What are you looking for in a church?

Is there more to church than buildings, fancy lighting, and music? Is it just a place to go on sundays? What are your motivations to get there? Is there something specific you would like to see happen in church? If there were one main thing you would like to find in a church, what would it be?

Please no negative talk about church. I am just trying to gather some information. I would love to hear from you.

“The perfect church service would be one that we were almost unaware of. Our attention would have been on God.”    C.S. Lewis

Hope for the Hopeless

Key Verse: Romans 8:24-25 “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

Not trying to sound too churchy or speak christianese, just feeling the burden of what we all need. Some might survive weeks without food, others will survive days without water, some might even survive minutes without air to breathe, but there is one thing we cannot live without…this is HOPE.

What is Hope?

It is the general feeling that some desire will be fulfilled.  C.S. Lewis says “Hope is what we are promised by God but do not yet have.”  Hope in the original Greek is “elpis” which means expectation. 

If we were to make an acronym of the word hope it would be:

Helping

Our

People

Expect

Hope is a particle that is present when exercising faith.  Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

On our journey towards a better 2010, lets place our hope in the only one that really cares for us.

Lam 3:25 (NIV) The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.

Dealing with the Unexpected.

I am a creature of habit. I like things to go as planned. Who doesn’t? My schedule usually does not have room for the unexpected. The unexpected usually is a nuissance; a flat tire, car doesn’t start, someone gets sick or God forbid even passes away. The unexpected is always given a negative connotation, atleast in my mind.

Today was different, as we planned to go out we received an unexpected phone call. The person on the other line extended an invitation to visit one of Disney’s amusement parks and it was free of cost to my family. Personally I am not that into the parks but it was an excellent opportunity for my family. This unexpected event allowed me to witness the smile of my child as she saw her favorite characters and even took pictures with them. All this was made possible by a person who cared enough to tear me away from my “regularly scheduled programming”. Today was a lesson well learned, the unexpected can be a blessing in disguise.

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.  ~Winston Churchill

New Year, Empty Promises?…

So is this the year everything is going to turn around for you? I’ve been hearing the same song and dance for 27 years already. People tend to treat the coming of a new year like an out of shape person promises to start a diet on a monday. With all due respect to everyone out there, “things” will not change until our attitude changes. So ask yourself, did my attitude change at 12 o’clock midnight?  

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)