all FRESHMEN are invited to lunch at Lammers

Sunday at Christ Community

Promises to be a wonderful day together. There is Sunday School teacher training at 8:45am in the Media Center (Library).

Small Group Training in Room 11.

At 10am we worship in the theater. CHildren's church will be offered to kindergarten thru grade 2. Older than grade 2? Then you're gonna hear Steve Lammers preaching on Psalm 23.

Club 45 leadership team meets at 5pm at church house.

(Our "normal" sunday schedule returns Sept 11)

A Different Understanding of Friends

Friends, it is clear from Jesus' words in John 15, are those who are loved RATHER than those who love. --BB Warfield, from an amazing article i'm reading called
THE EMOTIONAL LIFE OF OUR LORD

Lewis & Tolkien avoided the "Christian Ghetto"

When C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien decided nobody was writing good children's stories any more, they set out to write the best ones anywhere and they did. It wouldn't have occurred to them to retreat to a default role as "Christian children's book writers." They were both Christians who could write and so they wrote the best stuff they could and brought it to the open market.--Dick Staub

So excited

This fall on sunday mornings i'll be preaching on the person of Jesus. Here's an old hymn that--if read reflectively--can get you excited about dwelling upon our Savior.

1. The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green:
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree.

2. His beauty doth all things excel:
By faith I know, but ne'er can tell
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.

3. For happiness I long have sought,
And pleasure dearly I have bought:
I missed of all; but now I see
'Tis found in Christ the apple tree.

4. I'm weary with my former toil,
Here I will sit and rest awhile:
Under the shadow I will be,
Of Jesus Christ the apple tree.

5. This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,
It keeps my dying faith alive;
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree.

A Yet to be Named Group

is having a BBQ sunday from 1pm until...

Led by Rob & Sarah Hammersma they are inviting all types, particularly post-university twentysomethings.

For more info contact Rob or Sarah at sarah.hamersma AT cba DOT ufl.edu
or rhamersma AT hotmail DOT com

open house 

open house for "church house" was a blast yesterday... thanks to Jason & Mandi Tovey and others who helped! 

Introducing Club 45

A place for 4th and 5th graders to come together monthly to

Learn
Grow
Have fun


AGENDA:
~Boys & Girls Small Group Bible Study
~Games



DATES

September 11th Club 45 4:30-6:30pm

October 9th Club 45

November 13th Club 45

All 2nd Sundays so far

December 11th or 18th, depending on Christmas


Interested in being on the servant/leader team?

Planning Meeting will be Sunday August 28th at 5:30pm—6:30pm at the Church House

Better than coffee?

If you are like me it is difficult to start day w/out the fruit of heaven--coffee! Yet Martin Luther had a good idea:
"In the morning, as soon as you get out of bed, you are to make the sign of the holy cross and say: 'God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit watch over me. Amen." Further directions follow: say the Apostles Creed, pray the Lord's Prayer. … Then "you are to go to your work joyfully."

I guess this could be done with coffee in hand.

SUNDAY 10am...
Park Far Away
Sit Towards Middle
Expect to receive

You were created for community

In their book Resident Aliens, Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon say that, "American Christians have fallen into the bad habit of acting as if the church really does not matter as we go about trying to live like Christians." I think they present a valid critique of the way many Christians today view their role in the church. The importance of the church in the life of the Christian could scarcely be overestimated. The church forms community that provides the support and authority necessary for individual believers ultimately to be successful in their Christian lives. Those Protestants who downplay the importance of the church may well have taken the Reformation ideal of sola scriptura too far. For while Scripture is the only infallible guide to Christian faith and life, it is clear from those Scriptures that the church is to function as the community which binds believers together into the Body of Christ, and serves as a moral and spiritual authority—though not infallible—in the life of the Christian. It is true that the church—or more precisely, various local congregations—have often failed to function as the community they were intended to be. As a result many believers have felt hurt and absented themselves from that community. While this sort of hurt is understandable as a human response to an imperfect church, it does not excuse those believers who have been hurt from participation in the community. Each of us must continually remind ourselves that we are members of the Body of Christ because of who we are, not because of the benefits we obtain from that membership. Indeed, participation in the community of God is something for which humans were created; to the extent that we do not participate in the community, we fail to fulfill one of the purposes for our existence. And when we do not enjoy the community for which we were created, we are often tempted to look elsewhere for what prove to be poor substitutes.

