s not settle for less than Who He really is. We need to not treat God lightly, and make sure to take time for Him and for us. God will change us. We can get off track really fast and take a wrong turn, but God keeps us on the right track. He knows what we need. Let Him be our security and let’s learn to live a life in worship and trust (Ex 20:2-11). All good relationships start with our relationship with Him. In fact, loving God is the key to loving everyone else. We need to love God most before we can love someone else the right way. (Luke 14: 25-23) We need to surrender everything else and trust Him in everything. Application points: -- Keep God first in everything. -- Surrender your life. -- Surrender your other relationships. Trust God with them. -- Surrender your “stuff”.

Post

The Power of Passing it On (Aquilla and Priscilla) (Acts 18:1-4, 18-21, 24-28) ------------------------------------------------------- Our purpose on earth is to make disciples, which goes beyond introducing people to Christ. The Holy Spirit empowers us to do what God designed us to do. The hang up is in our attitude. We need to be teachable (willing to learn) and “teach-able” (able to teach others what we learned). We also need to be available and show up. Aquilla and Priscilla went to Corinth when they were kicked out of Rome. Paul connected with them there and taught them more about Christ. So first, they had a connection, and then had a conversation. Aquilla and Priscilla were willing to leave their business and their security to go with Paul to Assyria. Paul left them in Ephesus where they then poured themselves into Apollos. This shows God’s plan: 1) We should make a connection. There is no need to change who we are. We just need to live out our faith, and shouldn’t stay quiet because we are afraid to offend or are afraid that we will mess it up. God just asks to share what we have learned. We need to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. 2) We should share life together 3) We need to make disciples who then make disciples (II Tim 2:2). We should consider what we are doing to pour ourselves into someone else. Application points: -- Make an effort. Carve out some time. It takes effort to learn sound doctrine. -- Take an interest in people , in the Lord, and in things of the Lord. -- Decide that it matters. Issues of faith are not trivial. We are willing to work extra hours, go the gym, and enjoy entertainment, but sometimes not willing to learn about God’s love and share it with others. We should be so in love with Him that our desire is to know Him better and be as useful to Him as we can be.

Post

When God Rocks your World (The Philippian jailor) (Acts 16:16-34) ------------------------------------------------------- We need to open ourselves completely to God so that we can release our problems to Him. Jesus died for all (II Cor 5: 11-15; Luke 4: 16-21). Acts 16: 16-34 is more about the Philippians jailor being freed from sin rather than about Paul and Silas being freed from jail. Application points: -- Remember Who has real power. God alone. We should give our worries to Him (I Peter 5:7) -- Trust God for and with your family. -- Suicide is never the answer. -- Jesus wants you too!! Believe in Him.

Post

Using our Resources for Eternal Investment (Lydia) (Acts 16:11-15, 40; Phil 4: 10-20) ------------------------------------------------------- Our investment can make a difference in God’s Kingdom. Lydia, a wealthy business woman, understood that she had resources that Paul and others didn’t have and they had knowledge that she didn’t have. She influenced her household and others to think about God and was willing to support Paul and others in their mission. Lydia was bold in her invitation. She set the precedent of eternal investment. Like Lydia, we are to invest in disciple-making and be messengers. Paul’s joy was not tied to circumstances, but instead through a relationship with Christ. He went through great turmoil and poverty, was rejected or put into prison, and was still content with what he had. His gratitude (vs 7) was because he knew that the giver would be blessed, not because he received the gift. Today, people come and remain in the church not because of programs, but because the people share life with each other. When investing generously in eternal investment, there is no need to worry about if we will have enough. Our God will supply all of our needs (Phil 4: 19). When we support the Kingdom by serving Jesus, by investing our money, time, skills, and abilities in disciple-makings. God loves us trusting Him and will reward our part in the mission. Application points: -- Give significantly of your time, treasure and talent. Share your life with others. -- Be generous to those of particular callings. Make good choices with what you support. -- Prepare for “space invaders”. You may need to change your schedule to make room in your life to encourage people in Christ.

