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

Free Grace, Costly Following

Perhaps the greatest theme in the Bible is that of God’s Grace.  Grace is God’s unmerited favor, goodness, blessing, and salvation offered to us.  Unmerited.  It’s a word we don’t use too often anymore.  In fact in our culture we probably offer and live with a lot of stipulated grace.   “I will love you if … I will forgive you if … I will honor you if ….”  I mean we don’t actually say it that way, but we all know and sense the implication in the tone of people.

But not with God.  God’s offer of “salvation,” which has more than just a future eternal destiny in mind – it has our today and everyday in mind too – is based not on the merits of what we can do to please God or accomplish to impress God or how “cleaned up” we can get before we turn to God.  God’s grace is based on who He is!  And he offers it freely – that is without merit – to us.  There are no hoops to jump through.  Click on this verse – Ephesians 2:1-10 to see one example.

While his offer to us is free, our response to him is costly.  This too is a Biblical theme woven throughout.  In response to God’s grace we follow his lead for our lives and it will always cost us something.  This is why people actually turned away from following Jesus.  Even though his grace was free - unmerited, the cost to take his name (Christian) was too high.   

That’s the difference between the crowd and the disciples.  The crowd followed at a distance, never willing to pay the price to follow.  The disciples, they left home,changed business, changed their names, gave to the poor, supported the widows, were rejected, changed their work schedules, ended destructive habits, turned the other cheek, accepted instead of hated, embraced instead of resisted, honored all people, and – for some – died, all because they accepted God’s free grace and put their faith in Christ.

I worry that at times we are so consumed with the free gift of God’s unmerited Grace that we forget (refuse, ignore, get too busy) to follow God. 

We have a saying in America, “you get what you pay for.”  Here’s a hard truth, if following God isn’t costing us something, then maybe we’re not really following him at all.

Again, I’m not talking about the offer of salvation (eternal and temporal); I’m talking about how we respond to being “saved by grace.” 

As we start Christ Church there are some things we will have to sacrifice - price a pay - as we follow God’s lead in this venture:  time, money, blood-sweat-tears (see yesterday’s post), some friends (both inside [#smh] and outside the church), pride & humility, sleepless nights, extended hours, and more.  But that’s what happens when we follow Christ.  We sacrifice for him, our faith, for God because we understand his Grace.

• Why would we do this:  so that the people who will find Christ Church will find a church where they understand God’s unmerited favor:  so that a home can be healed, relationships restored, hope strengthened, peace gained, healing applied, and, someday, realize an eternal destiny in heaven.  
• We do it because Church Should Be Simple:  Love God and Love People!

If you'd like to join us in this journey, then email us and let us get to know you.  Also, if you'd like to make a donation to help Christ Church get up and get going, you can forward it to our address:  170 Gateway Dr., Fairview, PA  16415.

Are you getting what you paid for?

-Ben

Blood, Sweat, and Tears ... and a Concert

What a great concert last night.  Christ Church hosted our first concert with Nashville Christian recording artist Jeremy Casella.  I don’t know what the final count was last night, but a bunch of people joined us on our lawn and heard the powerful story of Jesus and the gospel in a fresh, authentic, and vulnerable way.  I believe God was honored.

As the day unfolded prior to the concert, I was reminded again that there is an enemy of God that is trying to defeat our plans to honor God, point people to Jesus, and make a life-giving investment in the west county.  Thankfully the Crises were averted.  Here’s what went down.

About 9:30am Sunday morning I get a text message from our artist, Jeremy, saying his guitar broke at the church he was playing that morning.  His guitar broke!  He’s coming to play an acoustic, guitar driven concert … and his guitar broke!  Not just any guitar … his guitar: the guitar he’s used to craft the songs that he’s written for years, the guitar that has traveled the world with him.  To a musician, a guitar of this caliber and history is a part of who they are; to have it break is ... heartbreaking.  Again, not to mention he had another show in the evening – at our home. 

He asked if we could find a guitar to use.  He asked for a couple of specific kinds of guitars, which I completely understand.  (When Jimmy Johnson wrecks his NASCAR race car, you don’t give him a Yugo as a replacement.) 

So I started texting people in our church and other friends looking for help.  While we couldn’t find the specific guitars he uses, we found a good one that he could use.  Being the professional Jeremy is, he rolled with it and graciously played the guitar and made it sound beautiful! 

Crisis #1 – Averted.

We, had a guitar, we were home free!  And then the screaming started.  At 3:30pm our youngest daughter fell off her bike.  Screaming and crying walking back the driveway, her hand covered her mouth that was bleeding.  So I called my wife (I don’t do blood and trauma very well).   Did I mention it was 2 ½ hours before guests would begin to arrive?

My wife gave appropriate first aid treatment.  She called her father (who’s a physician) to consult on the cut lip.  We then went to our neighbor - who is really a best friend, launch team partner, and one who is like my older brother - who happens to be local dentist.  We interrupted his relaxing Sunday afternoon and he graciously examined her lip and teeth. 

She would be fine, just a lot of ice/cold compress and ibuprophen and rest.  No ER visit needed.  Whew!!!

Crisis #2 – Averted (with a little blood, sweat and tears)

My wife and I looked at each other and knew it was going to be a great night.  The enemy of God doesn’t plan, work, and fight against us, unless there’s a Kingdom of God reason to.

Now I know what some will say or think.  Those are just random happenings.  Those are just coincidences.  I understand those ideas.  I don’t look for a demon under every rock either. 

But this is what I know:  Ephesians 6:11-12

¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Our real struggles in this world are not between each other.  There is a spiritual battle that takes place.  We are spiritual people and we are engaged in spiritual battles.  When the enemy of God knows that God is going to be honored, when a group of people will gather to worship him, when God may break through the hard hearts and understanding of some people to express his grace and providence, then the battle is on.