great question

"Ellis Potter, a Zen Buddhist who became a Christian and a worker at Francis Schaeffer’s Christian retreat center, L’Abri, was fond of posing a thought experiment. Imagine asking ten non-Christians this question: “If you converted to Christianity today, do you think your life would be larger, fuller, richer, more attractive and creative, more involved with the people, circumstances, art, and culture around you? Or do you think your life would be smaller, narrower, more withdrawn, judgmental, and negative, less winsome and creative, less involved with the people, art, circumstances, and culture around you?”" found in an article on the life & music of johnny cash
Johnny Cash: Clouded by Pain, Colored by Grace :

Good News from Mississippi

Redeemer Presbyterian Church: Crossing Racial Divides - byFaith Online

Community

While i've been thinking about spiritual friendship in the recent past... these lines from U2 seem to get at something very true about biblical fellowship.

Tough, you think you’ve got the stuff
You’re telling me and anyone
You’re hard enough

You don’t have to put up a fight
You don’t have to always be right
Let me take some of the punches
For you tonight

Gathering for Women

tonite at Kelly MacGregor's... to hang out and create note cards & envelopes that are used to make a written contact from the church leadership a bit more unique...

372-5204

The Mark of the Christian - Francis Schaeffer

This is more a booklet than book. Truly perspective-altering.

Called together for a purpose

“Cotton Mather’s idea was to see clusters of believers who ‘would now and then spend half an hour together by themselves, in considering on that question, WHAT GOOD IS THERE TO BE DONE?’. His goal was that every believer be encouraged to develop an eye for human need, to see ‘who is any special adversity; and what shall be done to help “Our union with the Messiah and his desire to continue his earthly ministry by living his life through us are so strong that we may be said to share his three offices of leadership. We are priests as we pray for those near us and draw
them into the sphere of God’s mercy and blessing. We are prophets as we hold a biblicalstraightedge against whatever is crooked around us. And we are kings as we use whatever powers we have to straighten what is crooked, reshaping whatever falls within the scope of our responsibility until it reflects the order of heaven.” --Richard F. Lovelace, Renewal as a Way of Life, p. 168
19 Serving--Developing Mercy Ministries.pdf (application/pdf Object)

enda da summa

Well, the end of the summer is here. Sunday should be a great day of seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Couple of reminders.

Parking... will be an issue for us for the next months. I want to strongly encourage those who are physically able to park AS FAR AWAY as possible. No martyrs, please. If you are older, handicapped, or with young children... park close... park in the round circle drive that goes around the fountain.

Our 9:00am Sunday School classes are still NOT HAPPENING. They will return, with a tan and a new attitude, on September 11.
I know some of you have special training classes this Sunday. THOSE are on and childcare will be provided.
10:00am worship in the theatre... your arrival in the room by 9:59 would be so wonderfully helpful. Sitting towards the front and middle would be the cherry on top.

Think on this:
You too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ

These People

In my youth I was moving from city to city, going from school to school. I was given gatherings of people to study with, work with, play with--but it was fairly transient. And then it no longer was transient (when my education and preparation were done)---this was it. A congregation, improbably named the people of God. These people, for good or ill, but these people. --Eugene Peterson, on "Community" in the book Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places

The 6 Defeaters

A couple of years ago several young professionals in Manhattan were gathered to create a list. A list that answers the question: What are the main reasons you are not a Christian? After much discussion and pruning, being led by a faithful Christian... they came up with these:

1. There cannot be one religion that is right and the others are wrong.
2. There is too much evil and suffering in the world.
3. Human choice is too sacred. If I yield to any authority outside myself, I feel like I have given up some of what makes me human. I must decide my own ethics.
4. The record of Christians. Crusades, inquisitions, racism, need i go on?
5. I cannot believe in and love a god who demands a blood sacrifice before he can accept me. Sounds like divine child abuse, doesn't it?
6. The bible. An individual or culture embracing the bible's teaching will be regressive. Especially in issues of Race, gender, and sexuality

Do any of these resonate with you? Have you heard similar from your friends, family, co-workers?

When things don't go the way they should,
God always makes them turn for good. --Bill Piper

new community group launching sunday

A community group meeting in the SouthWest starts meeting this sunday evening. Billy & Lorall Crow live just off Archer Road and invite you to come Sunday. Call them with questions 495-3525

Upcoming Open House

Sunday August 21st, immediately after the worship service at Oak Hall... plan to drive to the new church property on Parker Road for an Open House. 8/21/2005

10am tomorrow morning... Lord's Supper together

our 9am hour is still NOT HAPPENING... turn off the tv, read/pray/talk during this "extra" hour you have at home

Quiet Before the Storm

In the next couple of weeks tens of thousands of humans (mostly 18-23) will be coming to Gainesville.

