Sunday Rewind for May 7: Elisha, Part 1

Elisha:  A Tale of Ridiculous Faith Is it ridiculous to aim big?  Who wants a great life or a quality marriage?  Who wants to put all that effort into raising spectacular children?  Everyone, right?  “Give me mediocre!” demands no one ever!  I don’t no a single person who aims for mediocre.  We want great!  We want spectacular!  We hope for something worth celebrating.  We want the ridiculous. The same goes for our faith.  We want God to do something amazing in our lives.  We hope for miracles.  We crave depth and peace.  Although we may hide or deny it, deep down at our very core we yearn for God to love us and work through us.  We want a faith that matters in a God that says we[…]

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Sunday Rewind for April 23: I Want to SEE

I Want to SEE! Do we want to see?  Most of us like to think we have a firm grasp on reality…we think we see pretty clearly.  But what might we be missing?  How do you see your present circumstances?  How about your future?  Are you riding high on life or fearful of when the next calamity will come your (or our) way?  It all comes down to perspective.  Are we glass is half full or half empty people.  What do you want to see? A common theme for Jesus was our pervasive spiritual blindness.  Religious people seemed to be especially afflicted.  They missed the obvious and I wonder if we do the same.  Do we even want to see?  Jesus approached a blind man[…]

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Sunday Rewind for March 26: No Stinking

Grow Up! Over these four weeks at Christ Church, we are partnering with our new Children’s ministry.  This four part series from Open.Life.Church challenges the young and old alike to move on to maturity and simply “Grow Up!”  Don’t worry, we don’t want to rush childhood.  But at the same time, nothing is more disappointing or sad than a childish adult.  The purpose of childhood is to learn and move onto adulthood well prepared and mature. Likewise, if we are followers of Jesus Christ, we have been born again (see John 3).  New to faith in Christ, we are like infants needing considerable care, support, and training.  Over time, we intentionally seek to mature in our faith, knowledge, and obedience.  We “grow up” in Jesus and move on[…]

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Sunday Rewind for March 19: Take Care of Yourself

Grow Up! Over these four weeks at Christ Church, we are partnering with our new Children’s ministry.  This four part series from Open.Life.Church challenges the young and old alike to move on to maturity and simply “Grow Up!”  Don’t worry, we don’t want to rush childhood.  But at the same time, nothing is more disappointing or sad than a childish adult.  The purpose of childhood is to learn and move onto adulthood well prepared and mature. Likewise, if we are followers of Jesus Christ, we have been born again (see John 3).  New to faith in Christ, we are like infants needing considerable care, support, and training.  Over time, we intentionally seek to mature in our faith, knowledge, and obedience.  We “grow up” in Jesus and move on[…]

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Sunday Rewind for March 12: No Whining

  Grow Up! Over these four weeks at Christ Church, we are partnering with our new Children’s ministry.  This four part series from Open.Life.Church challenges the young and old alike to move on to maturity and simply “Grow Up!”  Don’t worry, we don’t want to rush childhood.  But at the same time, nothing is more disappointing or sad than a childish adult.  The purpose of childhood is to learn and move onto adulthood well prepared and mature. Likewise, if we are followers of Jesus Christ, we have been born again (see John 3).  New to faith in Christ, we are like infants needing considerable care, support, and training.  Over time, we intentionally seek to mature in our faith, knowledge, and obedience.  We “grow up” in Jesus and move[…]

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TOMORROWLAND Message Series

  Anyone else a little nervous?  We desperately need some hope for today and hope for tomorrow.  With the upcoming elections, rapid cultural change, terrorist plots, foreign hacking, and the threat of war; the world we live in can be a little scary.  Some stockpile food and ammo, ready to wait out or fight back whatever tomorrow holds.  Some close their eyes, praying that Jesus comes to the rescue.  Be it fight or flight, we all have a gut reaction to the uncertainty of tomorrow.  Sadly, many today hold out little hope for a good tomorrow.  Its almost as if we expect trouble ahead. One of my favorite places at Disney World is “Tomorrowland.”  I love the hope it promised.  The movie by the same name[…]

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Sunday Rewind: Where Are the Burning Bushes Today?

  I love a great fire.  A burning bush would grab my attention.  There is something mesmerizing about the flicker of a flame.  Imagine life prior to electricity.  The only lights available were combustable.  Street lamps and night lights were nothing more than candle light.  Only fire broke open the darkness.  I guess then that it shouldn’t surprise me that God chose a burning bush to grab the attention of Moses. Even with all our bright modern technology, our world can still feel dark.  In the midst of life’s struggles where we feel like we are groping in the black, many of often wish God would show up in a burning bush.  We wish God would break open our darkness and give us a clear[…]

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Sunday Rewind for August 7: What Does God Really Want?

  What does God really want?  We like knowing the bottom line.  When I buy a car, I want to see the final “out the door” price before I agree to anything.  No one likes fine print, those hidden details requiring a magnifying glass to read.   The same goes for God and the church.  What is the bottom line for Jesus?  How much time, how many prayers, how much money do I “have to” give to know I’ve arrived?  In the end, what does it really take to make God satisfied? Throughout the summer at Christ United Methodist Church in Gastonia, NC, we’re asking some BIG questions!  Here is our Sunday Rewind for August 7, 2016.  We ask the big question, “What Does God[…]

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Sunday Rewind for July 24: What About Other Religions?

  What about all the other religions?  The world population fast approaches 8 billion people.  That’s a lot of men, women, and children calling planet earth home.  Of that nearly 8 billion, 2.3 billion identify as Christian.  That’s about one quarter of all humanity.  What about everyone else?  Is it the height of arrogance to question the eternal destination of nearly 6 billion people simply because they don’t call a crucified first century Jewish carpenter their “Lord”?  What happens to all of them? Throughout the summer at Christ United Methodist Church in Gastonia, NC, we’re asking some BIG questions!  Here is our Sunday Rewind for July 24, 2016.  We ask the big question, “What about all the other religions?” As a pastor and Christ-follower, I offer[…]

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Sunday Rewind for July 17: Is the Church Judgmental & Hypocritical?

  Judgmental and Hypocritical, two words no one likes being called.  We ask big questions this summer at Christ UMC in Gastonia, NC.  This is a fair question, one we must address.  Here is our Sunday Rewind for July 17, 2016.  We ask the big question, “Why is the church so judgmental and full of hypocrites?” Okay…I confess that no one at my church asked this question.  Chances are that no one actively attending a church thinks their church is judgmental.   Few people actively attending a church thinks their church is full of hypocrites.  No, we’d leave and attend churches we considered more loving and authentic.  Few people at any church would say such things.  No, this question comes from outside the church. Many[…]

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