Monday, July 20, 2015
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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!
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
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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!
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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
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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”.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Christ. Is. Risen!!! Whether here at Celebration or somewhere else, go rejoice today - Jesus is alive!
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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)
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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!
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
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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.
Sunday, July 5, 2015
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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.
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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.
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