Sunday, October 23, 2011

Words in Red

In many Bibles the sayings of Jesus are printed in red ink.  It’s not that these parts of the Bible are more important the others, its simply meant to draw our attention to the words of our Savior and Lord.  As modern day disciples (in the Greek meaning followers or learners/students), it is important for us to study what our teacher is saying.


In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus’ first “words in red” are found in chapter one, verse fifteen.  “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”  Before Jesus reveals Himself through His life, teaching, and works; Jesus proclaims that the Kingdom of God is at hand.  This Kingdom is not a physical territory, instead it powerfully begins in Jesus and extends to and through His followers.  This Kingdom is spiritual, personal, internal (Luke 17:21).  God’s wants to establish His rule over the hearts and lives of His people.  While God’s Kingdom will eventually include the restoration of all creation, it begins with you and me allowing God to rule and reign in our lives.  What is our response to be at disciples?  Repent and believe.


Each Thursday at 7PM I am teaching The Life of Christ class in the sanctuary at Christian Life Church.  Nursery and children's ministry is available.  All are welcome to attend.  In fact, why don’t you invite someone to come to class with you?  

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Activ8

“Follow me...”
- Jesus


Jesus gave us a mandate to “make disciples.” (Matt. 28:19)  Earlier this year at Christian Life we went through our discipleship program called Activ8.  In fact, the videos of these sessions are still available for you to watch online.  The name Activ8 came from a number of discussions within our church leadership on what it meant to be a disciple.  There were eight principles that kept coming up again and again in our talks, and it wasn’t good enough just to know about these eight principles of discipleship, we needed to be active in each of these as we follow Christ as modern-day disciples.  Here is the list of our Activ8.

  • Active Loving 
  • Active Attender 
  • Active Devotional Life
  • Active Learner 
  • Active Server 
  • Active Evangelism 
  • Active Giver 
  • Active Integrity 

Take time this week to do a discipleship check up on yourself.  Are you active in each of these?  Be an ACTIVE disciple!  To review any of the teachings you can view the sermon archives at www.christianlifechurch.org. 

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

A Historic Moment

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Matthew 28:18-20


OCTOBER 10, 2011 WILL BE A HISTORIC MOMENT for our church as we launch our first full-length daily Radio Broadcast.  That means you-and potentially 12 million others across four states—can now tune in to our all new Christian Life radio program FIVE DAYS A WEEK, on AM1160 WYLL at 7PM, complete with sermons, special interviews, updates, and much more. 




I am very excited about this new radio ministry because it has the potential to minister to people we could never reach any other way—perhaps even your own friends, family, and co-workers.  This is a massive outreach far beyond our four walls to share what God is doing at Christian Life.  Radio combined with our newest LIVE streaming capabilities of all of our services are allowing us to sow much further than we were ever able to before.  More than ever we are on a mission to fulfill the Great Commission!




I ask you to join with us to pray, fast, and sow into this major expansion of our church ministry.  Share this good news with as many as possible and make sure to tune in on your radio or listen live online at http://WYLL.com at 7PM each weekday for our special half-hour broadcast.

Sunday, October 02, 2011

God Healed Me

“...I am the LORD, your healer.”
Exodus 15:26b


God healed my hip the other week.  It had been bothering me for awhile and was getting worse in the recent weeks.  It was becoming difficult to walk without a limp.


I was at a pastor’s gathering and after a time of worship, prayer, and the Word the guest speaker began to move in the prophetic.  I wanted God to heal my hip so I began to pray that God would speak directly to my situation.  The very next prophetic word given was that God wanted to heal someone’s hip.  I’m not exaggerating when I tell you God healed my hip as I walked from my seat to the altar for prayer.  It was a incredible moment as God’s power was on display!  On my next day off I took off to Lake Geneva and hiked over 12 miles around the lake.  No pain.  And no pain since.  To God be the glory, great things He has done!


God is alive and active in our world today.  The Bible tells us in the verse above that God is our Jehovah Rapha, God our healer.  There are many names for God that speaks to how He is active in our lives.  It’s important to remember that God not just Yahweh, He’s MY Yahweh!  God is MY God.  God is MY healer, provider, strength, victory, etc.


Thanks for letting me share my testimony with you.  It’s important to share our testimonies.  Testimonies increase faith.  When we share what God is doing in our life it increases our faith and the faith of others.  It raises our expectation level.  When we gather together as the church come expecting because faith is contagious.