Post

The Power of Influence (Paul) (Acts 16:10; Luke 1: 1-4; Acts 1: 1-3; 2 Tim 4: 11) ------------------------------------------------------- Every choice we make moves us closer to or away from Christ, and we influence those around us. Within our own self (whether introvert, extrovert, etc), we can all affect the world for Jesus. In fact, our different ways let us influence more people to Christ. Paul was not perfect, but he understood that he represented Christ every day. We never really know when God will use us to change someone’s eternity because they see Jesus in us. God knows what He made us to be. As we become more like Jesus, we will discover our true self as God made us to be. We need to influence everyone we can for Christ … we never know what they’ll do. Application points: -- Keep a “come and see” attitude. It is beautiful to see people living out their faith. Be who we are in Christ. -- Disciple who we can and influence people to Jesus. -- Remember that God is at work. We don’t know and see everything. We might influence people and never know it.

Post

When Zero plus Zero Equals Everything 3 sermons – Acts 2, 13, 17 2 testimonies – Acts 23, 27 2 visions- Acts 7, 9 ------------------------------------------------------- The empty cross + the empty tomb = everything (infinity). We need to voice the HOPE of life! There were more than 500 witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection, which is more proof than anything else in history. The resurrection changes EVERYTHING. Jesus was born into the world, lived a perfect life, and then died for us so that we can be right in God’s eyes. He transformed death (John 11: 25-26). Our bodies that we cling to may die, but death has no victory. He is our example, our sins are forgiven and our hope is restored. Application points: -- Live the truth and let it permeate your life. -- Say “Yes” to salvation -- Say “Yes” to mission -- Embrace life; keep the sound of hope I your voice.

Post

Christ. Is. Risen!!! Whether here at Celebration or somewhere else, go rejoice today - Jesus is alive!

Post

Don’t Give Up on Your Loved Ones (Acts 15:12-35; I Cor 15:7) (James) ------------------------------------------------------- We need to be careful that we don’t come across as having “arrived.” Instead, we should share with humility because none of us deserve to be in God’s family. We should be amazed at how great God is and always have that tone when we share the good news. We should love them too much not to do all that we can to share Jesus – not because we are trying to fix them, but want to share Jesus with them because He is better than ANYTHING. If you have lovingly been sharing Jesus with your loved one, don’t get discouraged. Even if you don’t see it, the power of Jesus Christ is doing its work. Trust Him! Keep showing your “James” the savior. (Ro 6:4-5) God and Jesus want it more than you do. You are not alone. Application points: -- Don’t despair; keep on. (Despair doesn’t look good on Christians). Trust that Jesus still moves in extraordinary ways. He will bear testimony through you.. -- Show Jesus clearly. (They already see Him, but pray for an eye-opening moment. -- Salvation is the beginning. (Read the conversion story of C. S. Lewis)

Post

Remember: Hosanna Kite Rally and Easter Egg Hunt is this Sunday after service! Bring your kites, your kids, and your friends and come enjoy fellowship with us!!

Post

Unquenchable Passion for the Mission (Acts 13-28) (Paul) ------------------------------------------------------- God created each of us with a love or passion for some things in life (music, cooking, building, sports, and so forth). As Christians, our greatest passion should be to accomplish the mission of sharing the gospel with others. We should squeeze every drop of life out for people knowing Jesus. Application points: -- Don’t die naturally any less sold out than a martyr. -- Find what role you pay in the mission. -- Let THE Passion direct your passion and don’t stop until you die.

Post

Good News for Everyone (Acts 10) (Cornelius) ------------------------------------------------------- God loves ALL people, not just those that look like us, smells like us, or that we agree with. To give us insight into a very different culture and situations that we are not familiar with, Pastor David read part of his journal from his trip to Kenya. When Cornelius was praying, an angel showed up and told him that he would receive a message. Angels no longer share the gospel … that comes through us (Gal 1:6-9). We need to test what we hear. Remember, God will not say anything different from what he said in the first century. We’ve never met a common person. All human souls are immortal and we should do more than merely tolerate them. The power of God and the gospel changes lives. People you find revolting could become a brother or sister in Christ. Just as some people nudge the tax code to see what they can get away with, some people nudge God’s law to get away with as much as is possible. We need to be honest with our own prejudices (skin color, accent, person’s age, style of dress, educational status, nationality, political party, and so forth) so that we can share God’s love. Application points: -- Every person matters. Don’t live dismissive lives. -- Don’t try to limit Jesus. -- Be ready You never know when God will “show up.”

