Thought For The Week

"I always wondered why somebody didn't do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody."

-Lily Tomlin

Fall Celebration

Hello All,

The children's Fall Celebration will be on Saturday October 29, 2011 at 4:00 pm at the church. If you are volunteering or helping with setup please arrive at 2:00 pm.

See you then!

Holiness

Romans 2:1-29

1 Peter 1:13-16

Leviticus 20:7-8

We often hear about holiness in the church world but I have found that most either don't know what it means or misunderstood what it means to be holy. Upon reading and studying about this subject in the Old Testament I became somewhat discouraged. Who in today's world could possibly keep all of these rules and guidelines? Then I began to read the New Testament and instantly my worries were relieved. Using the three areas listed above along with the Old Testament and other studying I arrived at this conclusion. There is no way that we can become holy through our own power. We are not under the same law as the saints of old. The New Testament tells us that with the greatest sacrifice ever made, we were then forgiven for all of our sins. This does not excuse us from sin but it does allow for us to repent and attempt to get right back on track. More than anything God wants a relationship with us and like any other relationship, it evolves. While this relationship with Him evolves and changes so do we. We aim to please Him more and more as we come to love Him increasingly. "I am the LORD who sanctifies you," (Leviticus 20:8). Holiness is a process; it’s a walk with God. As you walk with God he makes you holy

As always, be well,

Pastors Hines

Halloween Celebration

Hello All!

As we all know the Marriage Retreat for our married couples on CFC is coming up soon ( check the upcoming events tab on the right)! In addition to this Janis Barney and the Children's Ministry will be hosting a Fall celebration for the children on October 28th! Come dressed in your favorite costumes and enjoy games, movie night, treats, and so much more! For more information and volunteer sign-ups please contact Janis Barney or Kamaria Hines.

Be Well,

Pastors Hines

The Battle of Two Wills (continued)

Galatians 5:19-23

Romans 7:13-25

One obstacle of walking in the Divine Will of Christ is submitting to our flesh. We often hear this but what exactly does this mean? What is the "flesh" exactly? Galatians 5:17 says, "For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh." Then it goes on to list characteristics of the flesh. It is still possible to fall into the temptation of these acts once we become saved. The difference is before we were saved we practiced these things or did them habitually. Once we came to Christ we obtained God's Divine Will. This will comes with boundaries that were not present in our lives before. The characteristics of this will and of the Holy Spirit include, "...love, joy, peace, forbearance...", among others. These conflicting ideals create the battle of the two Wills. You have to begin to feed the spirit of God within you. You can begin to do this by studying the word of God, surrounding yourself with others who are attempting to walk in the same direction. It is a process and it isn't an easy one by any means but walking in the favor of God makes the process worth more than we can imagine.

Be Well,

Pastors Hines

Thought For The Week

Life is too short to waste time hating anyone

-Author Unknown

The Battle of Two Wills

Matthew 26:36-44

Romans 12:1-2

John 5:30

We often hear that God grants us a "free will" but what exactly does this mean? Does it mean that we are allowed to do as we please but ultimately remain in His plan? Does that even qualify as our own will? The Bible mentions that God has more than one plan, or will, for our lives; the Divine Will and the Permissive Will. The Permissive Will is what God allows when we push past what He has chosen us to do. Even when we push past we are still under the grace of God. However there are consequences ( i.e. the belly of the whale, going blind like Sampson, being excommunicated like Adam & Eve, etc.). Although His grace covers us in our Permissive Will, our impact and effectiveness in His kingdom is diminished because of the consequences. We end up creating our own Homemade trials. It goes without saying that the abundance of consequences and lack of benefits makes this path less than desirable. In the Divine Will, we fulfill our kingdom purpose and are able to impact so much more and so many more. Not to mention the perks ( i.e. blessings from God). If you are at a crossroad and don’t know what to do just stand still –do not be impatient. If you’re in the Permissive Will right now, like most of us, God’s grace is sufficient. Just submit and allow God to get back on track ( like he did for Jonah). Yes God gives us options, but when you look at the evidence, isn't the right choice pretty obvious?

Be Well,

Pastors Hines

Thought for the Week

Cherokee Parable of the Two Wolves

An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life…

“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.
“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

“One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed,
arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies,
false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.

“The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity,
humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth,
compassion, and faith.

“This same fight is going on inside you
and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute
and then asked his grandfather,
“Which wolf will win?”

The old chief simply replied,
“The one you feed.”

Does My Life Really Matter?

Exodus 35:1-9; 25:1-7

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself,"Does my life matter?" Have you ever wondered exactly why you are here? A parallel can be made between a field goal attempt in football and the significance of our lives. You would be hard pressed to determine a role in the pictured scenario that is more important. Yes, one may seem more glamorous but no role can be done without. Our lives are the same way. It takes each individual realizing that they are significant in their role and acting in that role for the whole group to be successful. When you consider giving up & quitting ask yourself who will be affected? No matter how you got here and under what circumstances God meant for you to be here. Everyone of us has God’s Seal of Approval. Consider the fact that we all arrived on this Earth the exact same way that Christ did. Isn't that amazing? Your purpose was so significant to God that he deemed us worthy enough to arrive the same way his only Son did. Three things to remember if you ever begin to doubt your importance are 1) You are significant to the "right" people, 2) You are significant to more than you realize, 3) You matter to your Father. In Exodus chapters 25 and 35 God shows us that no material was unworthy to adorn his tabernacle. He even called for goat hair, which may have seemed less precious than the other materials, to be used. You encounter people and situations on a daily basis that need just what you’ve got. Whether its your smile or a kind word- Give ‘em your goat hair!

