Worship & Creative Arts

On the first Christmas day, the kingdom of God ushered a mind-blowing change into the world, and it came in the for of the God-baby, Jesus Christ. Since that moment, God’s reign and dominion has been surging forward through His people.

This year, we had the opportunity take more ground for Christ, by giving shoes, socks, underwear, and money to Kids in Transition. Will the kids who receive our donations know they came from us? No. But your giving stretches the boundaries of the kingdom a bit further.

We are passionate about equipping people for Christian living, and for many people that starts when their most basic needs are met. Our giving wasn’t just because God gave, so we should give. Our giving wasn’t just because we have been blessed so that we can bless others. Our giving was those things and more. It served a profound purpose, and I so proud of our church and glad to see what we’ve done this Christmas.

We raised over $1500.00 for Kids in Transition, plus a generous donation of shoes, socks, and underwear!

Power Up Children's Ministry

Hey just wanted to update everybody on some upcoming events in Children’s Church!

This Sunday is our quarterly Beyond Us Offering.  In celebration of that we will be handing out free donuts and juice to all the kids that come.  Don’t forget to bring you change when you come so that you can participate in the offering.  This is an excellent opportunity to bless those less fortunate than ourselves. 

Also, this Sunday is the kick-off of Mega Sports Camp 2009 – The Journey!! We will be having evening services for kids ages 5-12 Sunday through Thursday. Services will begin at 6:30 pm and end at 8:00 pm. This is a communty event so feel free to bring as many visitors as you can. We will have different sports that the kids can participate in, bounce houses on Wednesday, free snacks will be provided at each service, and there will be a raffle prize every night.

Can’t wait to see everyone on Sunday!

Follow us on Twitter – @cccpowerup

Uprising Student Ministries

Uprising Student Ministries has officially moved its service to Sunday’s at 5:30pm. This Sunday was incredible. Seeing over 30 students integrated into Sunday morning’s service, the launch of our new service time, and the addition of 10 adult leaders demonstrates the drive and focus of where we are heading. God is moving in our students and we are going to continue to increase our reach and influence in our community. 2010 is looking good!

Extraordinary Men

Coming Soon!

Our Time Women's Ministry

Do you ever think about what it means to be a friend of God?  I do.  I wonder all the time.In the book of James, it says that Abraham was credited as being God’s friend.

Within the context of human relationships, in order to become someone’s friend, we must spend time with them.  We must ask questions, and listen for the answers in return, to really understand the heart of a person.  Is that what it takes to be God’s friend too?

What does it mean to really understand that you are loved by God and to love Him in return?  Does it mean we are thankful when He meets our needs?  Does it mean we choose to be obedient to Him?  Does it mean we place Him first in all our decisions?  I think it does mean those things, but also much more.

If we look at this scripture in Psalm 37:5-6 it says,

Open up before God, keep nothing back;
he’ll do whatever needs to be done:
He’ll validate your life in the clear light of day
and stamp you with approval at high noon.

It says that we share our whole heart with Him, holding nothing back.  We aren’t afraid to give Him our dirt and our secrets and our desires.   (As if we could hide them from Him, anyway.) It means we trust Him to accomplish His will in our lives, even though we aren’t perfect, and we will never deserve His grace.  It says he’ll validate us.

“Validate”.  That word reminds me of going to the city, and parking in a big highrise structure, enjoying shopping from store to store, and then when I go to lunch, I suddenly remember to I ask the girl at the desk, “do you validate?”  She stamps my ticket and makes it ok for me to be there, and it doesn’t cost me a thing!

I know it may seem like a ridiculously simplistic analogy, but when He validates us, He makes it ok.  His grace and mercy in our lives don’t cost us anything, although it cost Him everything.

I don’t know about you, but I not only approve of my friends, I promote them.  I work hard to help them succeed.  It makes me happy when they do well.  I’m learning that it is the same way with Jesus.  I am striving to be His friend, and He cheers me on.  He wants to see me succeed, but so much more importantly, He wants to spend time with me.  He created me to be in relationship with Him. To know Him…    The way Ephesians 3 describes knowing Him:

¹⁹[That you may really come] to know [practically, ^[a]through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses ^[b]mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] ^[c]unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and ^[d]become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

I suppose the first step to actually knowing Him is wanting to know Him.  I do. I want to know Him. I want to love Him more.  This being February, the month where thoughts turn to love, I have decided to dedicate my thoughts and more time to understanding what it means to know and love my Heavenly Father.  After all, I am His and He is mine.

20 Someone

Thanksgiving is one week away. And I love it! It’s probably strange for a Christian, a pastor moreover, to say that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. After all, shouldn’t Christmas or Easter be one of my favorites? But, in my life, Thanksgiving has captured my heart for two reasons. First of all, my family had a great tradition around the holiday. Every year, we would take five days and head up to a cabin in Lake Tahoe. The cabin was filled with a dozen friends, and all together we would celebrate together. Most family’s traditions center around food, football, and a parade, but not in our family. To be sure, we had plenty of food, but there was no TV at this cabin. No football. No parade. The days were filled with music, books, and walks. The nights were filled with fires, games, and talent shows.

The first Thanksgiving I remember at a cabin my sister and I got to sleep in a walk-in closet; it was awesome! I will never forget those times. At the cabin, I learned to play chess, and I still have the first chess that was given to me by one of our family friends. My lethal Monopoly skills were honed in that cabin. When I was ten years old, I didn’t understand what pleasure grown men took in driving me to tears when I landed on Boardwalk with two hotels, but now that I am older the simple joy of taking everyone’s fake money is strangely satisfying. And to top it off, every year ended with everyone sneaking down to the shore late at night, and watching the reflection of the illegal fireworks we were setting off sparkle in the watery reflection.

The second reason I love Thanksgiving is that there are no church events associated with it. I know it seems shallow and selfish, and it probably is. But there are no services, no special events, just a holiday. A holi-day. A holy-day. Set apart from all the other days. And even set apart from all the other holidays.

This year I am adding a third reason to my list. Thanksgiving brings my life back into balance. I know every year people complain that Christmas comes earlier and earlier. Somehow our holidays keep encroaching on time that isn’t theirs. But Christmas has always started in July for me, as I prepare for the special events and services. However, this year, it has shocked me; we have forgotten that in between Halloween and Christmas, there is Thanksgiving.

When you lose Thanksgiving in life, your life is tunneled into focusing on what you don’t have. But when you give thanks, you break out of your myopia, and focus on what you already have. Giving thanks looks at what is currently in your life, and finds the value in your current circumstances. I am a driven person. I have high expectations and set high goals. So I easily lock into what I don’t have and what I am trying to get. I need thanksgiving to bring my life into balance.

I wonder if that’s why the Psalmist says, “I will enter your gates with thanksgiving…” The path to God’s presence is gated with thanksgiving, and if we can’t give thanks then maybe we don’t get through the gates. I need to be in God’s presences, so I need thanksgiving. I need that holy day to bring my life back into balance, and I am looking forward to it. So don’t skip it; slow down; enjoy your Thanksgiving.