I've been praying that God would make Christ Community and the entire Church of Gainesville would welcome them and seek to be a place of grace and truth during their time in our fair city. Join me.

On that note, ask yourself this question:
"What is stopping me from asking one of these students to join me and my family for lunch?"
If you aren't satisfied with your response, I'd suggest you walk up and issue an invitation. There should be plenty of opportunities beginning August 14.

Sunday

SUnday we'll look at what was happening to make Jesus be sorrowful, even to death.

Then we will eat and drink to celebrate what He accomplished. Please think on this.

ESV Bible Online: Passage: Mark 14:22-42: "�My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.� [2] 35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him."

Prayer

on this 1st wednesday of month... remember to pray for advance of God's Kingdom in and thru Christ Community
also
1. A minister on the staff of one of our churches in Jax (Jan Werson of Christ Church on St. Augustine Road) lost his 28 yr old daughter this week. She was tragically killed while jogging. Support the family in prayer please.
2. I speak at Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting on campus tonite. Partner with me by praying for God's Spirit to fill me.
3. Melissa Pope has arrived for the purpose of loving the Chinese people and teaching them English. PRay for her adjustment.

One more thing, if you (or someone you know), needs a free fridge, contact valerie payne
valpayne AT ufl DOT edu

Also, y'days quote was from Bono of U2.

40 points to the one who guesses correctly

Without googling this... who do you think might have said it?

"Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: He was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says, No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: 'I'm the Messiah.' I'm saying: 'I am God incarnate.' . . . So what you're left with is either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. . . . The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me that's farfetched."

Thoughtful Lecture

If you are a listener to online audio AND interested in faithfulness to God in serving in this "postmodern" day... I think you'd be strengthened by the lecture on this page:
Entitled
"July 12, 2005
Family Bible Conference
Dr. Richard Pratt
Postmodernism Seminar
(62:17)
"

A problem or an opportunity?

There will be no corporate gathering to pray tomorrow. We've been offering gatherings at Hope Church and church office but won't be tomorrow. Please consider carving out a few minutes, between sundown tonite and sundown Wednesday, to pray for the advance of the Kingdom of God in and through Christ Community Church.
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done...

Sunday We Eat

Institution of the Lord's Supper

22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the [1] covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
ESV Bible Online: Passage: mark 14:22-25

Spurgeon was helpful this morning

This morning i took my copy of Spurgeon's Morning and Evening out on the back porch with my coffee. Here's what he said that helped me. Perhaps you will be strengthened by God thru Spurgeon as well.

"Downcast and troubled Christian, come and glean to-day in the broad field of promise. Here are abundance of precious promises, which exactly meet thy wants. Take this one: 'He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax.' Doth not that suit thy case? A reed, helpless, insignificant, and weak, a bruised reed, out of which no music can come; weaker than weakness itself; a reed, and that reed bruised, yet, he will not break thee; but on the contrary, will restore and strengthen thee. Thou art like the smoking flax: no light, no warmth, can come from thee; but he will not quench thee; he will blow with his sweet breath of mercy till he fans thee to a flame. Wouldst thou glean another ear? 'Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' What soft words! Thy heart is tender, and the Master knows it, and therefore he speaketh so gently to thee. Wilt thou not obey him, and come to him even now?" CHS

Rest of devotionala>:

Land Purchase Nearing

Monday August 15: We close on the house + 3.8 acres on Parker Road

Sunday August 21: Immediately after the service at Oak Hall, drive around the corner to eyeball our new facilities on Parker Road. We're having an open house!

Celebrating fact that we then will own almost 9 acres plus a 2000 square foot house from which to do ministry.

Sunday at Christ Community

10 am Worship at Oak Hall (not 10:10 as those vicious rumors assert)
Parking, ugh. Remember those who are able might see just how far away they can park, saving those precious nearby spaces for elderly, those with young children, extremely lazy, etc.

Our 9am classes are on sabbatical for a few more weeks.


Here is a poet who would appreciate Acts 14, I think.
Totally like whatever, you know?
By Taylor Mali


In case you hadn't noticed,
it has somehow become uncool
to sound like you know what you're talking about?
Or believe strongly in what you're saying?
Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)'s
have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences?
Even when those sentences aren't, like, questions? You know?

