We usually give the first day of each week to God, and that’s a good thing. I want us to give the first week of the year to God too. We have to be people of prayer.
Not talking about prayer, but praying.
Not talking about our needs, but casting our cares on God.
Not talking about others’ needs, but interceding for them.
Join us in prayer all throughout this week. If you can come to the church at 6:30pm on any night, please do. But even if you can’t, then just pray on!
Last night we held our first Rock In The New Year. It was a great night of local Christian bands and a lot of fun. Best of all, we raised some money for the families of the two children we sponsor through Latin America Child Care. I want to give a BIG shout-out to Josh Schram for his excellent organization skills. He was the vision behind this wonderful night.
Pictures of the festivities are here.
Prayer works. This phrase is powerful on so many levels—
Most Christians give the first day of each week to God. I’m challenging myself and our congregation to give the first week of the new year to God. January 3-9 will be a week of working in prayer. We’ve called this week Total Access: When we pray, we have total access to all of God’s blessings. He wants to bless us so that…
1. We can be more fruitful.
2. We can bless others out of our overflow.
3. We can glorify God.
Why don’t you join us in giving your first week of the year to God. It’s work to pray, but prayer works.
Last night in our Impact youth service we wrapped up this session of The Q Series: a time where our students submit the questions they want to have answered. I’m always challenged by the questions that get turned into me, they really make me dig deep.
Last night I answered a couple of questions that went like this: “Is Christianity all about keeping the right rules?”
I think there is a misconception that many people have about those who call themselves Christian. One of the most notable ones is: There are way too many rules to follow.
I answered this question with an analogy to my relationship with my wife. If I want a better marriage, would I be better off following a list of rules, or developing a more intimate relationship? I think the answer is easy: relationship always trumps rules.
When we begin to think of Christianity as a relationship with Jesus instead of a religion, there is greater freedom. Look at the change in mindset from religion to relationship:
Clearly, a relationship with Jesus trumps trying to keep religious rules.
Our students got it. In fact, three of them got it for the first time as they prayed to ask Jesus to step into a relationship with them! That never gets old for me, in fact, it’s the greatest thing I get to see!
I hope you’re not bound up by religion, but enjoying all of the benefits of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s the best decision you could ever make.
Just want to get a couple of great family-friendly events on your calendar.
On December 24 is our annual Candlelight Christmas Eve service at 6pm. This is an intimate family time with some hot chocolate, cookies,
Christmas carols, special music, and Christmas stories. Make this one-hour service a part of your family tradition.
On December 31 we’re going to rock out the old year and Rock In The New Year. We’ve got several local Christian bands that are going to join us for the fun. Doors open at 7pm. We’ll have lots of games, prizes, food, fun, and music. And, best of all, we’re using this as a fundraiser for a great ministry that we support: Latin America Child Care. The cover charge is just $2, and all of our profits are going to LACC.
Two great events… two great nights. Come and join us.
In the “Your Gift To God” series at Calvary Assembly of God, we have been following the pattern of the gifts that the Magi gave to Jesus as a pattern for the gifts that we, too, should give to God.
First, the Magi gave gold. The king of metals for the King of kings. They acknowledged that this was the Eternal King. Gold is a gift for a king.
The second gift is a bit of a head-scratcher gift: frankincense. This type of incense was used in the Old Testament in worship and sacrifices in the Tent Of Meeting. Incense is a gift for a priest. But would the Magi give a priestly gift to a king?
Jesus came as both King, Priest, and Sacrifice. The frankincense was used as the high priest went from the Holy Place to the Most Holy Place to offer the sacrifice of atonement. But look what the Bible says about Jesus:
…Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
And because of what Jesus did for us:
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.
When we offer a sacrifice of frankincense to Jesus our High Priest, we’re saying, “I trust You with this. I don’t want to carry this any longer. I give it to You completely.” That means what we offer to Him is completely consumed.
Yesterday our congregation wrote down their burdens and concerns and challenges on a slip of paper. Then we brought those concerns to Jesus and burned them up like frankincense in His presence. As I smelled the aroma, I could only imagine the incredible scent that Jesus detected.
All of the concerns people wrote down were reduced to ash yesterday morning!
I believe people were set free! The concerns were burned up like a sacrifice before our High Priest! No longer do they have to carry these heavy loads:
Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.
Your greatest gift to God could be all of the things that have burdened you for way too long. Give them to Him because He cares for you. Let them be consumed completely, and never pick them up again.
Live free!
Time for some more questions. Periodically I turn the subject matter for our Impact! youth group over to the students. It’s their time to fire away with the questions on their mind. I love answering questions because answering them helps me learn more too.
So now’s the time to get your question(s) in. You can get them to me in a few ways:
I believe of all people, Christ-followers should be able to do the most serious of work, but those who are in love with Jesus ought to be able to have the most fun too, as they enjoy the fullness of that relationship.
We proved this yesterday.
My loving congregation donated food for us to bless some needy people with Thanksgiving groceries. We then contacted our local elementary school to ask if they could recommend a couple of needy families to us. They did, but “needy” might be a major understatement. It was a joy to be able to deliver all of the Thanksgiving fixin’s to them, but heart-breaking to see the conditions in which they were living. I pray that this simple act of compassion will help open a door for further ministry opportunities.
Then we met with our Impact youth group for some serious fun (pictures are here). We had a carnival-like atmosphere with wild-and-messy games going on everywhere. I loved seeing our students dive into (sometimes literally) these fun events. It wasn’t just the students: Betsy challenged me to a pie-eating contest. And let’s just say, apparently I have a bigger mouth than she does!
It’s great to address the serious conditions that surround us, and we should do so with love and hope. And it’s just as wonderful to have some fun. I believe that people who get stuck on either extreme are missing out on the fullness of a Christ-centered life.
I hope you have a seriously fun Thanksgiving celebration. And not just on Thursday this week, but all year long.
Yesterday I began a two-part series at Calvary Assembly of God sandwiched around Thanksgiving Day. The series is simply called Thanks and is based on the premise that thankfulness is the soil for healthy growth.
Have you ever grown a garden? If you have, you know that even though you plant the best seeds in the best soil, if you simply leave it unattended, weeds will find their way into your well-manicured garden. If you leave your garden unattended for long enough, the weeds will eventually take over.
It’s just as true for our minds. We can cultivate the best soil in our minds and plant only the finest seeds. But if we do nothing more, the weeds will take over and eventually choke out anything good that was growing there.
A spirit of continual thankfulness will keep the soil free from the choking weeds. But pulling out weeds by our thankfulness must be a continual process. So I gave our church the 365/730/1095 challenge.
Start a thanksgiving journal. If you just write down one unique thing every day for which you are thankful, you will have recorded 365 things in a year. More challenging: write down two things every day, or even—are you brave enough to attempt this?—three things every day. If you find two things each day, you will have 730 weed busters by the end of the year, or three items will give you 1095 weed busters.
Are you ready for the challenge?
I’m going to attempt to find three unique things each day for the next year. I hope this is encouraging to you, and I hope you will accept the 365/730/1095 challenge too.
This Sunday we kick off a two-part series around Thanksgiving. I know it’s a day we celebrate once per year, but thankfulness is also the soil that grows excellent things in our lives. Come and join us at 10:30 AM on November 22 and November 29. And in the meantime, start counting your blessings.
Craig T. Owens 