Really proud of the cleanup crew that joined me in Cedar Springs today. As a part of Earth Day 2011, we were assigned a busy stretch of road past all the fast food restaurants. We declared, “This is our street!” and made sure every scrap of trash was bagged up.
We ♥ Cedar Springs!
There’s just no other way to say this: Resurrection Sunday at Calvary Assembly of God was AWESOME!
So many people ministers made the day a meaningful and memorable experience of what Christ’s resurrection from the dead really means. I ♥ my church!
Here are some of the comments people shared with us yesterday:
But the best feedback of all…
Because Jesus defeated sin and death—because He is The Champion—we robbed hell of 22 souls!
The most amazing story in all of history (or should I say “His story”) is the story of God coming to earth to rescue us! We were made to be in intimate relationship with God, but our sin made us captives of satan—slaves to his power. Jesus came to set us free!
He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the Cross for my sins, defeated satan, broke the power of sin’s hold on me, and rose to life again! JESUS IS THE CHAMPION!
I’m so excited about this year’s Easter breakfast drama at Calvary Assembly of God called The Champion! This is a free event, but we do have tickets available to ensure there is enough space for everyone to attend.
If you would like to join us for a powerful, visual portrayal of Christ’s victory over sin, please let me know how many tickets you would like, and whether you want to attend at 9am or 11am, and I’ll set them aside for you. Don’t miss this one!
Winning 2011 Earth Day Artwork, Hunter George, 8th Grade, CTA
I believe that our church should be a pacesetting organization for our community. When we are actively involved in our community, it gives us more opportunities to season and illuminate Cedar Springs (hey, we’re talking about this on Sunday too!).
So we are planning to have a whole lot of our folks out to help with some spring cleaning for Earth Day 2011.
When we show how much We ♥ Cedar Springs, more people will get to experience firsthand what others already know about Calvary Assembly of God: We ♥ Our Church!
If you are close by, please consider joining us.
If you live in another community, what are you doing to season and illuminate your city?
Jesus called His followers to be salt and light in the world. He said:
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
We have been placed in this world to season it and to illuminate it. What does that mean? How do we do that in a way that glorifies your Father in heaven?
I’m really excited to kickoff our new series Salt & Light this Sunday morning. I hope you can join me at 10:30am to learn more about being seasoning and illumination.
We all have times that life feels overwhelming. Like there is too much to do, but not enough of us (or our time, or our money, or our willpower, or…) to accomplish what we need to. In a word: we are overloaded.
I just finished a 4-part series about God’s ways for finding relief for our overloaded lives, and I thought this quick recap might be helpful.
When the “less” is stuff, the “more” is relationships.
A day OFF (a Sabbath) helps you appreciate ON more.
Tune out all the noise so you can tune in to God’s voice.
Give God the first 10% of your income and enjoy His blessing.
I’m starting a new series this Sunday which I wish I didn’t have to start. But the reality is that far too many of us (and I do mean us because I’m including myself) have bought into the cultural idea that we need to add more and more and more to our lives.
As a result, our lives are overloaded. Physically, emotionally, financially, relationally … if life throws us just one curveball in any area, we’re toast!
And the biggest victim in our overloaded lives? Our relationships. It’s hard to have rich, meaningful, intimate, vibrant relationships when we’re so concerned about our own overloaded lives. It doesn’t have to be this way!
I hope you can join me at Calvary Assembly of God over the next four Sundays as we talk about the relief that God shows us in the Bible. There is relief from overload, and God wants us to find it.
In our Living In The Zone series yesterday, we looked at the gifts God gives to us. These gifts are to help us find the “sweet spot” where God wants us to operate. They are specifically given so that God can use us.
I love this thought from Craig Groeschel: “God’s gifts in you equip you for your gift to the world.”
You are gifted to be a gift to the world.
Check out this video we showed yesterday morning…
Did you catch this exchange near the end?
“Do you think you’re a role model?”
“I hope so! I wanna be an encourager. To encourage people to do something with their lives, instead of doing nothing. Because so many people in the world in this day and time have no gumption, have no purpose, and they don’t want to get off the couch. They wanna sit there and say, ‘Woe is me! My back hurts, my this, my that,’ and wallow in themselves, when they could get out. The more you do for someone else, the more God’s going to bless you. Even if means giving someone a cup of coffee, or a hug, or something like that. That’s what it’s all about.”
What gift(s) has God given you? What gift are you being to the world?
I love having the opportunity to speak to young(er) people. Especially now that I’m old(er), it gives me a chance to allow some of my hindsight to become someone else’s foresight. (That’s a fancy way of saying: I don’t want others to make the same mistakes I made!)
We’ve got a great group that meets at Calvary Assembly of God on Thursday evenings, called Unite. In addition to my short teaching time, there is also an open mic for local musicians (or poets, artists, comedians, etc.), a coffee bar, games, and lots of fun. If you are anywhere near Cedar Springs, come on out on Thursdays at 6:30pm.
“It is the paradox of life that the way to miss pleasure is to seek it first. The very first condition of lasting happiness is that a life should be full of purpose, aiming at something outside self.” —Hugo Black
I believe God has a unique purpose for your life.
I believe God has uniquely gifted you to fulfill that purpose.
I believe God wants you to know His gifts and His purpose for you.
When you and I know what God-given gifts are implanted in us, and we know how God wants us to use them, we are living in a place of fulfillment, passion, and joy. We are Living In The Zone.
So excited to see how the Holy Spirit is going to help people move to their unique “sweet spot” as I start a new sermon series this Sunday. Hope you can join me.
Craig T. Owens 