Declarative sentences - so-called
because they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true
as opposed to other things which were, like, not -
have been infected by a totally hip
and tragically cool interrogative tone? You know?
Like, don't think I'm uncool just because I've noticed this;
this is just like the word on the street, you know?
It's like what I've heard?
I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?
I'm just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty?

What has happened to our conviction?
Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?
Have they been, like, chopped down
with the rest of the rain forest?
Or do we have, like, nothing to say?
Has society become so, like, totally . . .
I mean absolutely . . . You know?
That we've just gotten to the point where it's just, like . . .
whatever!

And so actually our disarticulation . . . ness
is just a clever sort of . . . thing
to disguise the fact that we've become
the most aggressively inarticulate generation
to come along since . . .
you know, a long, long time ago!

I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you,
I challenge you: To speak with conviction.
To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks
the determination with which you believe it.
Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You have to speak with it, too.

Consecration

Consecration. This word came up in our weekly elders prayer/meeting/discussion time this morning. We are hoping to clarify this for you in coming weeks during the worship service. Here's my first pass at it.

Having confessed our sin TO God and being reminded BY God of the finished work of Jesus Christ FOR us... we consecrate ourselves TO God. Meaning we say simply, "We are yours. We will be yours. You have us. Your kingdom come, in my life and through my life."

John Calvin, who gets a rap for being some unemotional inventer of the doctrine of election had a personal seal (as did many in his day). And it sounds like a 21st century praise song
"I offer you my heart, Lord, promptly and sincerely."

Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it... seal it for Thy courts above.

Rob: "No. Seriously... you couldn't have beat me. My watch must be broken. Plus my leg is seriously injured."

Sharon: "Whatever."

The Great Work of God: Rain

In our text this week (acts 14) Paul mentions to a group of people unfamiliar with the work of God through His people Israel.... that God's witness to Himself had been "good things" like rain. That made me remember this tremendous meditation on the miracle Rain: Here's a portion:
"Well, if one inch of rain falls on one square mile of farmland during the night, that would be 27,878,400 cubic feet of water, which is 206,300,160 gallons, which is 1,650,501,280 pounds of water.
That's heavy. So how does it get up in the sky and stay up there if it's so heavy? Well, it gets up there by evaporation. Really? That's a nice word. What's it mean? It means that the water sort of stops being water for a while so it can go up and not down. I see. Then how does it get down? Well, condensation happens. What's that? The water starts becoming water again by gathering around little dust particles between .00001 and .0001 centimeters wide. That's small."

Intro to Christ Community Church Seminar

The next Intro to Christ Community Church Seminar will be held September 22, 29 and October 6.

DVD of Christ Community

"Listen, why don't you just take this DVD. It is an overview of what you can expect at my church. It only lasts about 5 minutes, tops."

Several months ago a task force commissioned by the elders recommended that Christ Community develop a DVD that would "hasten the 1st visit" of a neighbor/friend/co-worker/family/new resident
known and loved by a Christ Communityite.

This morning I had the privilege of previewing that DVD. In a little while you will be blown away too.

Feeling Constrained By Grace

"And never does the sinner find within himself so mighty a moral transformation, as when under the belief that he is saved by grace, he feels constrained thereby to offer his heart a devoted thing, and to deny ungodliness." --Thomas Chalmers

My 4 year old saying Lord's Prayer

Because because because

Remember the song in Wizard of Oz. Weird that i'd think of that while reading the scripture. The point is ... look at WHY the psalmist consecrates himself to God by declaring his love for God and his intention to trust him the rest of his life.... because God has heard him. Because God gave mercy. Because God cupped His holy hand over His ear and LISTENED. And so shall I. And so shall you.

"I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live."
ESV Bible Online: Passage: Psalm 116:

House on Parker Road

Everything is progressing well for Christ Community to purchase the home and 3.8 acres on Parker Road on Monday August 15. We have not obtained the green light from the city to move our offices there (though we've been counseled NOT to expect problems). Besides strategically thinking about how best to use the space, we're working with the church calendar to set up a good time for the congregation to see the house and dedicate the house/property to God's glory.

new way of seeing

if all the unchurched people in the U.S. were to establish their own country, they would form the eleventh most populated nation on the planet.'

