Happy New Year

I must say Happy New Year! Happy Second Chance!  Happy Fresh Start!  Happy New Beginning!

Like most of us, I can’t help but look forward with new hope to 2010.

But part of me also looks back over 2009 with a pause.  I see things I wish I had done differently, relationships I should’ve invested more time into, and better choices I could’ve made.  But I’m so thankful we serve a God of  second chances, aren’t you?  Second, third, fourth, fifth, endless chances.

In the Message Bible in Romans 3:24, “It says but in our time something new has been added…The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him…Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.”

Thanks to Jesus, we don’t have to live in regret at all!  We can let it go, put it in the past and look forward with great joy and anticipation to what God has planned for us in the New Year!  We know that He does all things well, He can make something great out of nothing, and we can trust Him.

So Happy New Year, happy everything!

A Capital Christmas 2010

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!

Why Mary?

I’ve been pondering a question that people have been asking for 2000 years, since the very first Christmas.  “Why Mary?”  I’ve heard stories about how, long before Jesus arrived on the scene, the Jewish people were looking for the Messiah.  (Some still are today) But I’ve also heard that as people were looking for the Messiah, many little girls grew up wanting to be ‘the Mary’.  After all, it was prophesied long before it ever happened.  They all grew up wanting to be the one.  Even as it was happening, I think the other girls of Mary’s day looked at her and said, “Why her?  Why not me?”

People are still drawn to that question today.  Why Mary?  We wonder, what made her so special?

I believe we can begin to answer that question, at least in part, as we study the scripture in Luke Chapter 1.

²⁶In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

³⁴“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[c] the Son of God. ³⁶Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷For nothing is impossible with God.”

³⁸“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

What makes anyone ’special’ who is thrust into greatness?  I wonder if it’s not a question we ask more and more as we get older.  We can look throughout history at men and women who have made a difference in the world or done something great for mankind or for God  – people like Moses, or Noah, or even more modern day hero’s like Mother Theresa, or Billy Graham – and we think, why them?  What made them so stand apart?  Why not me?  What is the common thread that ties them all together?

When it comes to the greatness of Jesus, it’s easy for us to say, “well, He was great because He was the perfect, all knowing, all-powerful, Son of God.  And He was all that.  But this week I heard my friend Melanie teach from a scripture I had never noticed before…I know, I’ve been in church my whole life, and I never heard it before!  So listen!  Maybe it will be new to you too!

Mark 1:40-45 ⁴⁰A leper came to him, begging on his knees, “If you want to, you can cleanse me.”  Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin smooth and healthy.

Jesus healed the man because He wanted to.  Mary had the baby because she wanted to.  People become great and bless humanity because they want too!  I believe it is this element of willingness that sets people apart.  It’s the same reason you choose to do what you do; it’s because you want to!

I often go back to the book, Purpose Driven Life, that so many of us are familiar with, by Rick Warren.  There’s a section in it, that talks about Jesus at His hour of decision in the garden before His crucifixion. It’s a snapshot of that moment that asks, would He fulfill His purpose?  Would He shrink back?  Would He choose to live a comfortable and self-centered life?

We each face that very same issue.  We can choose to live for our own goals, comfort or pleasure.  Or we can live the rest of our lives for God’s glory, fulfilling His purpose for us.

God is inviting us to play a part in His story and to stop trying to write our own.  It’s the only way to stop just existing, and truly live.  To accept His call, to work toward His purpose, to be willing to do life His way, is to answer the question, “why not me?”

If you are willing, it’s your turn!

Worship 12/20/09

This Sunday, we are concentrating on the next part of the Christmas story in worship. Immanuel, God with Us. God is real. God is present. God is with us.

I don’t know of any other god like that.

God is with us. And God is with us because He wants to be with us. He is not with us to use us, have us do stuff, abuse us…He is with us to be with us.

After reading/hearing the Christmas story so much and being a Christian for a while it can get easy to let the lunacy, wonder, comfort of God being with us to slip by unnoticed.

But God is with us, and now life is completely different.

This Is Our Time

This is Our Time!  That’s what the women of Capital Christian Center are always saying, repeating, woo-hoo-ing, and living.

We had a gathering of nearly 200 women from every generation on Friday night, just because we are wanting to find out more about this God who has a purpose and a destiny for our lives and we are not afraid to share it with our friends.

There’s something different about women serving together in 2009 that didn’t exist even 10 years go.  I read a great article this week about this very thing, from Leadership Network.  It states that “women across the United States are coming to realize that women’s ministry is on the verge of a massive cultural shift.”  The article goes on to say, “a growing awareness that life is messy business has created a new desire for transparency and approachability at the church, who are longing to connect with others like themselves.”

I know that is what many of us, here in Carson City have been looking for.  It’s a fresh approach, to look at each of us as being followed by someone just a bit younger than we are.  It links us all together, and it seeks to serve forward in the same direction.  We have been attempting to rip apart stereotypes of what a woman is, and who she can be.  The female half of the church is becoming strong and empowered and that benefits everyone! We are just on the verge of seeing what we can do, as women to build the Kingdom through our local setting.

