Wow, what it must be like to work in retail… especially a department store… especially the day after Christmas! From handling the last minute shopper on Christmas Eve to welcoming the discouraged shopper after Christmas waiting in long lines to return that “perfect” gift that wasn’t quite so perfect.
Have you ever felt like you wanted to return YOU? I mean, have you ever wished you could trade yourself in for a better version of you? I think we’ve all felt that at one time or another. Most of the time it centers around beliefs we have about ourselves. We don’t feel that we quite measure up, or we don’t feel quite up to the tasks or challenges that are in our lives, or perhaps we just want an upgrade. Whatever it is, it’s important to know when God created you, he didn’t save the receipt “just in case” you didn’t work out! No, on the contrary! He created the perfect YOU the first time around. And as my mom used to say as we were growing up, “GOD DON’T MAKE NO JUNK!”
At Celebrate, we spent the past month trying to shape, or reshape, our focus on Letting Christmas Be Christmas. Reminding us that Christmas is about Christ… yet it is also about us. Not only changing our view of Christ but also of ourselves. Sometimes my kids will use our computer to take funny pictures of themselves. There is a way you can take a photo using special software that distorts the image. Make your head long and warped, short and fat, one eye higher than the other, it reminds me of going to carnivals and walking past one of those fun house mirrors that would make your body look all sorts of shapes. In life, most often when we look at ourselves what we see is a distorted image of ourselves. Because we have all grown up with imperfect people around us and with ourselves being imperfect, often the image of our life is distorted. And it is definitely not the perfect image that God sees… the person that He created… beautifully and wonderfully made!
What does God say about you? The Bible encourages us to know the truth. Why? Because the truth brings us freedom. It is the truth that sets us free from our hurts and hang-ups. So don’t be so quick to return YOU and give up on God.
There is a passage of Scriptural truths in the Bible that I encourage you to read located in 1 Peter 2:4-10. The Apostle Peter was writing to people who were discouraged, who were taking some heavy hits on their esteem. They were being ridiculed, imprisoned, and executed! They were having a tough time in life under the rule of the Roman Empire.
Look in verses 9 & 10, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy!”
Wow! I hope you will see and receive what God says about if you are a believer in Jesus Christ. READ, REMEMBER AND KEEP RECITING these truths of God’s Word…
“You are a chosen people…”
“You are a people belonging to God…”
“You are living stones…”
“You are a royal priest and a holy people…”
“You are now recipients of mercy…”
“All these titles of God’s people now belong to you….”
As I end this blog on this day after Christmas, my heart is that you would be reminded that if you are trusting in Christ, then you are a member of God’s family, you are acceptable… you are valuable… you are capable… you are competent… you are forgiven!
This holiday season, let’s make sure the only items we return are those not-so-perfect Christmas Gifts, and thank God for the perfect person he created us to be!
Joe
Friday, December 26, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
EXTRA! EXTRA!
Today I received Good News. My daughter had a spot on her eye, and an optometrist recommended that we take her to an ophthalmologist because it went beyond their expertise. It is moments like those when you can be consumed with fear and just filled with anxiousness to get to the specialist, and all you long for is good news. To keep it short, that is exactly what we received...good news. We left the doctor's office smiling, and in peace that it was not what our minds were trying to tell us it might be. What was it like in the field that night when the Angels busted open the heavens to bring news to a few shepherd that the answer to their lives and to the entire world was being born?
There was a time in our history when young boys and men would stand at the intersections of city street corners and shout, "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" It was used to draw people's attention to the latest news -- some of it good news and some of it troubling news. It was thousands of years ago when the divine made a whole earthly proclamation. This announcement was GOOD NEWS! The news was centered around God's desire to be part of man's daily life, connecting the Creator God to His most prize creation...humanity. Up to this point, before the divine announcement of Christ being born and of God bursting on the scene, the heavens were silent. Why the announcement? What would provoke God to become human and be born in such a messed up environment? God's design and reason was focused on communicating, "I love you -- it is you I love." He was saying back then, and it's still true today, that His love isn't based on what you do. His love is based on who He is. His intrusion into humanity was to serve as "Good News to all people" by proclaiming "Your Savior is Born" and "He will bring peace and restoration to all people." I hope you will not leave this gift wrapped up but that you will instead unwrap the greatest Gift God has given you.