Larger excerpt...
Since the mid-1990s, the conversation among young pastors has evolved from reaching Generation X, to ministering in a postmodern culture, to a more mature and profitable investigation of what a movement of missionaries would look like, missionaries sent not from America to another nation but from America to America. This "reformission" is a radical call to reform the church's traditionally flawed view of missions as something carried out only in foreign lands and to focus instead on the urgent need in our own neighborhoods, which are filled with diverse cultures of Americans who desperately need the gospel of Jesus and life in his church. Most significant, they need a gospel and a church that are faithful both to the scriptural texts and to the cultural contexts of America. The timing of this reformission is critical. George Barna has said, "The first and most important statistic is that there are a lot of Americans who don't go to church—and their numbers are increasing. The figure has jumped from just 21 percent of the population in 1991 to 33 percent today. In fact, if all the unchurched people in the U.S. were to establish their own country, they would form the eleventh most populated nation on the planet."

What I am advocating is not an abandonment of missions across the globe but rather an emphasis on missions that begin across the street, like Jesus commanded (Acts 1:8).

http://www.christiancounterculture.com/articles/reachingout.html
link

They shook off the dust from their feet...

"their dust-shaking ceremony previewed the day when God himself will make an utter separation between those who have fled to him for refuge and those who have fled from him in rebellion. In a terrifying prelude to the final division, Jesus instructed his emissaries to give certain cities what they wanted: to withdraw the indicting and saving word of God from them." Dennis Johnson on Acts 13:51

If you need to cheat a little

Sunday Night at 6:30 we'll meet to discuss Pilgrim's Progress and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
Here's some help.SparkNotes: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe: Plot Overview
Come whether you've read the books or not. Great activity planned for children as well. 6:30pm Hope Church (Tower & SW 20th Ave)

The Streetchild Ministry of Our Connected Church

http://www.streetchildinternational.org/

Gospel Economics

It is always a good spiritual discipline
to reflect on the topic referenced
by Jesus more than
(almost) any other – Money.

We believe ALL of life
can only be properly understood
when viewed through the lens of
the gospel. It is only when we
understand our material possessions
in light of Christ’s sacrifi-
cial love for us that we can truly
have a healthy relationship
towards our material possessions.
Whose Money is It?
Historically there have been
several views on wealth and
property that influence our attitudes
today. Early Greek writings
reflect a view that money is
community property and should
be shared equally. Only in the
absolute redistribution of wealth
could a utopian society be
achieved. In sharp contrast to
this view was the Roman philosophy
that individuals had
absolute rights over their money
and property. Echoes of this
view are seen in our modern
capitalistic economy, and in our
tendency to bristle when the
topic of ‘our finances’ are discussed
in any kind of open
forum. A third view, as taught in
Scripture, is that we have a
‘qualified right’ over money and
property. In other words, God
has the ultimate ownership but
we have stewardship of our
money, property, and talents.
This view is radical in that it
teaches that we have been given
personal wealth and talents, but
that these gifts are to be invested
in God’s priorities.

Why is Money a “Problem”?
Understanding that all of our
possessions are actually on loan

Lean Hard!

"Cast your burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain you." Psalm 55:22

It is by an act of simple, prayerful faith we transfer our cares and anxieties, our sorrows and needs, to the Lord. Jesus invites you come and lean upon Him, and to lean with all your might upon that arm that balances the universe, and upon that bosom that bled for you upon the soldier's spear! But you doubtingly ask, "Is the Lord able to do this thing for me ?" And thus, while you are debating a matter about which there is not the shadow of a shade of doubt, the burden is crushing your gentle spirit to the dust. And all the while Jesus stands at your side and lovingly says, "Cast your burden upon Me and I will sustain you. I am God Almighty. I bore the load of your sin and condemnation up the steep of Calvary, and the same power of omnipotence, and the same strength of love that bore it all for you then, is prepared to bear your need and sorrow now. Roll it all upon Me! Child of My love! Lean hard! Let Me feel the pressure of your care. I know your burden, child! I shaped it—I poised it in My own hand and made no proportion of its weight to your unaided strength. For even as I laid it on, I said I shall be near, and while she leans on Me, this burden shall be Mine, not hers. So shall I keep My child within the encircling arms of My own love. Here lay it down! Do not fear to impose it on a shoulder which upholds the government of worlds! Yet closer come! You are not near enough! I would embrace your burden, so I might feel My child reposing on My breast. You love Me! I know it. Doubt not, then. But, loving me, lean hard!"

Sunday at Christ Community

10am worship in the theatre at Oak Hall
(PARKING continues to be a problem due to Oak Hall's work... you who are able should park farther away to allow easier parking for visitors and those who physically need it, thanks!)