Post

Submit Your Passion to Christ (Acts 8:1; 9:1-9, 17-30) ------------------------------------------------------- Things that are our passion are from God. But we need to make Jesus Lord of everything … otherwise, our life will have tragic mistakes. We are motivated to running 100 miles an hour to pursue our passion, But if we have not submitted it to Christ, we will be running that fast in the wrong direction. Saul/Paul was always zealous for God, but thought Jesus was a pretender. On his way to Damascus, he received clarity on Who God and Jesus really are. Paul’s passion was always about people knowing God, and although he pursued it in a way that he thought was the right way, but it was wrong. God created us to be passionate about some things, but our passion alone is not enough to give our life meaning. Our passion becomes a conduit for our mission. If we do not submit our passion to Christ, then we do not know the direction He wants us to go with it. Once we submit our passion to Christ, we won’t be silent, even if some people get upset with us. Paul was not only given a passion, but also the commission to share his passion with the word. Like Abraham with Ishmael, we need to be careful not to try to force our passion instead of waiting for God’s timing. We should ALWAYS pray for God’s will and timing, and that He shows us what He wants us to do with our passion. Application points: -- If you keep “bloodying” yourself in life, check to see if you are resisting God. -- Embrace the change that Jesus brings. -- If God says “Do,” don’t wait for everyone else’s approval.

Post

Schedule update: The AWANA talent show has been rescheduled for Saturday, March 14th. Stay safe and enjoy the snow!!

Post

Excellence in Encouragement (Acts 4 and 11) ------------------------------------------------------- God wants us all to impact our world for Him, and wants us to be encouragers. Barnabas’ character of consistently influencing people around him for Christ earned him the reputation of being a great encourager. Barnabas was a nickname that lasted for centuries. His real name was Joseph. In Acts 4, the church had begun in Jerusalem and was growing rapidly. Although not commanded to do it, Barnabas chose to sell a field that he owned to help provide for the needs of his brothers and sisters. In Acts 11, the church leaders chose Barnabas to check out the second Christian church that started in Antioch (composed mostly of Gentiles instead of Jews) to make sure that everything was alright. We can learn a lot from Barnabas (who was not an apostle). He lived with his eyes open to see God working in situations and in the lives of others. As God’s people, we can make a huge impact when we look and listen to God. Being an encourager does not mean that we “rubber-stamp” whatever someone does. Encouraging in a Godly way is about seeing the real need in people’s lives, then doing something practical about that need. We need to encourage people to God and become a catalyst for Kingdom growth! Barnabas’ secret was that he lived a surrendered life. Only when we live continually surrendered to God can we live full of God’s love and power in our lives. Application points: -- Encourage others with your presence -- Encourage others practically. -- Encourage others to become what God desires: that He loves them too; that they have a ministry to do; and be OK if they do great!

Post

What Difference does the Holy Spirit Make? (Acts 2-4) ------------------------------------------------------- We mess up in our Christian lives. God gives us the Holy Spirit to empower us to become the people that He wants us to become. People who don’t know God don’t understand what is happening to us as we are changing – why we are different. In fact, we only know what is happening through the Holy Spirit. Like Peter and John (Acts 4: 7-12), we should speak boldly about God. Boldness comes from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit takes us from being fearful and confused, trying to find a human solution, to looking at the resurrection, walking by faith, believing in God, and giving us the ability to follow Him. Application points: -- Be filled with the Holy Spirit: (a) Make sure you have a relationship with Jesus. (b) Confess your sins (c.) Be willing and to be completely controlled by the Holy Spirit. We cannot fill ourselves. (d.) Trust God that it is true! -- Take the opportunities you have to honor God. See them and seize them. You will find opportunities every day. Pray that you will see God working in your life every day. -- Get to the point that you know that you can’t help yourself and God will do great things!

