sunday january 1st, 2006

we will meet at oak hall at 10am

no classes until 15th January

In Jesus all God's promises are YES!

We have a lot of purposes, a lot of goals—some of them noble. Desperate to save ourselves and our kids from everything but the wrath of God, we fail to realize that, however watered down, these are all nothing but law rather than promise. Eventually, we will become burned out on good advice. What we need is good news. (from an article by mike horton, "the promise-driven life")

10 questions to ask at a Christmas meal or gathering

Good conversation kindling:

What's the best thing that's happened to you since last Christmas?
What was your best Christmas ever? Why?
What's the most meaningful Christmas gift you've ever received?
What was the most appreciated Christmas gift you've ever given?
What was your favorite Christmas tradition as a child?
Why do you think Jesus came to earth?

The rest are here.

trying to call the church office?

our daily operations are now at the Parker Road CHURCH HOUSE... our temporary contact info is:

phone:
352.505.6087
352.505.6089

fax: 352.505.6092

HUGE thanks to Chris McClendon for helping us get set up

interesting only to my fellow u2 fans

:: View topic - How To Dismantle An Idolized Bono - (respond here)

Christmas Eve Readings

I'm looking for someone (any age) to read these passages Saturday at the Christmas eve service at 6pm
Micah 5:2
Isaiah 8:22-9:7

let me know if you might be interested in doing one.... robp AT christcommunitychurch DOT com

Buy a child on the street for $25

I just read an interview with Dr. Kent Copeland, an American physician working with church planters in Poipet, Cambodia, about the challenges of ministry in such a place.

Poipet has been called the "Wild West" of Cambodia. What's the city like?
It's full of vices like prostitution, drugs, and gambling. Most disturbing is the child sex industry. A person can literally buy a child on the street for $25 and take them across the border into Thailand.

Made me think of Christmas and the darkness that exists around the world (and around my n'hood, city, and heart) that needs to be penetrated by the light of the world. One of my favorite Christmas hymn lines is in JOY TO THE WORLD.
He comes to make His blessings known... FAR AS THE CURSE IS FOUND! Thy Kingdom Come, Lord Jesus.

There is no joy but in this boy...

If you will have joy, bend yourself down to this place. There you will find that boy given for you who is your Creator lying in a manger. I will stay with that boy as he sucks, is washed, and dies.... There is no joy but in this boy. Take him away and you face the Majesty which terrifies... --Martin Luther

thought provoking 5 minutes on good morning america

Ken & pattie thompson are members of CCC who moved here this summer. Recently pattie's son ethan was in a faith & university segment on good morning america

i just watched it here
and had these thoughts:
1.) They studied the U.of Georgia... of course children have trouble believing in God there... they get waxed by UF every Fall!
2.) I do think there is some correlation between being challenged to "doubt" your faith while living at home
3.) The only answer i've ever found (personally & pastorally) to the struggle to seek joy by abusing alcohol, sexuality, etc is that Christianity is a religion of joy, freedom and power... that old sermon "The Expulsive Power of a New Affection" is so key here... John Piper & CS Lewis helped alot here

Isaiah 9 online

Many of you have mentioned the hope God gave you Sunday through our time under Isaiah 8:22-9:7
the sermon audio is available online under the date 12-18-05
Christ Community Church - Gainesville Florida - Downloads

No ordinary shepherds

I learned that these weren’t just ordinary shepherds. The flocks pasturing near Bethlehem were destined for temple sacrifices. Shepherds tending the temple flocks were experts in determining the suitability of a lamb for sacrifice. They knew how to spot imperfections. Nothing was more appropriate than to summon these shepherds to be the first witnesses of the perfect Lamb who would lay down His life for the sins of the world. --carolyn curtis james

Same message, different words

grazing Christmas thoughts on the internet this morning and saw a brief article from a woman i deeply respect... turns out the message isaiah brought us sunday morning is picked up by her as well:

"We mute the Christmas message when we sugarcoat the raw misery of it all. There’s purpose behind the details, right down to the “No Vacancy” sign at the inn. "
Carolyn James, Caught in the Christmas Rush

Forever Man

"The incarnation was a historical and unrepeatable event with permanent consequences. Reigning at God's right hand today is the man Christ Jesus, still human as well as divine, though now his humanity has been glorified. Having assumed our human nature, he has never discarded it, and he never will."
John Stott, Authentic Christianity

Christ Community Church - Gainesville Florida - Meals for New Mothers

Christ Community Church - Gainesville Florida - Meals Ministry

Quite a day...

