On August 8th, we'll be taking advantage of becoming a Christ follower by having baptism on the beach. We'll be having a cookout/baptism at Howard Futch Pavillion over on the beach from 4-7pm.
I get questions about baptism and what we believe and who should be and all that jazz. Does it do any good to baptize infants? Does that help? Where did it come from?
This Sunday, we'll clear a lot of this stuff up. You won't want to miss it.
Things to remember:
August 8th - John James, former lead singer of the Grammy award winning band "Newsboys", will be speaking in our worship service. John has a great testimony as God led Him, even in the midst of being submersed in Christian culture, to the REAL important things in His life.
That afternoon - Beach Baptism
August 15th - VISION begins...don't miss it!
Please continue to pray for us at Bay West Church as we continue to try to bring Christ to the people of Palm Bay by being a church in palm bay.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
One thing I forgot today about what is and isn't good...
One more thing that I forgot to say today about what makes a "good" life.
For most of the planet, "good life" means that you do most things right, and everything thinks you are a great person...but as I said today at church, a "good life" has very little to do with what people think of me and everything to do with what people think of God.
What that means is that even in my failures, I can live a "good life". As I live my life attempting to be honorable to God, I'm probably going to make some mistakes and fall. If I'm living the world's definition of a "good" life, then I'm done pretty much...game over. But if my life is truly about focusing everything I can to bring glory to Christ, I can still be living a "good life". I can take advantage of God's grace and bring glory to Him by showing others that God's grace is amazing.
When I ask for God's forgiveness, accept His grace and point to His healing, I can bring glory and praise to God's great love, grace and healing power....doesn't make me look too swift. I look flawed and imperfect...this is the place where people usually hide their failures, so they won't look bad. That's not God's plan. When we fail, we should not be reluctant to testify of where we failed and God showed up.
Like I said, that won't make us look too good, but that's not really the point is it. It's all about "what people think of God" after witnessing my life, not about how great they think I am...think about it.
Please continue to pray for us as we try to be the church of Jesus to the people of Palm Bay, Florida at Bay West Church.
For most of the planet, "good life" means that you do most things right, and everything thinks you are a great person...but as I said today at church, a "good life" has very little to do with what people think of me and everything to do with what people think of God.
What that means is that even in my failures, I can live a "good life". As I live my life attempting to be honorable to God, I'm probably going to make some mistakes and fall. If I'm living the world's definition of a "good" life, then I'm done pretty much...game over. But if my life is truly about focusing everything I can to bring glory to Christ, I can still be living a "good life". I can take advantage of God's grace and bring glory to Him by showing others that God's grace is amazing.
When I ask for God's forgiveness, accept His grace and point to His healing, I can bring glory and praise to God's great love, grace and healing power....doesn't make me look too swift. I look flawed and imperfect...this is the place where people usually hide their failures, so they won't look bad. That's not God's plan. When we fail, we should not be reluctant to testify of where we failed and God showed up.
Like I said, that won't make us look too good, but that's not really the point is it. It's all about "what people think of God" after witnessing my life, not about how great they think I am...think about it.
Please continue to pray for us as we try to be the church of Jesus to the people of Palm Bay, Florida at Bay West Church.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
For the city...
When we began to consider taking the Campus Pastor role for Bay West Church, going on 2 years ago, God really began to speak to me about some things. I became very disinterested in just being "another church" in a city. That's not a problem really, because every church needs to be who they are and what they are and collectively, the Lord works through His body (or bodies, if you think local churches). I'm cool with that, but for some reason, I became disinterested in it. Through the time, I felt that we at least needed to think on a little bit larger scale.
I shared with our Community Impact Team my vision for us in Palm Bay. How can we effect the city? What goodness can we bring to it? I believe that we've got to think a little larger than the boundaries of our meeting place. Then, as we discover this, how do we make unapologetically clear, without bragging or arrogance, that Christ is the reason for whatever the goodness is. Because He loves us, in gratitude to Him, we try to make Palm Bay a better place...securing more opportunities to point to His greatness.
I began to think...does this mean that we partner with civic organizations? Does this mean that we randomly give out kindness in small acts? Does this mean that we tackle a need and see if we can make a dent in it? Do we try to join with those who are looking to unite the church of God in a more citywide sense and really try to take on some of the problems in Palm Bay? Do we invest in other churches and church/campus starts? I believe the answer may be "yes" to all of them...but we must approach our opportunities with wisdom. I personally believe that if we lift up the name of Christ, He will draw all men to Him...in doing so, I don't think we'll have to "do a sales job", per se at all. It's also NOT about Bay West. We could flourish or fade, but our focus must remain constant. Our existence in not paramount, but our obedience is.
I heard a quote from Charles Stanley once that was particularly thought provoking. He was in a particular situation and was asked if he thought he'd "win". His response was something like this: If I win, I win. If I lose, I win. I'm just supposed to trust God to follow Him with my actions and trust Him for the outcome. As we look ahead, I'm trying to be as open to the Lord about what we need to do...I am very sensitive about saying things like "surely the Lord wouldn't have us..." because those statements are often made to find a reason to escape doing something that is too hard.
Personally, I believe in the power of Christ to change a heart, a city, a county, a state, a country and a world... I'd like to be a part of that...starting here in Palm Bay.
Please pray for our leadership here that as we look to find what God would have us do to follow Him. Whether we last 3 years or 30 years or 300 years, the direction that I feel the Lord leading is toward one that will make a lasting difference. Those directions usually lead to the necessary places, but the sobering part is found in realizing that the necessary places are not always the most risk-free places or the easiest or the most well-travelled ones. be ready.
I shared with our Community Impact Team my vision for us in Palm Bay. How can we effect the city? What goodness can we bring to it? I believe that we've got to think a little larger than the boundaries of our meeting place. Then, as we discover this, how do we make unapologetically clear, without bragging or arrogance, that Christ is the reason for whatever the goodness is. Because He loves us, in gratitude to Him, we try to make Palm Bay a better place...securing more opportunities to point to His greatness.
I began to think...does this mean that we partner with civic organizations? Does this mean that we randomly give out kindness in small acts? Does this mean that we tackle a need and see if we can make a dent in it? Do we try to join with those who are looking to unite the church of God in a more citywide sense and really try to take on some of the problems in Palm Bay? Do we invest in other churches and church/campus starts? I believe the answer may be "yes" to all of them...but we must approach our opportunities with wisdom. I personally believe that if we lift up the name of Christ, He will draw all men to Him...in doing so, I don't think we'll have to "do a sales job", per se at all. It's also NOT about Bay West. We could flourish or fade, but our focus must remain constant. Our existence in not paramount, but our obedience is.
I heard a quote from Charles Stanley once that was particularly thought provoking. He was in a particular situation and was asked if he thought he'd "win". His response was something like this: If I win, I win. If I lose, I win. I'm just supposed to trust God to follow Him with my actions and trust Him for the outcome. As we look ahead, I'm trying to be as open to the Lord about what we need to do...I am very sensitive about saying things like "surely the Lord wouldn't have us..." because those statements are often made to find a reason to escape doing something that is too hard.
Personally, I believe in the power of Christ to change a heart, a city, a county, a state, a country and a world... I'd like to be a part of that...starting here in Palm Bay.
Please pray for our leadership here that as we look to find what God would have us do to follow Him. Whether we last 3 years or 30 years or 300 years, the direction that I feel the Lord leading is toward one that will make a lasting difference. Those directions usually lead to the necessary places, but the sobering part is found in realizing that the necessary places are not always the most risk-free places or the easiest or the most well-travelled ones. be ready.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)