We were able to sponsor 20 Bibles for kids who ride the bus to church every week, and I know that we can do more.  A new ministry of prayer with a tangible twist is bubbling up, starting with Marti, who is teaching women how to bless others with blankets.  People who are ill and in need of a prayer covering, receive these gorgeous blankets, and every stitch has been prayed over.  It’s a beautiful idea, that puts into action the gifts of women who otherwise wouldn’t know how to begin using their talent of knitting for others.

We had women there who volunteer at the hospital, girls from the High School who have been raising money to feed the hungry, women who are growing and stretching in every conceivable way; going back to school, taking on tough Bible studies, and volunteering in new ways.  Entire families are being affected.  Women are experiencing freedom in letting others in their world know that Jesus is real and He has changed their life.

And speaking of sharing…we have a new video project going where we are encouraging women to tell their stories of watching others SHINE.  I’ve already heard from many of you. You’ve told me about a time in your life when you really needed a friend or a touch from God, and through someone else shining the light of Jesus, your life was changed.  I want your stories – you all have them!  So speak up!  When have you seen someone else shine?

Even in this super busy time of year, I want to encourage you – don’t back down from God’s ultimate plan for your life.  You are part of something BIG!  And I’m so proud of this journey we are on, and thankful we will get to discover it together!

Worship 12/13/09

I wanted to try and get back to sharing my thoughts and heart for worship for the upcoming Sunday.

In the month of December, we are going to go through some of the moments that make up the Christmas story. Christmas is wonderful and important, and if we are not careful it’s just too easy to let the Christmas story slip by without grasping the beautiful, graceful absurdity that it is.

So this week, we are focusing on the Holy Spirit. We spend all our time at Christmas looking at the Christ-child that we neglect to see the wonderful role of the Holy Spirit, especially in the months before that Christmas morn and the days right after it. The Holy Spirit fills the baby, John the Baptist, while he is the womb, and then he covers John’s mother, Elizabeth, when she hears the sound of Mary’s voice. The Holy Spirit warns the wise men to not return to Herod. The Holy Spirit speaks to Joseph in dreams. After his birth, the Holy Spirit announces the great news of the Messiah to Simeon and Anna. The Holy Spirit is woven throughout the Christmas story.

And this week, we are focusing on being in His presence, having the Holy Spirit come upon us and being in the shadow of the Most High. When you are in the presence of the Holy Spirit, nothing is impossible. Luke 1:34-37 reads:

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”

An old man and his old, barren wife gave birth to a prophet, who would turn the hearts of Israel and prepare the way for the Lord. That’s impossible. But, even more than that, a virgin became pregnant. That’s impossible. And on top of that, she would give birth to God. That’s impossible. Except…

God. The Holy Spirit. When we are in the shadow of the Most High, impossible leaves our vocabulary.

This week we will be focusing on the Holy Spirit and spending time in His shadow, so expect the impossible for your life.

Water Baptism

The Messenger

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we, along with the rest of our world, turn our gaze to Christmas.  The whole aspect of the messenger of the Christmas story has been on my mind lately.

We, as Christians, daughters of the King, live our lives as God’s messengers, here in our local setting.

As I have re-read the Christmas story in the book of Luke, I noticed what Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of what you’re saying?  How can I believe you?”

And the angel replied, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.”

Those words were life changing.  World changing, actually.  The angels’ authority rested in the fact that he was typically found in the presence of God.  Could it be that the messenger was right-on in his message because he had spent time in the presence of God?  We can’t be so arrogant that we think we carry the true, authentic message of God, if we have not been in His presence.  It’s the same feeling I get when I read the story of Jesus’ disciples in Acts 4, after Jesus had been crucified, the men of the Sanhedrin called in Peter and John, in verse 13 it says,

^“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

These guys could tell that Peter and John had been with Jesus.  Near him.  Communicating with Him.

Rick Warren says the best way to keep growing is to pass on what you’ve learned.  When we live in Christian community, we are fortunate enough to be able to be reminded to do this, almost on a daily basis. The truth is, we are all called to be His messengers.  We strive to live our purpose, and to teach others to do the same.

Delivering a message after being in the presence of God seemed to be effective. It seemed to be delivered with great confidence.  With less fear and with more purpose.  So it caused me to stop and think.  In this busy season, none of us want any of our efforts to  be wasted, there’s too much to do.  So if we want the message of our words to be powerful, effective, confident, and purposeful, we need to make sure to spend time in God’s presence first.

I think everyone enjoys something different about being in God’s presence.  In 1 Kings, Elijah truly wanted to be in God’s presence.  He looked for God in the noise.  He looked in the rock splitting, ground rattling earthquake.  He looked for God’s presence in the roaring fire. But where He found God’s presence was in the gentle whisper.

You can’t always predict where His presence will be found, so you have to be open to His presence all the time.  Will it be in your morning devotion?  Will it be in driving to work?  Will it be in watching the kids play on the schoolyard?  Will it be in the loud noise of our worship on Sunday morning?  Or will it be in a quiet moment of reflection at home before you close your eyes for the night?

You are God’s chosen messenger in this time, in this place.  So today, I just wanted to encourage you to spend time in God’s presence so you can be the most effective messenger you can be.

And in the end, my prayer for you in this busy Christmas season is found in Proverbs 11:25 (The Message) “The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed;  those who help others are helped.”