Yesterday was quite exciting with:
~ the service being interrupted with news that someone's car engine was flaming in the parking lot
~ the oak hall stage flooded from saturday's downpour
~ the chance for many of us to meet the Marshall's new baby for the 1st time, Jesse Elizabeth

'twas good to be together for all that

sunday 10am worship only; no 9am classes

this may be "old hat" to many

.... but my family sure enjoyed this hot cocoa recipe when andrew & i made it this rainy saturday HERSHEY'S Kitchens: Recipes: Hot Cocoa: "ngredients:

* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
* Dash salt
* 1/3 cup hot water
* 4 cups (1 qt.) milk
* 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
* Miniature marshmallows or sweetened whipped cream(optional)

Directions:
1. Stir together sugar, cocoa and salt in medium saucepan; stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Add milk; stirring constantly, heat to serving temperature. Do Not Boil.

2 Remove from heat; add vanilla. Beat with rotary beater or whisk until foamy. Serve topped with marshmallows or whipped cream, if desired. Five 8-oz. servings. "

A Prayer

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory.
Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine;
let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death,
Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty,
Thy glory in my valley.

more Puritan Prayers

Sunday, 10am worship... no 9am classes

Isaiah 9

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
ESV Bible Online: Passage: Isaiah 9:1-7

God's Answer is a Child

God's answer to everything that has ever terrorized us is a child. --Ray Ortlund, commenting on Isaiah 9

turkey bowl pic is up and looking good

Christ Community Church - Gainesville Florida - Men's Ministries

church house now hosting

our daily operations... our temporary contact info is:

phone:
352.505.6087
352.505.6089

fax: 352.505.6092

HUGE thanks to Chris McClendon for helping us get set up

gift idea

if you have grade school age boys or girls to shop for>>> consider the series
"boys who>>>"
and "girls who>>>"
Westminster Bookstore - Ten Boys Who Made a Difference

Tim Tebow to Florida... interesting

my friend david wayne writes: "the reason I am especially excited is that Tim is a fine Christian young man. He was on ESPNews announcing his decision today and the first person he thanked was his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And I am especially excited because Tim's dad was my youth minister when I first came to Christ. "

entire article here:

Loving the AIDS Infected in Africa

For two years, Mission to the World (MTW) has been reaching one person at a time in the slums of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. MTW missionaries, volunteers, and Ethiopian coworkers have gone into these slums and found people afflicted by AIDS and cared for them, held their hands, washed them, shared their suffering, and helped them get the care and medicines they needed.
MTW: full article

Christmas...

... says Madeleine L'Engle, "should be a time of awed silence."

The Bible's Purpose...

"The Bible's purpose is not so much to show you how to live a good life. The Bible's purpose is to show you how God’s grace breaks into your life against your will and saves you from the sin and brokenness otherwise you would never be able to overcome... religion is 'if you obey, then you will be accepted'. But the Gospel is, 'if you are absolutely accepted, and sure you’re accepted, only then will you ever begin to obey'. Those are two utterly different things. Every page of the Bible shows the difference." --Tim Keller

Sunday at Oak Hall when Christ Community Gathers

9am classes
10am worship; the children will help us to worship the Incarnate Word with a gift-presentation they've been working on

Sermon on Acts 17:11,12
1. receiving the word
2. examining the word
3. experiencing the word