To all Christ followers, this is the time when people are open to go to Church more than any other time on the calendar year outside of Easter. Amazingly, both times are centered around Jesus Christ. Let me encourage you to find a Christmas Eve service. Invite friends to join you who have discovered the reason for the birth of Jesus and share that moment with them. If you live in the Orlando area, stop by the Omni this Wednesday, December 24th, and spend some time with family and friends to hear why this is more than just a baby in a manger; it is God's message of love to you and to the world. We have an opportunity so let's make the most of this time. Go to our website at www.celebratechurch.org.
May this be your most memorabel Christmas ever as you discovery God's amazing love for you and you experience His gift to you...Jesus Christ.
There was a time in our history when young boys and men would stand at the intersections of city street corners and shout, "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" It was used to draw people's attention to the latest news -- some of it good news and some of it troubling news. It was thousands of years ago when the divine made a whole earthly proclamation. This announcement was GOOD NEWS! The news was centered around God's desire to be part of man's daily life, connecting the Creator God to His most prize creation...humanity. Up to this point, before the divine announcement of Christ being born and of God bursting on the scene, the heavens were silent. Why the announcement? What would provoke God to become human and be born in such a messed up environment? God's design and reason was focused on communicating, "I love you -- it is you I love." He was saying back then, and it's still true today, that His love isn't based on what you do. His love is based on who He is. His intrusion into humanity was to serve as "Good News to all people" by proclaiming "Your Savior is Born" and "He will bring peace and restoration to all people." I hope you will not leave this gift wrapped up but that you will instead unwrap the greatest Gift God has given you.
To all Christ followers, this is the time when people are open to go to Church more than any other time on the calendar year outside of Easter. Amazingly, both times are centered around Jesus Christ. Let me encourage you to find a Christmas Eve service. Invite friends to join you who have discovered the reason for the birth of Jesus and share that moment with them. If you live in the Orlando area, stop by the Omni this Wednesday, December 24th, and spend some time with family and friends to hear why this is more than just a baby in a manger; it is God's message of love to you and to the world. We have an opportunity so let's make the most of this time. Go to our website at www.celebratechurch.org.
May this be your most memorabel Christmas ever as you discovery God's amazing love for you and you experience His gift to you...Jesus Christ.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Let's Celebrate
I want to thank you for taking the time to read these Christmas thoughts. I have discovered several facts along life’s journey: People long for community and God’s designed all of us to live in a loving community, a community centered around values of trust, hope, love, and vision. God wants us to do more than just get by. He wants us to celebrate His life and follow Christ together. We will be celebrating together this coming Sunday and then we'll come back together again on Christmas Eve at the Omni to consider the impact of His birth.
We are doing a service that is not just for us. This series, "Let It Be Christmas," and our Christmas Eve service allows us as a community of Christ followers to reach out and offer to the community a Christmas experience where the story of the birth of Christ unfolds in a marvelous way. It will be another dynamic presentation, and it is why we have made thousands of advertisement cards, letters, emails, and full newspaper ads, and it is why we are making room for more and more and more. We want you to know there is a place this Christmas season to bring family, friends and neighbors to come and hear the story about the birth of Jesus Christ. I am taking time in this week's blog and e-letter to communicate the importance of inviting family and friends. It is one of those times of the year where people are really open to hearing about Christ and venturing off to church.
This is also a time where Carol and I will be making our Christmas offering above and beyond our normal giving. Every year for the past 4 years during Christmas at Celebrate, we offer a gift above and beyond to the work of Jesus Christ to honor Him on the day we celebrate His birth and His arrival to the world. And so I invite you this weekend and this Christmas Eve to make a wonderful gift to the Christ child.
As a spiritual community of Christ followers, we are not here to do church or play games, we are here to celebrate that God came into this world in His son Jesus Christ, and that changed everything.
We are doing a service that is not just for us. This series, "Let It Be Christmas," and our Christmas Eve service allows us as a community of Christ followers to reach out and offer to the community a Christmas experience where the story of the birth of Christ unfolds in a marvelous way. It will be another dynamic presentation, and it is why we have made thousands of advertisement cards, letters, emails, and full newspaper ads, and it is why we are making room for more and more and more. We want you to know there is a place this Christmas season to bring family, friends and neighbors to come and hear the story about the birth of Jesus Christ. I am taking time in this week's blog and e-letter to communicate the importance of inviting family and friends. It is one of those times of the year where people are really open to hearing about Christ and venturing off to church.
This is also a time where Carol and I will be making our Christmas offering above and beyond our normal giving. Every year for the past 4 years during Christmas at Celebrate, we offer a gift above and beyond to the work of Jesus Christ to honor Him on the day we celebrate His birth and His arrival to the world. And so I invite you this weekend and this Christmas Eve to make a wonderful gift to the Christ child.
