Well, of course, we could not gather together for worship yesterday, but we are still the church, and we can worship from where ever we may find ourselves. I will share what me and my family did:
1st: We ate breakfast and then we worshiped. We dug into Exodus 3-4 and I shared how that Moses didn’t believe he could be used by God, but even in spite of Moses weaknesses, God still chose to use him. Liam read, I explained/preached, Ava asked questions, Madelyn listened, Koen ran in circles, then Ava joined him, so it did not last long.
2nd: We went outside, enjoyed the snow, went sledding, threw snowballs.
3rd: We hung out with our neighbors, shoveled snow, talked, ate, and talked more. We love our neighbors, we strive to get to know them, to not only share the Gospel, but to live it out. We also desire to truly know them as well. I hope, if you are reading this, you see the point here. I am not bragging, but encouraging you, that you do not need to take a missions trip overseas to be on mission!!! Nothing drives me more nuts than those who take overseas missions trips, yet never share Christ with their neighbors, much less even know their names! Ok, you get the point.
4th: We took time to rest! This is so important. We always rest on Sunday’s, but we definitely took advantage of rest this past weekend. When the world around us gets shut down, we should rest. We do not always need to be on the go, although that seems to define most of us. AND we should and do work hard, so when there is a chance to stop, we should and REST!
5th: We were grateful for the time we have had and for how that God takes care of us, His Holy Spirit comforts and guides us, and how that Jesus has given us a life worth living and a hope that keeps us going!
We missed seeing our Church family, but we enjoyed our time. We will hopefully gather this coming Sunday, our parking lot still has to be plowed and the sidewalks shoveled. Tim cannot hold Impact tonight, but prayerfully and hopefully we will get back int0 the swing of things by the end of this week. Keep praying, Stay in the WORD, and keep reflecting the Image of Christ.
Go check out this blog Chad wrote, as well! http://imagechurch.wordpress.com/
We always love to gather the church in worship, and we especially love the 1st Sunday of the month – Communion! BUT, not sure what to expect for this Sunday’s gathering. The weather forecast looks pretty rough, so we may be worshiping with our families at home. Check the website on Saturday night before you go to bed, we will post the plan for Sunday on the homepage. Stay warm, be safe, take some time to rest, stay in the WORD and keep praying!!!
This will be the final “Check this out” blog for this week. I want to direct you to a couple of guys who are in leadership here @ImageChurch. These guys love Jesus, their wives, their kids, the Church, the WORD, and they lead well. I hope their blogs encourage you as they have encouraged me…
I listen to several different podcast throughout the year, but one of them definitely stands out. I have been so encouraged by the preaching of Matt Chanlder, pastor of The Villiage Church. He is only 35, but preaches with great, Biblical maturity. His message is simple… all Bible, all Gospel! This past year his life took a great turn, so today I lead you to read what the world wrote about Matt Chandler…
Brain Cancer tests a young pastor’s faith… http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35086396/ns/health-cancer/
This week I will be doing something I don’t normally do, and this will not become a habit, but I believe it will be beneficial. I want to direct those of you that hit my blog, to hit another blog, SO, for the next few days when you stop by Imagine this… I will have a very encouraging, edifying, and uplifting link for you to click and read. Enjoy!
Today’s link will take you to our Image Elders blog, ethos. Brian Shifflett, worship pastor at Image Church, has written a very inspiring blog on worship. He handles the passage from Romans very well, here it the link:
1st: Russ Perkin, our Elder over Community, opened us up on a very inspiring note by reading Psalm 54!
2nd: The Snow did not stop us or the Holy Spirit, it was a very exciting and surprising Sunday…
3rd: Brian and the Image Band lead us into a very energetic, and Spirit filled time of Singing to our King, the place was definitely vertically focused!!! By the way check our Brian’s blog article on worship here: ethos
4th: We went right from singing “Everlasting God” into preaching about the EVERLASTING GOD and His everlasting gifts that we have the privilege of giving back to HIM!
5th: Had a chance to meet some first time guests, who braved it out on an icy morning, it was also good to see some friends from Pillar Church! Always great having other local churches, around, that preach the Gospel – good to have you. [Pillar and other local churches had to cancel today because they meet in rented facilities and schools]
6th: I realize some of you couldn’t make it today because of the weather, and we all understand. I prayed for you and want you to know that it is okay. You can catch the sermon online some time this week.
7th: We were a little down, but 254 still gathered for worship, praise Jesus for the time HE gave us this morning!
Well that’s it, keep reflecting Jesus by: giving freely and generously, by giving sacrificially, and by giving cheerfully!
We are concluding our series on money with, “How We GIVE It”. We will be digging into this…
2 Corinthians 8:1-5
We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. [ESV]
See you Sunday at 9:29 or 11:09 and don’t forget that the 9:29 gathering has a few extra seats, so get up early if you can!!!
Part 2
Mark 10:17-22
And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. [ESV]
The way money can USE us: It can lead us to a fake sense of security and independence
The way we can USE money:
Matthew 6:33 – But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. [ESV]
[below taken from JerryGillis.com "The Simple Life]
1] Develop a habit of giving things away
2] Buy things for their usefulness, not their status
3] Reject anything that develops an addiction in you
4] Learn to enjoy things without owning them
5] Don’t incur excessive, or unnecessary, debt
Imagine this…
Imagine using our stuff for the mission,
rather than our stuff being a distraction from the mission
1st: Met four new families today… love all the guest that keep showing up!
2nd: The media guys were on the ball today, loved the video clips we used for worship and for driving home the point of who or what our KING is!!!
3rd: Holy Spirit was definitely using our guys as they lead us into worship through music… one of the best worship sets I have experienced!!! Extremely vertical!
4th: We gathered 311 people today, and the gatherings were pretty balanced… for the 1st time we had about the same in each gathering, this is a very good thing!
5th: We had more people expressing a desire to go through Image 101: Church Membership… we will be adding even more people to our church come February 7!!!
6th: I-KIDS had another great week as well… there were kids all over the place, in case you didn’t notice, our church loves kids!
7th: Praise God for another great Sunday of Worship, now lets lead lives of worship.
Plug into a P.O.D. this week and keep reflecting Jesus!!!
WEEK 2 OF OUR CURRENT SERIES ON MONEY… HOW WE USE IT…
We will be digging into Mark 10 and seeing how our stuff can go from using us to us using it for the Kingdom, so don’t miss this exciting SUNDAY @ImageChurch.
We have 2 worship gatherings: 9:29 or 11:09 [currently there are more seats available in the 1st gathering!]