Risk the Rain

I am aware that storm clouds are gathering.

Let that not stop you from driving to Kanapaha Park for the picnic. We still hope to eat and fellowship.

How Good is Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe?

In revamping our website we wanted to put our doctrine up there in 2 formats; bullet point and narrative. So, today I was trying to think of an answer to this question:
"How do you tell the gospel in a story?"

Over and over again i returned to this thought: Lewis did it! What aspect of the gospel is missing in LWW. Made me all the more excited about re-reading it this month.

Church Picnic Tonite 6:30pm at Kanapaha Park on Tower Road

thanks

for all of you who have prayed

the pendleys now own the home in kenwood and are moving today

Sunday 10am

no 9am classes this month!

Ray Treadwell preaching at 10am... in the Oak Hall theatre

Backward and Forward

"Living between the two comings of Christ, Christians are to look backward and forward: back to the manger, the cross, and the empty tomb, whereby salvation was won for them; forward to their meeting with Christ beyond this world, their personal resurrection, and the joy of being with their Savior in glory forever." --J.I. Packer

Declaration of Independence

I know on Sunday I mentioned that I, as a good American, had read the Declaration of Independence prior to Monday's holiday. Well, actually I just watched the movie "National Treasure." (Nicholas Cage is a great actor.)
But you can read the actual document here: Declaration of Independence

NOTE MEETING LOCATION SUNDAY July 3!! Baughmann Chapel

Is ours Sunday! Join us 10am Directions & Parking

Save the Dates

Wednesday Evening July 13th
All-Church Picnic
At
Kanapaha Park
A-K bring a side dish
L-Z bring a dessert
Drinks, meat, and paper goods will be provided for you.

Sunday July 24th at Hope Church
Book Discussion (of Pilgrim’s Progress & Lion Witch & Wardrobe) and
Children’s Craft Night

Ancient Words

I know some of you will want the lyric to the wonderful song that Kelly MacGregor sang on Sunday morning.

Ancient Words
Holy words long preserved
for our walk in this world,
They resound with God's own heart
Oh, let the Ancient words impart.

Words of Life, words of Hope
Give us strength, help us cope
In this world, where e'er we roam
Ancient words will guide us Home.

CHORUS:
Ancient words ever true
Changing me, and changing you.
We have come with open hearts
Oh let the ancient words impart.

Holy words of our Faith
Handed down to this age.
Came to us through sacrifice
Oh heed the faithful words of Christ.

Holy words long preserved
For our walk in this world.
They resound with God's own heart
Oh let the ancient words impart.

We have come with open hearts
Oh let the ancient words impart

God gives desire to be generous

end of sermon

Taken today at Vacation Bible School 

Bible School Pics 

I don't own a home in Gainesville right now

Well, at 1pm today I won't. The place where we brought 2 of our children home from the hospital is owned by another. Oh, the faithfulness of God to me, and to my family, that was experienced there. Kim and I have lived under that roof as long as anywhere on earth together. Only our parent's homes have housed us more of our lives. And now it is owned by another. Insert strange, sentimental feelings here.

Distant Relationship with a Loved One

Bono wrote this song while his father was dying w/ terminal cancer
He expresses that strange feeling we all know at some level of not connecting with someone we desperately long to... yet loving them powerfully and wanting that love know

"I know that we don't talk
I'm sick of it all
Can - you - hear - me -when - I -Sing,
you're the reason I sing
You're the reason why the opera is in me"

U2 - Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own:

Should Christians Read Harry Potter

Online Audio that's free for a couple o' days

Comprehensive Coverage

The last verses of psalm 121 exult in the sheer comprehensiveness of God’s care over “you” (in the singular, as if the individual pilgrim is addressed by other pilgrims). “The LORD watches over you” (121:5) — day and night (121:6), your whole life (121:7), in all you do (“your coming and going,” 121:8), “both now and forevermore” (121:8).

This reminded me of the children's encouragement to us Sunday morning... Jesus loves "little me"!

Seminal Books for Me

definition of seminal from dictionary.com: Highly influential in an original way; constituting or providing a basis for further development: example:a seminal idea in the creation of a new theory.

Knowing God, by JI Packer
Desiring God, by John Piper
Truths that Transform, by James Kennedy
Transforming Grace, by Jerry Bridges

....to be continued

Put me in coach

Nicole Mytyk thougtht you might be encouraged by this devotional....