As a spiritual community of Christ followers, we are not here to do church or play games, we are here to celebrate that God came into this world in His son Jesus Christ, and that changed everything.
Friday, December 12, 2008
A Strong Team Spirit
I first began to understand the importance of TEAM as an athlete and as a coach. I just finished reading an incredible magazine which highlighted a study of the 100 largest and fastest growing churches in the United States. A common denominator revealed in each of these strong churches was a strong team spirit.
The body of Christ functions as a team ministry. Romans 12:4-5 says, “Just as there are many parts to our bodies, likewise there are many parts to Christ’s Body.” God designed it so that we all need each other to have a effective church. Everyone plays an important role. The very fact that the church is a body and not a business means that teamwork is a vital component to accomplishing God’s ministry to humanity.
It takes everyone with different abilities, financial status, married, single, young, old, personalities, and backgrounds. A major step toward a strong team spirit is for each of us to admit we need a team fulfill what God has called us as a church to do.
The success of Celebrate is not about personalities, or programs. The success of Celebrate is really about the many people who work together and give together toward a common goal! No doubt vision must be given and shared but it takes teamwork to make God’s dream work.
All throughout Scripture, we see that when there are more hands working and giving, more is accomplished. Mutual encouragement is vital to Celebrate because we’re not just working to accomplish well-meaning projects: we are in a spiritual battle -- carrying the most important message the lost world will ever hear! The devil wants to halt us and slow us down, and one of his favorite tools is discouragement. That’s why we need a team working together.
During this Christmas season, a strong team spirit is more important than ever. Let’s come together as a church family and lift each other up, play our important roles, and make a difference in people’s lives… after all, that’s what Christmas is all about!
Joe
The body of Christ functions as a team ministry. Romans 12:4-5 says, “Just as there are many parts to our bodies, likewise there are many parts to Christ’s Body.” God designed it so that we all need each other to have a effective church. Everyone plays an important role. The very fact that the church is a body and not a business means that teamwork is a vital component to accomplishing God’s ministry to humanity.
It takes everyone with different abilities, financial status, married, single, young, old, personalities, and backgrounds. A major step toward a strong team spirit is for each of us to admit we need a team fulfill what God has called us as a church to do.
The success of Celebrate is not about personalities, or programs. The success of Celebrate is really about the many people who work together and give together toward a common goal! No doubt vision must be given and shared but it takes teamwork to make God’s dream work.
All throughout Scripture, we see that when there are more hands working and giving, more is accomplished. Mutual encouragement is vital to Celebrate because we’re not just working to accomplish well-meaning projects: we are in a spiritual battle -- carrying the most important message the lost world will ever hear! The devil wants to halt us and slow us down, and one of his favorite tools is discouragement. That’s why we need a team working together.
During this Christmas season, a strong team spirit is more important than ever. Let’s come together as a church family and lift each other up, play our important roles, and make a difference in people’s lives… after all, that’s what Christmas is all about!
Joe
Monday, December 8, 2008
Your Christmas Gift
What is the message of Christmas? If I can summarize it in a few short words, the message of Christmas is YOU MATTER TO GOD. You really do. You matter to God so much that He sent Jesus Christ to earth to let you know how much you matter to Him. That is the whole message of Christmas.
Over the next several weeks, there will be one word that will dominate your vocabulary. The most-used word during this season of the year is the word “gift”. You will be frantically searching for the right gifts and trying to get them at the right price, but where did all this gift giving begin? The tradition of gift giving began because God gave you a special gift at the very first Christmas. God has a gift for you, and His gift to you is Jesus Christ.
Inside the gift of Christ you will find many other gifts. This passage of Scripture from the Bible shows us that we will have the gifts that we all desire through the one gift of Jesus Christ: The angel said, "Don't be afraid! I bring you the most joyful news ever announced, and it is for everyone! Today your Savior was born... He is Christ, the Lord ... Give glory to God in heaven, and on earth let there be peace among the people who please God." Luke 2:10-11, 14
The gift of JOY - I bring you the most joyful news ever announced
The gift of HOPE - Today your Savior was born
The gift of PEACE - Let there be peace among the people
Joy is based on promises made by God… Hope is anchored in unshakeable truths that do not change … Peace with God and peace with yourself results in harmony with others.
