| This week’s Connect comes from our Interim Lead Pastor, Lorne Fredlund.
“Are you ready for Christmas?”
How many times have you heard this? Many I presume. And as you have responded, I am sure your mind went to, “Have I bought all my gifts? Is the planning for Christmas dinner all in hand? And etc.” There is no question that Christmas brings with it a crescendo of activity that can quickly disintegrate into more stress, busyness, competition and emotional overload. And then I think we all would agree – the ‘the busyness has overtaken the holy – I want something more meaningful’.
Well, we deserve more – God deserves even more. Advent is typically considered to be the four weeks preceding Christmas. Some years as a family, we have ‘taken notice’ of Advent and embarked on an Advent adventure – something to prepare our hearts for Christmas – more than just food, gifts and family. By the time Christmas arrives, if I have not prepared my heart, I may have experienced Christmas but in 24 hours it is over, and I am tired and emotionally let-down. Do you want it to be different? It can be different and you can make it happen. I want to challenge you to start now – I know it’s not four weeks till Christmas, but there is nothing magical about Advent being four weeks; howeverthere will be something magical if you take the time to pause and reflect each day to prepare your heart.
So how? There is a scriptural principle – Philippians 4:8…
Finally, brethren,whatsoeverthingsare true, …. whatsoeverthingsare of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
There is a life principle that says ‘our enthusiasm for anything is directly proportional to the amount of time we spend thinking about it’. We will not have a heart change at Christmas unless you engage your mind in When God Broke In. I have found that taking even five to ten minutes each day to sit with Peggy ), to read a devotional thought about the AMAZING ‘breaking in of God’ has prepared my heart. I have used a little booklet called Pursuing the Christ by Jennifer Kennedy Dean – it has been great – very thought provoking, but just take a few minutes to find another book or read the Christmas story from The Message - but do take the time to prepare your heart.
If you want to get to Christmas and have your heart prepared, then take a few minutes every day to let the Spirit work in you… it will not be just another Christmas…
Send me a note and let me know what you experience!
RockPointe Stories:
God Breaks in through RockPointe Children’s Ministry…
Last weekend Pastor Erik very capably reminded us of ‘When God Broke In’ and changed an impossible situation, where all hope of ever having children for Zechariah and Elizabeth had long since gone by the boards. This weekend Pastor Ron will be speaking about how God broke into the lives of Elizabeth’s much younger cousin, Mary and her fiancé, Joseph. The situations faced by these two couples were completely different but God accomplished the impossible in and through them in His way and in His time.
Our God still continues to break in and accomplish His plans in overwhelming and surprising ways and he did it last week in Children’s Ministry. Our Children’s ministry have been focusing on the ‘When God Broke In’ series in their teaching for a few weeks already. We received this great story from Stephanie Grunau, our Westhills site CM director on Monday morning:
We are a month into the "When God Broke In" series, and I told the story of the Shepherds this weekend. To be honest, it wasn't my best teaching moment but I am thankful that God is so much bigger than me. As I was talking to my group there was quite a bit of rustling and lots of wiggling. I really couldn't tell how it was going but most of the kids seemed to be listening. The lesson itself had me doing a lot of the talking which made it hard for me to see if they were absorbing it all or not. At the end, I had the kids all lay down with their eyes closed and I led them through some questions about where they were at with God. I invited anyone who was interested in asking Jesus to become the leader of their life to pray with me while I led from the front. After, I asked any kids who had prayed that prayer for the first time to come forward to the front while the rest went back to their classes. There were SIX kids! I then took the time to really go over it with them. They were right with me, they understood it all… As I shared the good news with parents, I was once again blessed by their reactions. I LOVE seeing how excited they get. Many have been hoping for this moment for a long time, so it is a great privilege to get to share this with their kids.
When God breaks in, it is almost always in ways we don’t expect—and being no respecter of persons, He breaks into the lives of young and old alike! God also used our RockPointe kids and their families to break into the lives of hungry and needy people last Saturday as over 100 people made and delivered sandwiches to people on the streets in our downtown core. Not only did the Holy Spirit use this ‘Sandwich Serve’ to impact the lives of the needy, but He surprised the serving families by changing their hearts as well. One parent poignantly shared her experience in these words:
Today Lord, break my heart for what break Yours
Let us know of what God is doing in your life – just drop a note to your Site Pastor – God is at work…
Remember the challenge …don’t miss taking time to prepare your heart…
Lorne Fredlund Interim Lead Pastor RockPointe Church
This Week at RockPointe...
Did you miss the sermon on Zechariah and Elizabeth, and how God Broke Into their lives and gave them a miracle? If you missed it or would like to hear the sermon, you can catch it by clicking here.
Last week's BIG IDEA: Nothing is impossible for God. We need to trust and believe Him
Christmas Eve Services at RPC - Christmas Eve is in two weekends and we encourage you to invite your neighbours, friends, or family to attend one of our Christmas Eve services, “Emmanuel: God With Us”. This is a great opportunity for those who are not connected with a Church to hear the true meaning of Christmas and how it can transform our lives. There will be invites inserted into our bulletins this weekend for the purpose of giving them to your guests. There will be no services on Christmas Day.
RockPointe Office Christmas hours - The church offices will be closed from December 24th to December 28th. If you wish to drop off a donation prior to year end, only the Bearspaw office will be open on December 29th & 30th from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.. PLEASE NOTE – there is no service on December 31st so if you would like your yearend donation to be on your 2011 donation receipt, the donations have to be dropped off on the 29th or 30th or postmarked for the 31st. You can also donate online at www.rockpointe.ca before midnight on the 31st for the donation to count towards your 2011 donation receipt.
I close by thanking God once again for the generosity of His people in giving so that we have the necessary Kingdom resources to do what He asks us to do as a Church in our city and communities and around the world. We would love to be able to finish our 2011 with all three of our budgets on target. The amounts required to make that happen are:
Ministry Fund: $407,950 Missions Fund: $52,550 Compassion Fund: $14,850
|
|
|
More Articles...
|
|
| Page 9 of 54 |