MY son had a great first day at basketball camp; however, the second day he came home discouraged. "I didn't make any baskets today," he said. "Two kids on my team just passed the ball to each other, and nobody else got a chance. I was wide open under the basket, too."

Like the two players on my son's team, in churches we sometimes fall into a pattern of involving the same people or working only within one small, familiar group. We may not see a newcomer who longs to be included but has never been asked or a shy person who has attended the church for years but is afraid to volunteer his or her talents.

On the other hand, if I am one of the people who is called upon, I have to guard against thinking, I'm not good enough, or, They don't really want me to help. Perhaps I need to be bolder in showing others I am open to serving. It's not God's plan for a few people and the pastor to do it all.
The church needs all members of the body working together in ministry and mission.

Prayer: Lord, help us to be open to discovering our spiritual gifts and to
use them to serve you within the body of Christ. Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Am I open and ready to serve?

-- Cathy Wesolek (New Mexico, U.S.A.)

PRAYER FOCUS: Those feeling left out

From the wedding of 2 members of Christ Community Saturday in St. Augustine. Chris and Anne are now moving to Palo Alto. 

Women's Study Tuesday 7:30pm at Staples' home; Wednesday--Kanapaha Park 6:30pm for Everyone

this week

Tuesday: Women's Study 7:30pm at Staples' home
Wednesday: Night at the Park 6:30-8:30 at Kanapaha Park (This is last chance!)
Thursday:
Friday:

Sunday: 10am worship at Baughman Center on Campus

All week, 9am til NOON, we're co-hosting Vacation Bible School with Faith PRes, at Faith Pres.

Those 16 points in Acts 13

"This text is utterly saturated with God. Sixteen times Paul presses home the truth that God is the central Actor in history. "--John Piper
History Is God's Story:

Good Things Running Wild

This quote will find itself in the wedding tomorrow
"...The more I considered Christianity; the more I found that while it had established a rule and order, the chief aim of that order was to give room for good things to run wild. -Orthodoxy"Gems from G. K. Chesterton:

Deep Gladness

Today Kim and I head to St. Augustine where i will officiate the wedding ceremony of 2 of our members, Chris Nyffeler and Anne Osborn. I have deep gladness enjoying this moment as God unites two of His children. Weddings are more and more wetting my appetite for the great Wedding & Wedding Feast to come.

Chris and Anne joined Christ Community as UF students about 3 years ago and Christ Community has played a role in their relationship development. After the wedding they are moving to Palo Alto, California. This is just another way that Christ Community experiences and extends the grace of Jesus Christ.

Audio Bibles on Tape/CD By Max McLean

It is a recent thing for people to have their own bible... most people in redemptive history have primarily listened to God's word
The reader at this site is part of our Manhattan congregation led by Tim Keller

Also, FYI there are
Bible texts available online

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/

NIV http://www.biblegateway.com/

My reading of a portion of Acts 13

A Reader's Guide Through the Wardrobe

This fall IVP will be publishing A Reader's Guide Through the Wardrobe: Exploring C.S. Lewis's Classic Story, by Leland Ryken and Marjorie Lamp Mead. Paul Ford, author of Companion to Narnia and Pocket Companion to Narnia, says this book "is the most thorough literary study of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe that I have ever read."IVP | A Reader's Guide Through the Wardrobe

So Simon says, "Read the book in July with Christ Community, get this reader's guide in the fall... THEN see the movie at Christmas."

This song is cheesy...

Until you love or get loved like he's describing... and it came to mind as i read Acts 13.DAN FOGELBERG Longer Lyrics )

Longer than there’ve been fishes in the ocean
Higher than any bird ever flew
Longer than there’ve been stars up in the heavens
I’ve been in love with you.

Stronger than any mountain cathedral
Truer than any tree ever grew
Deeper than any forest primeval
I am in love with you.

I Love to Tell the Story

This is what happens in Acts 13. There is an old hymn: that contains these words:

"I love to tell the story, for some have never heard
The message of salvation from God's own holy Word.

I love to tell the story, for those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest."

What i appreciate about these lyrics is that it acknowledges that we who "know the story best" need it "like the rest."

Pray for these guys, they need it. 

Ultimate Frisbee in Ten Simple Rules

Get ready for 6:30pm tonite!Ultimate in Ten Simple Rules

Enjoying My Son's IPOD

Sometimes a lyric in a song just grabs your heart and allows me to enter a part of life that has been elusive. Recently these lyrics, heard on my son's ipod, have done this for me. And i'm glad.

