This Weekend's Message: Universal

Universal
Colossians 1:1-8

During her first pregnancy, my wife was very sick. She felt terribly nauseated through the first several months and nothing seemed to help. During this time, a number of people came up to me with complete confidence that they had the solution. They would say, “All she has to do is take this, and she won’t be sick anymore.” As confident as they were of their solutions, none of them worked. They had made a false assumption. They assumed that it would work for my wife, since it had worked for them. Apparently, during pregnancy, there is no universal cure-all for nausea.

There are many people who see Christianity the same way that I saw those people who claimed to know the cure for my wife’s nausea. It can sound arrogant when Christians claim that Jesus is the one cure for all mankind’s sicknesses. After all, how could it be possible for one person, or one religion, to address the needs of a group as diverse as the human race? Is it reasonable to believe that the impact of Jesus is really universal?
Pastor Dan

This Weekend's Message: I Give Up

I Give Up
2 Corinthians 9:6-11


A couple of years ago, we took our kids to a pool party. At the time, both boys were a bit timid about playing in the water (that’s what you get for living in Oregon). It made me sad to watch them cling to the side of the kiddie pool, while other kids swam and played games in the water. Eventually I talked to my older son and told him, “You don’t need to be afraid. If you don’t get over your fear, you won’t have the freedom to enjoy all the fun that you can have in the water.” As soon as I said it, I realized that this is what fear does to us – it enslaves us. It keeps us from having the freedom to do things that will bring us pleasure.

Generosity will bring us pleasure. As Jeff shared a couple of weeks ago, studies show that generous people are happier than those who hoard. If we freely give to those who are in need, it will bring us greater joy. But often we’re not generous because we are trapped by fear. If we give to others, will we still be taken care of? Will we have enough to meet our own needs? Will we have to give up things to which we’ve grown accustomed? These questions get into our heads and they bring a paralyzing fear upon us. We become trapped by this fear and we are not free to be generous.

How can we be free of these (seemingly legitimate) fears, so that we can generously give to those in need? How do we get untrapped from the fears that enslave us?

Pastor Dan

This Weekend's Message: It Only Gets Worse

It Only Gets Worse
Matthew 19:16-30

One of the characteristics of our culture today is that people seem to never get enough rest. It’s a rat race world that we live in, and every day that we live, we wake up to a world that is on the move. It seems that the more we work and the faster we go, the more we fall behind in the race and there is always more to do when the day is done than when we started out in the morning.

We walk out the door to chase the good life – a dream of reaching a place in life where we can just relax a little and enjoy life because the bills are paid and our family’s needs are met. But somehow, along the way those bills never seem to go away. No matter how hard we work or how much we try, it seems that we are caught in a maze and the harder we try to find our way out it only gets worse. We feel trapped.
This week we’ll look at a real life story of someone who was trapped this way. What can we learn from him that can make a difference in our lives? Come this Sunday and find out!

Gary Keith

This Weekend's Message: How Did I Get Here?

Have you ever felt trapped? Have you ever felt like you are going in never-ending circles with no way out? Have you ever been to the Ontario Mills Mall?? Being trapped is such a helpless feeling and while we may find mazes amusing for a while, they can quickly make us hopeless and discouraged.

This weekend we are starting a new series titled "Trapped," where we are going to look at some of the things that trap us – get us turned around and discouraged – when it comes to being generous givers. We have just come out of the Christmas season where giving is a major theme for most people. While many can plan for the expenses of Christmas, what about the rest of the year and the opportunities that God may put before you to be part of something he is doing? Are you able and willing to give when the Holy Spirit leads you, or are you trapped by insecurities and obligations that cause you to justify why you can't or shouldn't have to?

This is going to be a great series that will hopefully cause each of us to ask God to teach us to be better givers of ourselves and our resources.

See ya Sunday,
Jeff

Picture of the Week

Thanks to all (young and older) who participated in our choir this year. What a blessing you were!

photo by Tira Young

This Weekend's Message: Advent: The Sequel

Acts 1:9-11

Whether it is a bearded man holding a sign, a passionate preacher on TV, or a Mayan calendar, people are constantly predicting the end of the world. And those who buy into these predictions often face embarrassing or outright disastrous consequences. Many of us who are Christians want to distance ourselves from those who cry out, “apocalypse now,” preferring a calmer Christianity, one more focused on a personal connection to God and one another.

Still, as much as it might make us uncomfortable, the Bible clearly and boldly predicts that the same Jesus who was born in a manger will return to this earth one day. It is a teaching that can make us feel awkward and uncomfortable. It is a teaching that sounds both unlikely and unnecessary to many people in our culture. We can try to ignore it or explain it away, but it is impossible to deny the clear Biblical teaching on the subject.

What does the Bible say about the return of Christ? What will happen? When will it happen? And why does it need to happen? As so often proves to be the case with Jesus, the news of his return is better news than we might think.

-Pastor Dan Franklin

Gifts from a Baby – A Love Story

There are just a few days left to find that perfect gift to be given out at Christmas. Giving the perfect gift – I’m pretty sure that’s probably what each of us works toward this time of year. We want to give a gift that the person really wants – a gift that would show them we really care – a gift that shows that we know them well enough to give them something that reflects our love for them.

This Sunday, Christmas morning, at 11 a.m., we will take a look at the fourth and final gift from a baby, the gift of love. Some believe that love is the greatest gift given to us by God. What does it mean that Jesus is the gift of love? Join us on Sunday as we take a deeper look at this gift from a baby.

On behalf of the elders and staff may you have a Christmas filled with the experience of God’s love for you.

Merry Christmas!

Gary Keith