Little Blog Break
Had a great time at the church picnic last night despite the weather. Burgers on an open flame with a little acid rain never hurt anybody, right?
Anyway, this will be the last post for the week as Jess and I will be away vacationing in the sunny, exotic land of Cleveland, OH. Pray for some much needed rest and rejuvenation!
Weekend Reflections
Saturday we had our Summer Membership Class and welcomed 16 new members to ACC! I continue to be amazed at what God is doing.
Enjoyed continuing our Parables series with a message from Matt. 15:1-13 on living with readiness and anticipation for the Second Coming of Christ.
Looking forward to our All-Church Picnic this afternoon at Economy Park at 4:00. Everybody’s welcome and there will be tons of food and family games. It’s going to be pretty sweet. Click here for directions.
Spiritual Ruts
Really enjoyed speaking last night to the Young Adults at Allison Park Church. We talked about getting out of spiritual ruts and re-energizing our faith when it grows cold or stale.
We looked at Matthew 24:12 which talks about how an increasingly ungodly culture can cause our love for God to grow cold if we are not careful to guard it. We also looked at Revelation 2:4-5 which shows us how to re-ignite our love for God by remembering our past devotion, repenting of current sin entanglements, and practicing the things that build up our faith.
These are some truths I try to remember each time I find myself going through the motions of worship or serving out of duty. A great relationship with God is just like any other relationship, it must be cultivated intentionally.
Day Of Prayer
As part of a seminary class that I am currently taking I took yesterday as a day of prayer and reflection. The assignment was to spend the day in prayer with nothing but a Bible and notepad (I was also prohibited from using electronic communication with the outside world).
I spent most of the day reading through the Gospel of Matthew and prayer-walking at a local state park (before I was interrupted by a torrential, monsoon downpour).
There is something so refreshing about disconnecting from the busyness of our culture to spend time with God. I found that my soul was refreshed and energized as a just focused on being with God. I think sometimes we can tend to view working for God as more important than being with God. I’m re-learning that being with God is what truly makes my work for God truly productive. I am definitely going to make days like this a more regular part of my life.
Kid’s Blast
The King’s River mission team is doing an amazing job! Yesterday they ministered to 50 children at the Ambridge Gazebo and today they had 75 and fed lunch to nearly 100 this afternoon!
Yesterday they held a fund raising car wash for our children’s ministry and also delivered pizzas to 5 families in our church! As I type, they are currently doing some much needed painting in some of the rooms at the church.
It’s amazing to see what a group of 11 4th-5th graders can do together in ministry. We are so grateful to have them with us this week!
One of those “I never realized that was there” verses
In our staff meeting yesterday we discussed a verse I came across that I had not really noticed before. It’s Deuteronomy 20:8 which says,
“And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.’”
This verse really speaks to me about the influential power of our words and attitudes. Negativity is like a cancer and can be very contagious. On the other hand, a positive attitude trusting in the goodness and faithfulness of God is just as contagious. As people of faith it is essential that we maintain a positive attitude based on our knowledge that God is in control and that we are ultimately on the winning side.
That doesn’t mean that we deny reality or ignore the problems of life. But it does mean that no matter how bad things may look on the outside, we can maintain an attitude of confidence in God’s love and power. In the same way that we can infect people with our negativity and drag them down, we can allow God to use us to lift up and encourage one another through a positive attitude and uplifting words.
Kid’s Blast at the Gazebo
This week ACC is hosting a kid’s ministry missions team from King’s River Worship Center in West Virginia. As a part of their week of ministry with us they will be hosting a children’s outreach event Tuesday-Thursday from 11:00am-12:30pm at the Ambridge Gazebo at the corner of 11th and Merchant St.
It will be a great time to connect with some of the children in our community and communicate the love of Christ. If you have kids and live nearby, this will be a great event to bring them out to.
Reflections From Sunday
- Awesome to have Tony Sebastian join us to share his calling as a missionary to Greece. One of the greatest ministry investments we make as a church is supporting foreign missionaries. Tony and Jamie are planning on starting an innovative coffeehouse ministry in the city of Thessaloniki, Greece late this fall.
- Really encouraged to see 160 people show up for church in the middle of June.
- Enjoyed kicking off the Parables Series with the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant and how God calls us to show to others the grace and forgiveness that he has shown to us. Though forgiving others is a lot easier said than done, it is possible as we realize the depth and magnitude of the forgiveness that God has shown to us.
New Series: Parables
I’m pretty pumped about this new message series that we will be starting this Sunday. We’re going to take an in-depth look at some of Jesus’ most profound teachings.
Jesus said that everyone who hears his words and does them is like a wise man who builds his house on a rock. Join us as we dig into the stories of our Master and learn how to apply their truth to our lives.
Q&A On The Holy Spirit
This is a link to an interesting question and answer session on the Holy Spirit hosted by John Lindell, my former pastor while in college and Doug Oss, one of my former seminary professors.
They field questions from the congregation at James River Assembly which are among some of the most commonly heard questions related to the baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, and spiritual gifts. Very insightful.
New Testament Class
This Wednesday we will begin our Summer New Testament Survey Course. If any book in history is worthy of study it is God’s eternal life-changing Word! Here’s the rundown:
o June 4, Introduction and Synoptic Gospels
o June 11, John – Gospel and Epistles
o June 18, Acts
o June 25, Romans/Galatians
o July 2, Corinthians/Thessalonians
o July 9, Prison Epistles
o July 16, Pastoral Epistles
o July 23, Hebrews/James/Peter
o July 30, Jude/Revelation
Teachers include: Pastor Mike, Mark Santistevan, Jessica Santistevan, David Prepelka, Hank Niewola, and Pastor Nick Poole.
