Living With Eternity In Mind

Well - here is my first sermon on YouTube! I am really excited and you will see more and more sermons uploaded here, on Facebook, and also on the Grace Church web site when that is up and running. So, in the meantime - I pray that you will touched, challenged, and your life will be changed by the Power of Jesus through these sermons.

Here are the notes to this sermon

Facebook Fasting

OK - so a couple of weeks ago I decided to take a break from Facebook until Easter. During this time, I am focusing more on my prayer life and even memorizing the Apostles Creed. I am still working on Facebook for the church. I have created a Grace Church Fan Page so communication and advertising for the church will be a little bit easier. I have also started to use twitter more. You can click here to follow me. So that leaves the question of what is the reason for placing facebook on the shelf for a time being? That is a really good question and I will answer right now. Here is what I am not doing on Facebook: reading my friends profiles, reading and responding to updates on my phone, searching for new friends, playing any games (I really did not do this to begin with), sending any messages unless it absolutely necessary and is related to the church, and  organizing my profile. I am completely amazed at the time that has been freed up by taking this step.

So, you may be thinking about fasting from something the last half of Lent. I think that is a good thing but I challenge you do take it a step further - for that what you eliminated, replace it with a spiritual discipline like; reading the Bible, extended prayer, memorizing, or even solitude. I still struggle with memorization so that is what I decided to do: memorize the Apostles Creed and also memorize a scripture each week. My prayer is that the Lord will continue to work on my heart. That is my prayer for you right now.

Bo's Cafe book comments

Well, I just finished reading “Bo’s Café” this weekend. What a great book that challenged me in more ways that I can write here.

Some people will say this book is about grace, forgiveness, healing, friendship, accountability, or even about a 1970 Buick Electra. This book is about all of these and even bigger than all these things. It is about community in its truest form. Real community. Real fellowship that God intends for us to have so that we can grow in Him.

We can get together with church people friends; air out our dirty laundry and call this accountability. Bo’s Café takes this a step further. It about letting people in so that they have the opportunity to protect us and for us to trust and protect them. When we allow people in to see our true selves, then there is no need to air out our dirty laundry – these people will see it anyway. Then they can come alongside us and journey with us as we seek out the Lord together. This is true community where healing is taking place, growth is being established, and forgiveness is being offered. With all that said, we have to remember that a safe place is not always a soft place.

In today’s church’s we are more concerned about how we look to other people instead of being true to ourselves. When we place on our fake masks, then we create these soft places where growth and healing does not really take place. Then we tell ourselves that Jesus is all about Love and not making people feel bad. The reality is that God disciplines those He loves. Disciple is not fun and it hurts – but we grow from it and have a better understanding of the character of God.

Toward the end of the book, there is a discussion about why church’s should become places like on the deck of Bo’s Café, and the reality that they are furthest from this. This book challenges us to really live for Jesus and to experience the biblical community that we all desire and are meant to live.

What's The Difference

There is a tendency to "cherry pick" the things we like from other religions and then add Jesus and call this Christianity. Also, many people claim that all paths lead to God. Are all "religions" basically the same? At what points do they differ? Do the differences really matter? In the series "What's the Difference?" you will get an overview of the differences between the Bible and other world-wide teachings. This series will help equip you to reach out to other people armed with knowledge and full of the love of Jesus Christ.

January 24, 2010: "Catholicism" (notes)

January 31, 2010: "Mormonism" (notes)

February 7, 2010: "Islam" (notes)

February 14, 2010: "Judaism" (notes)

I Wish

 

Somebody gave this to me, what were they trying to say? 

I couldn't resist

 

I know my hairs can be counted pretty easy :) 

Grace Church Beliefs

Apostles Creed:

I believe in God, the Father almighty, 
creator of heaven and earth. 

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, 
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, 
born of the Virgin Mary, 
suffered under Pontius Pilate, 
was crucified, died, and was buried; 
he descended to the dead. 
On the third day he rose again; 
he ascended into heaven, 
he is seated at the right hand of the Father, 
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead. 

I believe in the Holy Spirit, 
the holy catholic church, 
the communion of saints, 
the forgiveness of sins, 
the resurrection of the body, 
and the life everlasting. AMEN.

 

Nicene Creed:

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son].
With the Father and the Son
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
 
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. AMEN.

Grace Church is affiliated with the Reformed Church in America (RCA)