CLUB 45 meets at the church house, 4:30pm

Hechos 17

if you were looking for Acts 17 in Spanish...Hechos_17.mp3 (audio/mpeg Object)

Narnia Last Night

Preliminary observations:
On the event of us gathering... wonderful to see so many children exposed to so many central gospel truths. you probably know that cs lewis didn't mean LWW to be a point by point parallel of the biblical gospel. Lewis has written that he meant it to be a kind of "pre-evangelism" thing that would create grooves of wonder and hope in children's minds so that when they hear the biblical gospel and historical Jesus announcement-- they would say/think, "Oh my, there really is a conquering Lion who is worthy of my allegiance."
I think that part definately came thru in film.

Also, you need to know that through the generosity of our elders, 20 children from the Florida Baptist Children's Home were able to view the film with us. May they grow up knowing the security of being loved and cared for by the ultimate King. And that His followers shall reign with Him forever. There are no "orphans" in the Kingdom of God... only royal sons & daughters.
--i'll post more reflections on the film later--

Narnia Thursday Night

6:45 at Butler Plaza (corner Archer & 34th)

See you there... if you already have a ticket!

Alan Charles Means

Born today at 2:56 pm
7 lbs, 12 oz

Adam & Ashley hope to bring him home tomorrow. In 2 weeks you'll have opportunity to provide a meal for them and Wendy McGovern will be coordinating that.

What is Advent?

Advent is a time of waiting, hoping, and getting in touch with our need for a Savior. It's a season of preparation for Christmas, much as Lent is a season of preparation for Easter.

In Advent we look back to the experience of Israelites as they yearned for God to forgive their sin and restore their nation. We put ourselves in their shoes as they hoped for the coming of the Messiah. Thus we ready our hearts to celebrate the good news of Christmas.

Yet Advent is also a time to look forward to the second coming of Christ. Though defeating sin and death through His cross and resurrection, Christ hasn't yet finished His work of renewing creation and restoring the kingdom of God. Thus we continue to experience the brokenness of this world, in violence, disease, natural disasters, and other forms of human suffering. In Advent we yearn for God's completion of the salvation begun in Christ. --Mark Roberts

Means Baby On the Way

Please be in prayer for Adam & Ashley Means as they are in the hospital and the baby boy is on the way!

Like the days of Oakland Raider dominance...

the narnia tickets are GONE!

I love my iPod... but needed to be aware of this...

This is from the president of the National Association of Evangelicals (which basically is an organization of Bible-believing churches of hundreds of denominations)
"We are all continually amazed at the newest and greatest electronic devices that come out on the market. One of the latest innovations is wireless handheld devices with video capabilities. Many of our young people are eagerly awaiting their opportunity to own one of these phones, PDAs or iPods.

What you may not know is that all the pornography on the Internet may be available on these devices without effective monitoring or filtering options. Our already sexualized culture is about to be inundated with yet another avenue for corrupting the innocent and ensnaring our children to the bonds of pornography.

We need to do something. The technology itself is wonderful but until the appropriate safeguards can be implemented we need to educate and inform evangelicals of the dangers to which they may be unknowingly exposing their young people.

The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families (NCPCF) and the Religious Alliance Against Pornography (RAAP) are working hard on this issue. You can read their joint letter Pornography on Wireless Devices on the NAE website. You can get more information about what is happening at www.nationalcoalition.org or by calling Jack Samad, NCPCF Vice-President for Internet Safety, at 513-521-6227."

CS Lewis on what he was trying to do in LWW

In a 1961 letter to a young girl named Anne, Lewis wrote:
“I think you will probably see that there is a deeper meaning behind it. The whole Narnian story is about Christ. That is to say, I asked myself ‘Supposing that there really was a world like Narnia and supposing it had (like our world) gone wrong and supposing Christ wanted to go into that world and save it (as He did ours) what might have happened?’ The stories are my answers. Since Narnia is a world of Talking Beasts, I thought He would become a Talking Beast there, as He became a man here. I pictured Him becoming a lion there because (a) the lion is supposed to be the king of beasts; (b) Christ is called ‘The Lion of Judah’ in the Bible; (c) I’d been having strange dreams about lions when I began writing the work."

