This Weekend's Message: Can I Trust God With the Awkward Things?

Being awkward is not usually something anyone would ever prefer to be. Whether making a fool of yourself, or doing something that makes someone else feel awkward, most of us would prefer to avoid it at all cost. But as the Bible tells us not to “conform” to the ways of this world, it means that we are called to live by a different standard, and are called by God to do things that, in the eyes of those who cannot see, could put us in some awkward spots.
This weekend we are going to look at the awkward call of God on one man's life that directly affects you and I today. We are going to look at his example of hearing God, having faith, and persevering to the end as he trusted God with the awkward things. Who am I talking about? See Genesis chapters 6-8.

See ya Sunday!
Jeff 

Reflections: November 21, 2010

This week's "Reflection" by Gary Keith, Executive & Teaching Pastor

Can I Trust God with the Heavy Things?
Joshua 5-6
Many of us know the story of Joshua and the Walls of Jericho found In Joshua 6 – it’s quite an amazing story reminding us that God’s ways are not our ways. But have you looked hard at chapter 5? Because the lesson there is “the walls fall only after the will falls.” Joshua needed to submit his will to the will of God so the walls could fall down.
I can’t count the number of times I have surrendered my will to God. But rather than beat myself up over that thinking I should do better in this covenant of grace, may I be reminded that my will needs to fall to see God work. I don’t care what the heavy thing is – addiction, sickness, insecurity, fear – it doesn’t matter. May I encourage you to surrender your will to God anytime and every time you become aware that you are once again taking control of your life? It doesn’t work unless we submit our will to the will of God.
God Bless you this week as you work on doing that in this grace relationship we have with God and may the walls fall down!

This Weekend's Message: Can I Trust God With the Heavy Things?

Can I Trust God with the Heavy Things?
Joshua 5-6
My least favorite part of moving is the heavy things. The heavy things usually take more than one person and extra muscle power and always the possibility of a strained back. But there will always be heavy things to move. There are also heavy things that need moving in our life – things like sickness, addictions, fears, and insecurities. This week we will look at Joshua and the walls of Jericho. For Joshua the wall would definitely fall into the category of a heavy thing. That obstacle seemed just too heavy to move.
Come this week as we see how God used Joshua to move a heavy obstacle and demonstrate his power in a most unusual way. We’ll learn from Joshua how to trust God with the heavy things in our life.
See you Sunday!
Pastor Gary 

Reflections: November 14, 2010

This week’s “Reflection” by Gary Keith, Executive & Teaching Pastor
Can I Trust God with the Fragile Things?
Exodus 3-4
Moses was asked by God to do the impossible. Moses was reluctant to say yes and trust God.
When Moses tells God, 'I’m a nobody,' God says, 'I’ll go with you.'
When Moses says, 'I don’t know what to say,' God says, 'I’ll tell you what to say.'
When Moses says, 'What if they don’t believe me,' God says, 'It’s not your job.'
When Moses says, 'I don’t have the ability,' God says, 'I know, I made you – you will have all that is needed.'
There are times in our lives that, just like Moses, we face what seems impossible. When you face an impossible situation is it hard to trust God? Do you have some of the same excuses as Moses? What are some of the ways you have trusted God? What was the result? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

This Weekend's Message: Can I Trust God With the Fragile Things?

Exodus 3-4
Part of moving involves packing up those fragile vases, crystal glasses and china. We take extra care to make sure that in the process of moving they won’t be broken. And yet it seems like something always breaks despite our best efforts (at least that’s my experience). And just like those vases and crystal glasses our lives are fragile. There are times when we face what seems to be an impossible situation when it feels like life is about to break.
As we look into Exodus this week we’ll see that for Israel it felt like life was breaking. They were in an impossible situation. But God sees their impossible situation and has a plan to change it. Enter Moses. God gets’ Moses’ attention and yet he was reluctant to trust God in this impossible situation.
What fragile situation are you facing right now? What is the thing in your life that seems impossible? Come this week as we see how Moses handled his impossible situation.
See you this weekend,
Pastor Gary

This Weekend's Message: Leaving Comfort Behind

There are two places in my house that I absolutely love: my bed, and my end seat on the sectional sofa. These are places of rest for me. These are places that I have had some of the best naps you can imagine, and these are places that I hate to have to get up from. However, each day there is a call for me to leave these comfortable places and do something with my life: my job, yard work, playing with the kids, etc...are all part of a greater purpose for my life than just sitting.

Being comfortable is a wonderful thing, but there are some things we should be cautious and aware of when it comes to living comfortably. God has a huge design for our lives, much bigger than we realize most of the time. But this design will often call us out of the comfort of our lives that we so deeply enjoy. This call that God has for His children may in fact call us out of being comfortable, and yet not be fully revealed until we are willing to get up and step out in faith.

This weekend we are going to look at the second "Moving Day" as we look at Abram's (Abraham) response to God when God calls him to leave what is known and comfortable, and trust in God's huge design for his life and the life of future generations.

Take a look at Genesis 12, and see what God begins to speak to you.

See ya this weekend,
Jeff

Reflections: October 31, 2010

This week’s “Reflection” by Gary Keith, Executive & Teaching Pastor
Can I trust God with My Mess?
Genesis 3
Sin – it’s real, it’s deadly, and it can have forever affects on our life. Sin - it all began with Adam and Eve and it continues today. The good news though is that when we sin, with Jesus it can be forgiven. And during the entire journey of life God never abandons us and His goodness in our life is sure. But when we make a mess of our lives and feel the consequences of sin, we may have a hard time trusting God. How about you? Tell me your story of trusting God when there was a move due to your sin. What was your journey like? Were there days that trusting God was difficult? How did you overcome the mess and trust God again? We can all learn from one another. Have a great week! God bless.Published on Monday, November 1, 2010 @ 8:57 AM PDT