Post

Seeing Clearly: Celebrating Missions (I Thess 1:2-10; Acts 1:8) ------------------------------------------- In recent weeks, we’ve been reminded about our corporate vision and our core values (transformation, community, character, interdependence, and surrender). This week, we learned about our mission, which is to make disciples. To engage in global missions, we should pray, support by sending money and people, and should GO. When preparing to be a missionary, we should walk with God, already be a missionary where we are today, and we should understand the people and culture where we are going. Application points: Lets’ send shockwaves of faith as far as we can. -- Seek the Kingdom first. Let our love for and desire to lead others to Christ show in every interaction. Invite people to take another step toward life. -- Be a missionary here, there, and everywhere. Learn about global kingdom work, and then find our way to participate.

Post

Join us for Wednesday Church tonight - fellowship and coffee at 6:30, worship and small group Bible study at 7! College and 20-something small group kicks off tonight as well; hope to see you there!

Post

Seeing Clearly: Celebrating Values (Acts 4:32-37) ------------------------------------------- The world tries daily to convince us to waste our time and our lives on things that don’t matter. But we should not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by God as He renews our minds (Ro 12: 1-2). The core values of COMMUNITY and SURRENDER overlap with each other. SURRENDER is about our life with God. God delights in us. Our day-to-day experience should be about being a living sacrifice. All that we are and all that we have belongs to Him. Every one of God’s family is a saint and set apart (holy) for Him. Our worship is not only about music. It is about loving our spouse, training our children, praying for leaders, sharing God with people who don’t know Him. We should do all for the glory of God. It’s about surrender. There is no problem that God cannot resolve. It is all about what His will is for our good. When we live surrendered to God, our lives will change and get a lot easier. We shouldn’t waste energy fighting for our rights. COMMUNITY is about our life together with each other and with God. We share tears, laughter, meals, -- we share LIFE. If God tells us to do something, we can’t afford NOT to do it. With boldness, we need to understand who we are in Jesus. We’re surrendering. Application points: -- Make Jesus’ resurrection a part of your default thinking. Build your biblical worldview! Every interaction, every decision should be made based on this. -- Be honest. Assess yourself and see if you are struggling with fully surrendering to God. Be surrendered right now. -- Enter into life together. Get in a group. Make the most of relationship-building opportunities. Let God use you to meet needs.

Post

Seeing Clearly: Celebrating Values (2 Corinthians 5: 11- 6:4a) ------------------------------------------- Our personal values (even if we are not sure what they are) direct what we do. We also have corporate values. We need to believe and trust God, and because relationships can be difficult when our values are not aligned, we need to grow into our corporate values. Our church is full of people who are in the process of changing and becoming more like Jesus. It is about the heart. Let’s let our love of Jesus propel us to do things outside of our comfort zone. Christ died for all. God did the greatest thing imaginable and more than half the world doesn’t know about it, and He chooses US to tell them about it. We each have roles and parts to play. A look at some of our core values: ------------------------------------------------ TRANSFORMATION is to awaken people by boldly sharing God’s love (Acts 1:8). We are ambassadors for Christ, and we do this by the power that He gives to us. CHARACTER is becoming the people that God designed us to be (Eph 4:13). Christ is our measure., INTERDEPENDENCE is strengthening one another through God’s empowerment (John 5:5). We are in this together and are servants of God. Application points: -- Pray and discipline yourself to see people with spiritual eyes, not just physical qualities -- Live compelled by Christ’s love. Live righteously, and speak the gospel when you can. -- Hang around to learn and engage in the ministries of Celebration.

Post

Ministry Fair today right after service! Your strategy: come, visit all the booths, then visit the ones with candy and goodies again...

Post

Wednesday church kicks off again tonight! Come at 6:30 for fellowship and coffee, and we'll start worship and our small group study at 7! Excited to see you all there!!