Here’s the other thing I know … Christ’s church is a powerful army and a magnificent team!!!

Acts 2:42-47 was on full display yesterday.  From guitars to friend's who happen to be dentists, to prayers to serving at a concert on a lawn, the church was the church.   

So thank you to all who offered guitars.  Thank you to whoever was praying for us yesterday at 3:30pm.  Your prayers helped.  Thank you to the people of Christ Church of West County who gave of their resources, time, energy, and talent to make last night happen.  It was a good night.

This is what Christ Church of West County will be about: a church that acts like a church. If you’re looking for a church that’s not perfect but trying to authentically follow Jesus, help others, and give of themselves to a cause that is bigger than they are, then we may be the church for you.

¨      If you want more information on Christ Church or have something you’d like us to pray about, email us at ccwestco@gmail.com.  We’d love to hear from you.

¨      If you’d like to help us reach our goal of $50,000 in 50 days to help with our start up costs: audio/video equipment, rental payments, children’s ministry supplies, a keyboard, a drum kit, pens and paper, etc., we’d love to invest your donation.  You can make a check payable and forward your donation to: Christ Church of West County, 170 Gateway Dr., Fairview, PA 16415.

Church Should Be Simple:  Love God and Love People!

-Ben

"I am William Wallace ..."

Braveheart is one of my all time favorite movies.  The adventure, the action, the romance, the call to honor.  For me, it's a great movie.  Recently a friend of mine posted on his Facebook account a quote from the movie, attributed to William Wallace:  "All men die. Not all men really live." 

 

When you think of that statement, what comes to your mind about truly living?  What images come to mind?  What dreams resurface?  What would you really want to do?  What for you is really living???  You know the next set of questions:  what keeps us from that, and why wouldn't we pursue that?

 

Taken in a spiritual context and for Christ Church as we start up, there are people who will die but also may never really live.  We have an opportunity to help people find the way to really live in Christ - not just for an eternal destiny someday, but to really live in Christ right here and right now today.

 

Starting Christ Church can be overwhelming and frustrating at times; yet we see God's alignment in our lives and answers to prayers.  Let's keep praying, let's keep seeking, let's renew our commitment to Christ and never forget why we are doing this:  so people can really live both now and forever in Christ.

What's 1 thing you could do today to really live?

• If you'd like to learn more about Christ Church of West County, send us an email and we'll get back in touch with you.

•  If you'd like to help us reach our goal of $50,000 in 50 days, investing in the start up costs of Christ Church, you can send you donation to the address provided in the right hand column.  

 Church Should Be Simple:  Love God and Love People!

 

In Christ,

Ben

Concert on the Lawn

Nashville Christian Recording Artist, Jeremy Casella, will perform an original set of music on the lawn at the home of      Ben and Amy DiStefano.

This 60 minute acoustic show provides a unique listening experience that is completely unto itself. There's a powerful connection that happens when people get to know Jeremy and his songs about life and faith. 

Sunday June 24

Refreshments at 6:00pm - Show begins at 7:00pm

170 Gateway Dr., Fairview, PA  16415

Please RSVP by June 23.

BYO-Lawn Chair and enjoy a night of music.

Call:  814.460.8262 or Email: ccwestco@gmail.com

Check out Jeremy's music at:  www.jeremycasella.com

50 in 50

Depending on who you talk to, the looks range from quizzical, to shock, to disbelief, to amazement, or to quiet confidence.  Christ Church of West County is embarking on a great challenge … to raise $50,000 in the next 50 days.  Yep, I’ve seen that look too.

It is a big challenge.  It’s a big ask of people.  Or is it? 

We believe that when God is behind something, he will provide the resources for it.  And we believe, not with blind faith but with faith that’s been confirmed time and again in this journey, that God is behind this and will supply our financial needs as a new start-up church.  $50k in 50days. 

Why $50k/50d; well, think of it as a goal, not a line of demarcation.  There are a number of costs involved in a start-up, as many of you know.  We need to secure a rental facility, finalize insurance, begin to purchase equipment and software, resource our children’s ministry, advertise our ministry, and fund our ministry areas, just to name a few of our needs.  So we set a goal – something to shoot for.  It’s strategic, measurable, attainable (yep, I’ve seen that look too), realistic, and time sensitive. 

It’s also a challenge to stretch our faith and to build ownership among the core team of Christ Church.  As our team meets for prayer, Bible study, and developing a connectedness, we also need to “own” a part of what God has called us to.  By asking our team to reach out to their friends and family and help us to raise funds, we begin to own the vision and values of Christ Church as our own.  This will propel us into the future and help sustain us when we’re challenged or discouraged.

So what if we don’t reach $50k/50d, well, I hope we don’t … I hope we exceed it.  And if we don’t?  We completely trust God’s leading and timing.  Again, it’s a goal not a defining moment or referendum on the Church.

We could really use your help to reach $50k/50d.  This is how God will move, through the generous gifts of those who love us, believe in our mission, and want to make an investment for an eternal difference (and yes I’ve seen those looks too).  From small donations, to gifts of $250, or even major contributions of $5,000, everyone plays a part.

Will you prayerfully consider making a tax deductible donation to Christ Church of West County 
as we press forward to $50,000 in 50 days??? 

Whether you are a friend or you just happened across this blog, you can help make a difference.  If you’d like to make a donation you can make your check payable to “Christ Church of West County” and mail it to:  170 Gateway Dr., Fairview, PA  16415. 

*Please do not let this interfere with your regular giving to your local church.

We will work hard, invest wisely, and care for and support the people in our communities.  We will do the hard work so that understanding and receiving the Gospel is easy for people.

Church Should Be Simple:  Love God and Love People!

In Christ,

Ben