Let’s invite people to hear about this gift by inviting them to be at church with you. Pray that they will unwrap this special gift - Christ.
Over the next several weeks, there will be one word that will dominate your vocabulary. The most-used word during this season of the year is the word “gift”. You will be frantically searching for the right gifts and trying to get them at the right price, but where did all this gift giving begin? The tradition of gift giving began because God gave you a special gift at the very first Christmas. God has a gift for you, and His gift to you is Jesus Christ.
Inside the gift of Christ you will find many other gifts. This passage of Scripture from the Bible shows us that we will have the gifts that we all desire through the one gift of Jesus Christ: The angel said, "Don't be afraid! I bring you the most joyful news ever announced, and it is for everyone! Today your Savior was born... He is Christ, the Lord ... Give glory to God in heaven, and on earth let there be peace among the people who please God." Luke 2:10-11, 14
The gift of JOY - I bring you the most joyful news ever announced
The gift of HOPE - Today your Savior was born
The gift of PEACE - Let there be peace among the people
Joy is based on promises made by God… Hope is anchored in unshakeable truths that do not change … Peace with God and peace with yourself results in harmony with others.
Let’s invite people to hear about this gift by inviting them to be at church with you. Pray that they will unwrap this special gift - Christ.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
What an Opportunity
We all want our lives to count. Regardless of our age, we don’t want to just simply exist. We have an opportunity to invest our lives into things that are really important. Knowing that lives are changing and will continue to change as people of all ages discover Christ is exciting. God does not want us wasting our lives with “when and then” thinking by believing that “when” this happens “then” we will really start having fun and living life. Allow me to encourage and challenge you to do something for God that really matters.
Doing something for God’s kingdom and His cause is a guarantee of no regrets. When you get to the end of life and look back, the only thing that will matter is whether you accomplished God’s purposes for your life. Jesus told the twelve that followed Him, “I must be about my Father’s business.” If we all had that focus and concentration in our lives, there is no telling what God would accomplish in the world.
I find that people are paralyzed by the fear that they may go through life not accomplishing anything that has significance and value. All of us want our lives to count.
Many call Celebrate home and many more visit Celebrate’s website. We are always hearing from you and it is encouraging. I challenged our Celebrate family two weeks ago to pray and commit to a year-end gift. Our goal is to reach $290,000. This gift would go toward the remaining balance for the land we have contracted with Disney to purchase. (By the way, this land will house the first phase building of Celebrate Church, and we are currently going through the due diligence process to see that first phase completed by December 2010.)
The year-end gift would also help to furnish our newest campus location where ongoing life-changing ministry takes place including the weekly gatherings and meetings of our young adult community and the Celebrate Recovery ministry. If you were at Celebrate or if you happened to listen to our Podcast two weeks ago, you heard from those who have experienced the kind of life change that only Jesus Christ can give. Of course there are so many more stories I would love for you to hear, and if you hang around Celebrate long enough, you will personally witness hundreds of lives discovering Christ.
What a way to make our lives count by investing in His Kingdom and His Cause. Thank you for hearing my heart for people. People matter to God and they matter to us.
Doing something for God’s kingdom and His cause is a guarantee of no regrets. When you get to the end of life and look back, the only thing that will matter is whether you accomplished God’s purposes for your life. Jesus told the twelve that followed Him, “I must be about my Father’s business.” If we all had that focus and concentration in our lives, there is no telling what God would accomplish in the world.
I find that people are paralyzed by the fear that they may go through life not accomplishing anything that has significance and value. All of us want our lives to count.
Many call Celebrate home and many more visit Celebrate’s website. We are always hearing from you and it is encouraging. I challenged our Celebrate family two weeks ago to pray and commit to a year-end gift. Our goal is to reach $290,000. This gift would go toward the remaining balance for the land we have contracted with Disney to purchase. (By the way, this land will house the first phase building of Celebrate Church, and we are currently going through the due diligence process to see that first phase completed by December 2010.)
The year-end gift would also help to furnish our newest campus location where ongoing life-changing ministry takes place including the weekly gatherings and meetings of our young adult community and the Celebrate Recovery ministry. If you were at Celebrate or if you happened to listen to our Podcast two weeks ago, you heard from those who have experienced the kind of life change that only Jesus Christ can give. Of course there are so many more stories I would love for you to hear, and if you hang around Celebrate long enough, you will personally witness hundreds of lives discovering Christ.
What a way to make our lives count by investing in His Kingdom and His Cause. Thank you for hearing my heart for people. People matter to God and they matter to us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