Post

Seeing Clearly: Celebrating Vision (Eph 1: 15 – 23) ------------------------------------------- We should dare to have big dreams for our life with God. We should live by faith and join in where God is already moving. Our focus should be on the Great Commission and Great Commandment. We should commit our activities to the Lord (Prov 16: 1-3; 16: 19), and pray that God gets the glory and that His kingdom is advanced. We have revised our Celebration Vision statement to be: Celebration is a growing family of Bible-based, God-empowered Christ-followers, making disciples who think and live Christianly; permeating and igniting our community with God’s love, to become a bold, unstoppable force! Let us ask God to give us wisdom and increase our knowledge of Him. We can learn to have a Godly mentality so that our minds are transformed and we see the world how God sees it. In this desperate, dark, and helpless word, our only hope is Jesus Christ. God, Who is always with us, gives us His power so that we can boldly proclaim Him (Matt 28: 18-20). We are the light of the world, and God is on His throne. What would happen if we dare to believe God for what we may become!! Application points: -- Pray to see as God sees. -- Remind yourself of God’s power in a personal way. -- Live your faith in power and hope. -- Don’t hide who you are. -- Pray for this church to become what God wants us to be. -- Discipline yourself to grow in the mind of Christ. We have been discipled in the ways of the world and need to let God remove what doesn’t belong.

Post

HABITS WORTH HAVING – Study (Ps 119:89-112) ----------------------------------------------- The Bible is all about God showing us how to live a life of joy and fulfillment. He made us. He loves us, and He knows us better than we know ourselves. Jesus is the only one who satisfies our need for love, peace, and purpose. The average American owns 3 Bibles, yet has very little knowledge of what the Bible actually says. Most people’s idea of God is way off. To correct that, people of God need to read His Word! The Bible teaches us what’s right and what’s not. It teaches us how to get right with God and how to live right. We need to engage in God’s Word to satisfy our soul. Join us in More to the Core – 2015: The year of the Bible. Learn to read, study, and meditate. And learn what motivates you to change when you engage in the Bible. LifeWay research says that the following leads to Bible engagement: 1. Confessing sins and wrongdoings to God and ask for forgiveness. 2. Following Jesus for years. 3. Being willing to obey God no matter how costly the decision. 4. Praying for spiritual status of unbelievers. 5. Reading a book about increasing your spiritual growth (excluding the Bible). 6. Being discipled or mentored one-on-one by a more spiritually mature Christian. 7. Memorizing Bible verses. 8. Attending small classes or groups for adults focused on Bible study.

Post

HABITS WORTH HAVING – Frugality ----------------------------------------------- Frugality does not mean that we need to take a vow of poverty. It is the spiritual discipline of abstaining from using our money/goods in ways that merely gratify our desires or our hunger for status, glamour, or luxury. It’s about God’s perspective. We try to fill a void that only God can fill, but anything else is NEVER enough. We so often think that we are self-sufficient. Yes, God blesses some with wealth, but He also gives them a heart of giving. With all of our resources (time, talents, abilities), we should ask ourselves. “What would God have me do with this?” If we don’t have a mind and heart for God because we are so full of other stuff, we are missing out. We should not horde, but be generous. Consider how much we really need. What is our attitude and focus? Do we have a grateful heart? Do we live by faith? Do we trust God? It is all about our attitude. To be rich toward God is to be obedient, and truly knowing God for Who He is.

Post

HABITS WORTH HAVING – Prayer (Phil 4:6; I Thess 5:17) ----------------------------------------------- Prayer is the environment that God uses to change us. Rather than worry about things, we should take all things to God (Phil 4:6). We live in an illusion of control, but are overwhelmed because we won’t do the basics of what God tells us to do. The One who can do all things is ready to help us, but He does not force Himself into it. We have to be ready to let go of things. Prayer should be a way of life. Prayer before God means to be honest, honestly change, and it should be continuous. Through prayer, we boldly approach God that we may receive mercy and grace. We need to remember that we are ALWAYS in His presence, even between individual prayers. We live in the presence of God Who loves us and wants to hear from us. Conversation should be constant and about everything in our life. We will transform and will become God’s force in the world. He draws our minds to Him and transforms our ways to His. We need to learn to desire Him above everything else. Prayer is not about getting God on our page, it is about getting us on His. We still should have concentrated prayer in addition to the ongoing conversation with Him. Application points: --Seek God’s face, not just His hand. Prayer is about knowing God; being bent to Him, not bending Him to you. -- Never hang up on God. Keep your eyes and ears open, and your heart surrendered. Confession and worship are constant. Keep your hands extended to receive whatever God gives. -- Come with confidence; cast your cares with confidence; find yourself changed. -- Pray about everyone and everything. Learn the art of intercession to experience the joy of genuine love and invite divine power to any problem. Prayer is powerful and effective, whether the results are obvious or not.