Oh my

Invisible Children

DropSend | Email large files easily and securely

DropSend | Email large files easily and securely

buidlings for community building article

Many today call not for churches without buildings nor for traditional church buildings, but for church
buildings that serve as ‘proximity space’ in which believers can meet, live with, and know their neighbors.
See Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21
Century Church (Hendrickson, 2003.)

lifted from: redeemer

The A-Team Blog :: Interview With Glenn Lucke - Part Two: Is Evidence Valuable When Telling Others About Christ?

evans group.... did you already tell me about this? Guy who is putting pratt's kingdom stuff into a 5 part narrative?????
The A-Team Blog :: Interview With Glenn Lucke - Part Two: Is Evidence Valuable When Telling Others About Christ?

incarnational evangelism

We do not follow in the footsteps of Jesus if
we develop a ghetto mentality, if we withdraw
from the world into our evangelical
monasteries (though we do not call them
that, and they have no walls)... What we
are called to is not “arm’s length evangelism,”
but “incarnational evangelism.”
This means that we have to listen before
we speak, for, “if one gives answer before
he hears, it is his folly and shame”
(Proverbs 18:13). We have to struggle to
enter the other person’s thought world,
however alien it may be to our own... We
have to respect his integrity as a person,
and his convictions, however contrary they
may seem to us to be. In a word, we must
feel the pain of his alienation and weep
the tears of his lostness, just as
Jesus wept over the blind folly
of Jerusalem’s impenitence.

quote 2: There was no aloofness about Jesus. He
never kept his distance, even from sinners.
He did not share the Pharisees’ false fear
of contamination. He fraternized with
dropouts and was criticized for it. “This
man receives sinners and eats with them,”
people scoffed. “Friend of swindlers and
sinners, that’s what he is,” they sneered.
They hoped to ruin his reputation by this
whispering campaign, but they succeeded
only in enhancing it. The nickname they
thought dishonorable was one of supreme
honor. If Jesus were not the friend of sinners,
he could be no friend of mine—or
yours. So he touched untouchable lepers
and allowed prostitutes to touch him. He
shrank from nobody. He offered friendship,
understanding, acceptance, love.
--both of these are from John Stott's essay: "The LORD Christ is a Missionary Christ"

Background on Athens & Acts 17

In Athens Paul found himself surrounded by people who did not share his
deepest convictions. And there was much in Athens to assault a Christian’s sensibilities.
-dennis haack

Sin is offensive, but if any barrier
occurs in our interaction with unbelievers,
it should be the offense of the cross, not
our being offended by sinners who act naturally,
which is to say, sinfully. By God’s
grace may we grow so that our “distress” over a lost world causes us, like Paul in
Athens, to identify points of contact and
agreement in the surrounding culture for
the sake of the gospel. Allowing the offensiveness
of sin to deter us from finding a
creative opening for the gospel is a luxury
we simply can not afford. If we invest emotional
energy in being offended at sin, may
it be over our own. --haack

info meeting(s)

Dear People of Christ Community

There will be two meetings to "kick off the year" to help us get on the same page as 2006 starts.

The first meeting will be THIS coming Sunday (January 15th) 9:05am in the Theatre at Oak Hall.

Rebecca Schackow has arranged it so that there is childcare for ages 4 and below; those children 5+ will need to be in the theatre,
as we cannot let them play outside unattended.

We'll meet from 9:05 'til 9:45am when we'll take a brief break before worship begins at 10:00am.

The second meeting will be next Friday (January 20th) 7:00-8:00pm at Hope Church.

If you are out of town January 15th and cannot attend, we will have the same meeting on Friday night, January 20th at Hope Church.
(there will be NO childcare for this meeting at Hope Church on Jan.20th, but your children are always welcome in any meeting I am leading).

There is the same agenda for both meetings. Here it is:

1.) Brief review of 2005
2.) Goals for early 2006
a. Second Pastoral staff
b. Facilities (max current & steady progress towards building)
c. Importance of 9:00am hour
d. New effort to be seated in theater at 10:00am and why.
3.) Budget distributed and overviewed
4.) Elders

I look forward to seeing you in the theater at 9:05am Sunday. Also, please remember to check in weekly at www.robpendley.blogspot.com and
www.christcommunitychurch.com these sites are updated regularly for your connectedness & growth in mind.

Rob

Lead me to the cross... a puritan prayer

Lead me to the cross

(A Puritan Prayer)

O Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on me. Move, I beg You, upon my
disordered heart. Take away the infirmities of
unruly desires and hateful lusts. Lift the mists
and darkness of unbelief. Brighten my soul with
the pure light of truth. Make my soul . . .
as fragrant as the garden of paradise,
rich with every goodly fruit,
beautiful with heavenly grace,
radiant with rays of divine light.

Be my comforter, light, guide, sanctifier.

Take of the things of Christ and show them
to my soul. Teach me more of His . . .
love,
grace,
compassion,
faithfulness,
beauty.

Lead me to the cross and show me . . .
His wounds,
the hateful nature of sin,
the power of Satan.

May I there see my sins as . . .
the nails which transfixed Him,
the cords which bound Him,
the thorns which tore Him,
the sword which pierced Him.

Help me to see in His death, the reality
and immensity of His love. Increase my
faith in the clear knowledge of . . .
atonement achieved,
expiation completed,
satisfaction for sin made,
guilt done away.