It's Not Complicated

Over the past few weeks we’ve seen the results of the continued decay of the value and authority of God’s word – the Bible – in our culture.  What’s sad is that this decay is coming from within the church.  This decay is happening on the watch of the very people who have given their lives to God.  This decay is happening at the hands of people who have claimed a call on their lives to work for God.

As Christ Church continues to grow and develop it should be known that we view the Bible – God’s Word – the Holy Scriptures as the highest and final authority for faith and life.  We express our belief in the Word of God as God’s words to us, for all generations past and present. 

At Christ Church we will seek to study God’s word with proper study methods:  understanding the culture, context, themes, norms, and values as written and presented.  We will adjust our values and life to align with God’s word as best we understand it and accurately pursue it.   

When we encounter passages that are hard to hear, we will seek to examine our hearts and not soften the message.  When we encounter passages that challenge our living, beliefs, or upbringing, we will first examine our spirits and personal decisions and not recalibrate God’s word to fit our life.  At Christ Church you can expect a conservative teaching of God’s word but in a relevant, meaningful, and common manner.

What’s great about God’s word is that it’s clear.*  It only becomes complicated when we don’t like what it says about the way we are living our lives.  We need to be reminded that this is God’s message to messy broken people inviting them to live with, dine with, and walk with a Holy God.  After we accept that invitation, we adjust our lives to Him. God is patient and helpful; he’s there for us.

God help us to accurately and passionately hold on to God’s Holy Word for us!  It is a revelation of his heart to ours that draws us to him.  This is our message.

• Remember Christ Church now meets on Sunday mornings at 10am at Fairview Middle School
• If you have a question or concern, please contact us at:  ccwestco@gmail.com.

Church Should Be Simple:  Love God and Love People,

Ben

 

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*There are passages that are confusing or leave us scratching our heads.  But these generally relate to specific cultural nuances or original [Hebrew/Greek] translation issues – have you ever had a friend from a foreign country, yeah, you understand how some things just don’t translate well.  These sayings or passages NEVER deviate from the overall message, theme, or common thread of the Scriptures.  They cause us to dig deeper in understanding and in the end enhance the message God is giving.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall ...

I just read this post from a friend serving overseas.  I thought I'd share it as a guest post today. From Dr. David Aderholdt working in Macedonia and eastern Asia.  Enjoy. 

Dear Friends and Family

Let me tell you something, if you don't press a button for a floor other than the one you start on, the elevator won't move!  I found this out this morning when I had to wait three rounds of people who kept showing up while I was waiting for the elevator.  And since it is so small, I am the only one that can fit in there when I have my bicycle with me and I did.  Finally I got one that was empty and no one was waiting, and so I raise the bike up on it's rear wheel and roll it into the elevator.  Press one and then start admiring myself in the mirror that covers the rear wall of the small elevator (I have noticed that Asians are extremely mirror focused and they are examining their looks constantly, guess I am starting too as well).  When my internal clock notified me that I should have arrived at the 12th floor by now, I looked up at the digital readout and saw that I was not moving and that I was still on the 1st floor.  Thank God no one came and pressed the button for the elevator or they would have found me there standing there, holding my bike, admiring myself in the mirror!

I think we often live out our spiritual lives like this too.  We expect progress without taking the necessary steps toward maturity.  We expect sin to lose it's appeal, and we expect our embrace of all things spiritual to happen naturally and without effort or thinking or care or steps . . . you may soon wake up and find yourself on the same level you started out on.

Just a Little Peace

Peace of mind, peace of heart, peace between siblings, peace between spouses, peace in families, just a little peace can be quite elusive.  At times, we can’t seem to find peace anywhere.  Strife, frustration, fighting … those we can easily find.

When our relationship with God is RESTORED, there is a peace that enters our spirit.  When we live in harmony with God, that peace begins to resonate to the rest of our lives.  We may not be able to immediately have peace in all our other relationships or areas of life and they may not be consistently peaceful, but we have the opportunity and power from within to live in and bring peace.

Ephesians 2:14-18:  ¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, … His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. ¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

On Sunday we will continue our series “RESTORED” as we understand the mission of the church and God’s desire to restore relationships with him and help us find peace.

You can join us on Sunday at 10:00 am at Fairview Middle School, and for at least 65 minutes find a little peace.

Church Should Be Simple:  Love God and Love People!

-Ben

Bring Your Muddy Boots

...even when ...
It was those words that jumped out at me this morning as I was reading through Ephesians 2. 

"because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions —it is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:4-5)   

One of the values of Christ Church is that we understand that life is messy and we're ok with that.  We want people to understand that they don't have to clean their boots before they come to church ... they don't have to clean up their lives in order for Christ to reach them.  Dirty boots means that we're real people living in a real world.

I've been reminded of this time and again over the past few weeks and I just wanted to restate it for our benefit as a church and for those checking us out.  Remember that we can never clean up enough to be accepted by Christ.  He accepts us right where we are and under his terms and conditions begins to clean us up.  He does the work. 

Because of his love for us ... not because of how clean we are/were, God made us alive!

I don't know how many of you feel dead in your spirits.  But God's work is that of the living.  His work is one of restoration. 

This Sunday at 10:00am Christ Church moves to the Fairview Middle School (on Rt.98, just south of Rt. 20) and we will continue to explore this idea of restoration.

You are welcome to come at 10:00am, muddy boots and all!

Church Should Be Simple:  Love God and Love People!
-Ben
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If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact us via email:  ccwestco@gmail.com.

Christ Church Moves after First Week

What a great Sunday morning worship time we had.  It was so good to see our leadership team gather together on a Sunday morning and worship together.  It was good to have some guests as well.

I’ve never been to a House Church worship time, but I would have to say that this was pretty awesome.  Our worship team did a great job, people were engaged, and there was a buzz in the room as people were gathering. 

Well our Sunday morning worship continues this week but we are making a big move.  This week we will begin meeting at Fairview Middle School.  We are thankful for the opportunity to use this location and look forward to welcoming people there.  There is plenty of parking and plenty of room for you and your children.  Our Children’s ministry will be up and rolling, welcoming kids from birth through grade 4. 

We would love for you to join us on Sunday morning at Fairview Middle School.  You will find a group of people who love God and are trying to do their best to follow him.  You will find flawed people with messy lives – we will be the first to tell you that we’re not perfect – who are accepting and encouraging each other.  You’ll find lively music, guitars, keyboard, and drums.  And you’ll hear a relevant message from the Bible.  All of this will happen in the span of about 65 minutes. 

If you have questions, check out our FAQ tab above or feel free to email us at ccwestco@gmail.com.

Sunday morning 10:00 AM at Fairview Middle School, we hope to see you there.

Church Should Be Simple:  Love God and Love People

-Ben