Be well,

Pastors Hines

Power of Internalization – Improving your self-image

Genesis 1: 25-28

Most of our self-images begin to be formed long before we even realize it. Studies show that of Pre-kindergarten & Kindergarteners 80% have their self-esteem in tact. By the 5^th grade the number drops to 20% and by graduation it drops to 5%. For some this self image is damaged at home and for most of us the standards of American society are responsible. These pressure us to try to measure up to something that God didn’t intend for us to measure up to. These are the roots of inferiority complexes. When we feel that we do not measure up to the expectations of others or fall short in our own minds we can fall prey to "exaggerated visibility". We begin to act out in ways to get the attention and acceptance that we feel we would not get otherwise. This is a dangerous place to be. When one is desperate for validation, one often does not consider the consequences. The results can range from becoming trapped in bad relationships and situations to self harm.

However, the bright side is that according to 2 Corinthians 5: 17 "..if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away..." When you give everything up to Christ, including that damaged self-image, He can work in you and make you whole and content with what he has equipped you with specifically. Everyone is specifically made for a specific purpose in the kingdom of God. · The enemy knows that once you realize your potential and worth in Christ he knows there is nothing that can stop you. As long as he keeps reminding you of these “flaws” then he can keep you from being effective. Entrusting it all to Christ is the only way to gain peace.

Be well,

Pastors Hines

Delivering The Knockout Punch- The Boxing/Faith Analogy

Psalms 34:19

Luke 4:1-13
Deuteronomy 28 1-13

The Christian walk and boxing have a lot in common. In boxing one has to exercise a combination of faith and works along with determination and endurance in order to be successful. There are three things to remember when faced with difficulty: 1) Boxing, like faith, requires patience to endure, 2)Be touched by Jesus , and 3) that Faith is the "knockout punch".

Victory, in both cases, comes step by step. In boxing the training is three times as long as the fight itself. It can take months, even years before a boxer even sees a match. An example of this is David in the Bible. He unknowingly prepared for his fight with Goliath by fighting lions while he was still a shepherd boy. We will all come across afflictions in our lives but these afflictions produce glory in the end. The way we train before our blessing determines how easy it will be to obtain the blessing. Psalms 34:19 says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” – Once we realize this, the enemy will stop getting to us in those weak areas.

Being "touched" by Jesus means that once we come to Christ we are no longer a product of our environment. A touch from Him causes you to do, in faith, what you normally could not do and equips us to handle attacks from the enemy with his help. This touch allows us to a)have a walk of obedience, and b) throw steady consistent punches. These "punches" are simply confessing His promises to us (Deuteronomy 28 1-13).

Christ gives us a perfect model of what a fight with the enemy should look like in Luke 4:1-13. When faced with temptation and challenge by the enemy he deliver jab after jab in the form of the word of God. Take his example and wear your enemy down: Keep jabbing. This may not knock him out but you set him up for the knockout punch. Good consistent jabs do more damage that one strong punch.

Be well,

Pastors Hines

Pride Promotes Strife

James 4: 1-10
Where ever you are right now is where God has you and wants you to be. He wants to make you and give you victory in difficult times. Often we want to blame a situation or somebody else for where we are but God is in control. How we go through a situation determines how victorious we come out on the other side. When we are in opposition with someone, pride is the thing that causes us to strive with them. We feel we have to prove our point or make them agree with us. That going back and forth or arguing stems from pride. Pride is defined as: vanity, conceit can mean inordinate self-esteem. Pride may imply an exalted opinion of oneself often bolstered by a lower opinion of others. The opposite of pride is humility. Humility is agreeing with God and what His word says. Humility strengthens you. 1 Peter 5: 5-6 says, "In like manner, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder, Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility; for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble. "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time... Humility causes us to totally depend on God in every area. The next time strife enters your life, allow humility to take a high seat and watch the grace of God abound in your situation. Continue to walk in peace and enjoy all that God has for you.

Be well,
Pastor Hines

It's Not How You Start That Counts, But How You Finish

In 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27, Paul compares the Christian walk to a race. In some races one may have to walk or crawl in order to finish. The most important thing is to finish. It is interesting that in most track and field competitions, the short sprints have the most participants. Like anything you commit to you must have endurance. Sprint races do not require the amount of endurance that distance races do. In the chapter and verse mentioned above, there was an athletic competition that the Corinthians participated in that was equivalent to the Olympics. The highlight of the games was a great endurance race. Contestants had to endure 10 months of hard mandatory training in order to compete. Anyone who failed to complete the training was barred from the competition. The race we prepare for is the "calling of God." How we treat the call of God determines the crown or prize for service. We can't assume that we will automatically endure to the end of the race. We must continue to discipline ourselves to fight and follow the calling of God. There are 5 characteristics that must be a part of our life if we are going to endure to the end successfully and win the prize:
1. Have dedication to succeed no matter what
2. We must have a passion for the game
3. We must have a willingness to train
4. We must have relentless determination
5. We must have a burning desire for the prize

Our level of commitment determines our level of success. Be encouraged and we love you.

Pastor Hines