The City

Hi guys!  I’ve been thinking about this since we received the message from Brad…here are a few ideas I had:

1.)  That we could study together (in small group possibly) the literal truth in Genesis and how that impacts our faith and foundation of our faith if we believe literally in what occurred in that chapter.  Lee and I had a really awesome experience quite a few years ago regarding this and it completely changed our faith in our God and in the validity of each word in the Bible.  I’d love to ensure everyone in our church has a chance to experience that life altering creation lesson as well!

2.)  I pray that we would really grow together in love as a church family.  I used to know everyone who came to our church and at least know some of the details of their lives and how they were growing spiritually, etc.  but that is not the case anymore.  I pray that we can grow tighter as a family and we can truly be a church like the one in Acts.

3.)  I am interested in seeing us do a VBS program in the next year or two…I was thinking Amber told me we might be doing one this year?  I’m not sure if that’s right or not.  But this would be one way of reaching out to the children in our community and also growing up the children in our church.  They are so pliable at this age and we need to get their foundations locked down to Jesus!! :)

Love you all church family!  Can’t wait to grow another year with you @ NRCC!

No one in our family likes eggs, so we make and decorate cut-out cookies in the shapes of crosses and hearts.  We also make one big tomb with a stone that is rolled away to be eaten for breakfast on Easter morning.  In the past we put some of the cookies on plates with a card that has John 3:16 on it to pass out to neighbors.

My boys also get all their money for the baseball concession stands during their change-filled, plastic egg hunt that my mom has for them.

who among us is without sin?  i ask; who among us has not bowed down to the idol of vocation or education?  where is the one who has not served himself, kneeling before the gods of hollywood or wall street?  when have we not sacrificed our time, our principles, yes even our faith to spend our lives worshipping at the shrine of self-indulgence?  we caused our children to pass through the fire, regarding our time, our rights, and our pursuits to be more valuable than their very lives.  we have made houses, cars, rock stars, and sports teams our treasures and their images adorn the temple walls of Molech or Baal.

the gods are powerful, my beloved,  they lure our weak hearts as the adultress with a wink of the eye. with a flash of silver,or with the sweet fragrance of pride.   like fish caught in a net, we so completely give ourselves over to worship the created things.  we have traded a intimate relationship with the Living God to sleep with the dead and have become enslaved to demons; ever desiring, but never finding what we want.

  our dear brother is right when he says that God must have first place.  He must be our treasure.  truly we should all examine ourselves in this light.  we should all consider his words and take them to heart, for we too, have followed other gods and placed value upon worthless idols.

yet, there is good news.  the temples can be destroyed, the idols pulled down, lives can be resurrected.  it can all be set right again if we would but bow the knee to the only True and Living God, the Worthy One, the Creator of all.  if we would only approach the Loving Savior in humbleness of heart and cry out for forgiveness.   He will be faithful and just to forgive us of our sin , our worship of ourselves, and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.  and He will lavish upon us His everlasting love.

what god can do that!  only ours beloved, only ours!  

so here is where our treasure lies.  everything in this world, everything within us clammors for attention, for worship.  but we have this treasure “in earthen vessels”, we have this hope within us… the hope of glory.  nothing on earth could ever compare to the to the treasure we find in our Savior the Lord Jesus, who will “show us the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us..”.

we are His treasure… can you believe it!

selah.