"One day you'll look back, and you'll see
Where you were held now by this love." --U2 Mysterious Ways

Derek Webb:
" i trust no other source or name
nowhere else can i hide
this grace gives me fear, and this grace draws me near
and all that it asks it provides"

Wednesday Nights at the Park

Wednesday June 22 we will be playing Ultimate Frisbee Football. If you don't want to play, come and hang and watch the fun. 6:30pm at Kanapaha Park on Tower Road.

You're Soaking In It

Several of you asked... so here is quote i used prior to the call to worship on sunday. Remember, i took it from a sermon i heard... so grammar and punctuation is probably whacked:

"My conclusion, after living in several countries overseas, and being back in U.S. for 5 years... is that this is the most dangerous culture to live in in the world.

It is this culture which has a silent, seductive, deadly kind of 'tractor beam' that pulls you in, deadens your senses, dumbs down your desires, to where you really want very little more... than simply comfort, entertainment, and security. And it is working on you all the time, relentlessly calling you to this deadened life where your dreams and visions are little higher than for the place you live or what you drive, wear, and eat. It is terrifying to me what this is doing to our people and to our churches." Hunter Dockery, minister at Redeemer Presbyterian in winston salem

Great Changes online

Christ Community Church -

The Spirit Fructifying

Studying to teach on the Fruit of the Holy Spirit... I came across 30.this: "fructifying"
excellent article

Sunday at Christ Community

ESV Bible Online: Passage: Acts 13
And we'll hear from our own Melissa Pope about her upcoming move to the Far East.

Advancing the Gospel

While at General Assembly I always catch up with classmate/friends who are seeking to do the same thing that Christ Community is seeking to do... experience and extend the grace of Jesus Christ. Here is one who is going to work with Asians in London.

Nights in Park is Tomorrow

Tonite: Tuesday... is women's bible study

Wednesday: 6:30pm-8:30pm at Kanapaha Park on Tower Road
Night in the Parkis great time to get together with others from Christ Community... stay as long or little as you can

In Chattanooga This Week

I'm up north attending the Annual General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America. What is it like? Great, boring, hear reports of God's work extending the kingdom, hear reports of the Evil One at work in the church. Come to think of it, General Assembly is a lot like everyday life.

Want a Bible Memory Challenge?

Several of us are in the process of trying to memorize Colossians 1. Join us.

This looks good

P & R Publishing: Forthcoming Title

Nights in Park is a Success

The proverbial "good time was had by all". Must say it was wonderful to see children playing and people connecting with each other... and people diving in the wet grass to make plays in softball.
If you were there, i know you won't miss next week.
If you weren't able last night, do try to come one of the next 3 wednesday nights at Kanapaha Park.


Don't forget Saturday night women's event which includes dinner and a fun program.

Kanapaha Park 6:30 TONITE

come hang out, enjoy one another, throw a softball, sweat, swat bugs, stand in the shade, swing a child high and listen to the laughter, etc. we'll be there from 6:30-8:30, but come for whatever part you can

also, this is a good summary of the gospel i came across, tuck it awaytwo ways to live

This Week

New Women's Bible Study Launches--Tuesday Night

Nights in the Park-- Kick back at Kanapaha from 6:30-8:30

Women's Table Event-- Saturday late afternoon

We voted to buy this land

Google Maps - 1603 Sw 122nd St, 32669

The Scream of the Damned

"My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?"

This cry represents the most agonizing protest ever uttered on this planet. It burst forth in a moment of unparalleled pain. It is the scream of the damned--for us. --RC Sproul

Sunday shall be a great day
9am classes for all ages
I'll be teaching adult forum on "The Fruit & Gifts of the Holy Spirit"

10am worship with communion as we reap the benefits of Christ's suffering in our stead

11:20 Congregational meeting (childcare available for littlest ones)

getting ready for Acts 13

To become a Christian a Greek does not have to become a Jew, a plebeian does not have to become
patrician or vica versa. For Christianity is not the product of national and
cultural consciousness--rather it is the shaper of consciousness. Acts 7-12 then
was the second stage, in which the gospel spread across all cultures, and thus we
read at the end of this period (“But the word of God continued to increase and
spread” 12:24).
Now the stage is set for the final stage. “All the time the action has been limited to
the Palestinian and Syrian mainland. Nobody has yet caught the vision of taking
the good news to the nations overseas.” (Stott, p.215) The gospel has spread across
cultures, but now it is about to explode geographically.