Read more here

Our private showing of movie is Thursday at 6:45, couple tix remaining, call 379.4949 ext 14

John Piper wasn't the 1st to realize this...

"God is the most happy being in the universe--because
He is the most holy. And the happiness of His
people is just in proportion as they resemble
Him in righteousness and true holiness. " --Cornelius Tyree, 1800's

full text:

looking for an ESPNU favor

(Warning: Shameless personal plug): i need something recorded friday nite so that i can show it saturday nite... let me know if you get ESPNU

John Calvin on the Incarnation & Our Redemption

"It was also imperative that He who was to become our Redeemer be true God and true man. It was His task to swallow up death. Who but the Life could do this? It was His task to conquer sin. Who but very Righteousness could do this? It was His task to rout the powers of world and air. Who but a power higher than world and air could do this? Now where does life or righteousness, or lordship and authority of heaven lie but with God alone? Therefore our most merciful God, when He willed that we should be redeemed, made Himself our Redeemer in the Person of His only-begotten Son." --John Calvin, Institutes 2:12:2

Narnia Tickets!!

We have 11 tickets left for "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe"!
Call Lizette Crosson at the Church Office (379.4949) to reserve yours!

Visit the church website for details on the movie:
www.christcommunitychurch.com

most won't want this

My final point yesterday in the lecture on how Lion/Witch/Wardrobe has helped me was that it helps give me a vision of God renewing all things, not only saving sinners out of world going to hell in a hand-basket. Well, here's more on that for those who want it a "God promises us a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21:1). Some people leap to the conclusion that God will simply throw the present creation onto the scrap heap, so to speak, and start over again from scatch. But this cannot be right. We ourselves are part of this present creation. And if we trust in Christ, we know that we will not end up on the scrap heap!"
Reversing the Fall and Setting Creation Free:

Christmas Information

Saturday December 24th at 6:00pm: Christmas Eve Service in Oak Hall theater
more Christmas Information

Incarnation thoughts by Octavius Winslow

How could a holy God advance towards me, or I draw near to Him? But He takes my nature that He may descend to me, and He gives me His nature that I may ascend to Him. He stoops, because I could not rise! Oh mystery of grace, wisdom, and love! Shall I doubt it? I go to the manger of Bethlehem, and gaze upon the infant Savior.
read the rest here

The Greatest Drama by Dorothy Sayers

We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him "meek and mild," and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies.
The Greatest Drama by Dorothy Sayers

Sunday at Oak Hall when Christ Community Gathers

9am classes for children and for adults i'll do a lecture called, "How The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe has helped me know, enjoy, and follow Jesus Christ."

more: preliminary notes here

10am worship
--no children's church
--Lord's Supper will be shared
ALSO, would you bust it to be in the theater at 10am this sunday?


Sunday Night: Women's Christmas event at the home of Paige French--6:00pm
See the church website for more details.

Christmas Information

Saturday December 24th at 6:00pm: Christmas Eve Service in Oak Hall theater

This is our weekly worship gathering. There will be no worship service on Sunday December 25th.

Body Wars

Culture tells our daughters they're fat, ugly, and unlovable. Here are 5 ways to defeat those lies and make your child feel as beautiful as she is.
Body Wars - Parenting

Narnia is Near

-- "In The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe what's the only explicit reference to a Bible?

--Who's the first Narnian to call Lucy a 'Daughter of Eve'?"

these are just 2 questions from a fun narnia quiz at:
Dick Staub: Staublog - Narnia is Near:

Across the Lands

You're the Word of God the Father
From before the world began
Every star and every planet
Has been fashioned from your hand

All creation holds together
By power of your voice
Let the skies declare your glory
Let the land and seas rejoice

You're the author of creation
And the Lord of every man
and your call of love rings out
across the lands
--Stuart Townend & Keith Getty