Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Give Thanks...


Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, and people everywhere are busy preparing, traveling, cleaning, and getting ready for company.  Things are no different here at CCW, as we are preparing for our Thanksgiving Feast tomorrow, where we expect to feed over 200 people (CLICK HERE for more info). 

But before we get too busy, let’s take time to remember why we are thankful.  Sure we are thankful for having a place to live, food to eat, family, these are not small things.  But as Christians we have so much more reason to be thankful, because we have been given a kingdom which cannot be shaken (Heb 12:28), we have been given eternal life (John 3:15), we have been given abundant life (John 10:10), all through the person of Jesus Christ! 

O Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth; The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. -- Psalm 95:1-6

This Sunday will be normal service times, 9 & 11 am, and we’ll be finishing up the account of David and Goliath: Rally in the Valley Part 2!

… till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Rally in the Valley


This Sunday we are going to explore what could be said to be the most famous battle ever fought:  David & Goliath.  It’s the quintessential story of good vs evil, of the weak vs the strong, the story of the victory of the underdog. It’s the Old Testament version of Rocky!

Something that really intrigues me about this account is the aspect of God’s plan, linked together with David’s obedience, empowered by David’s faith and God’s Spirit working in David, produced a result that absolutely no one was expecting. No one, that is, except God!

See sometimes it seems that we’re all alone in our endeavor.  No one is for us, and no one is willing to go into the battle with us. But saints, we are NOT alone.  God is for us, and He will empower us if we will step out in faith to what He has called us to.  Even slaying giants!

Join us Sunday, for 1 Samuel 17, Rally in the Valley!

…till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The Power of Worship


And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him. – 1 Sam 16:23

This past Sunday we learned a powerful truth that I believe has the power to change our walk with Christ:  The Power of Worship.

We learned that worship has power:  Power to bring refreshment, power to bring victory, and power to bring the Kingdom!

But why is worship really important?  What’s the big deal?  Isn’t it just music? 

Worship can involve music, but it is so much more.  Worship is something that dates to eternity past that involved an angel who was called the “seal of perfection.” His name was Lucifer:

“You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.
“You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
-- Ez 28:12-14

Ezekiel is describing an angelic being that radiated the splendor of God in all of His creative ability.  This being was crafted to produce beauty: He was beautiful to look upon, and beautiful to listen to.  This being was created to bring glory to the Living God in the eternal realm.

But there was a problem – apparently Lucifer was so splendid, so incredible, that he became completely enamored of himself, and decided that he should be the one receiving worship. And this was a problem:

You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.
“By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.
“Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you.
-- Ez 28:12-17

Isaiah 14 describes the fall:

Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your stringed instruments; The maggot is spread under you, and worms cover you.’
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart:‘ I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.
“Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying:‘ Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms,
Who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?’
-- Is 14:11-17

From this we learn that worship is holy, that it is set apart for God alone, for God alone is the only being worthy of our worship.  Lucifer, who we now call Satan, is not worthy of our worship, yet he desires it more than anything else.  That tells you something about the importance and value of worship.  And it brings us back to our truth about what worship brings:

Refreshment
When we are engaged in worship of the true and Living God, the result is refreshment.  But its not refreshing because the music is nice, it is refreshing because God is enthroned on the praise of His people:

But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel. – Ps 22:3

In other words, when we praise Him, a spiritual reality is happening, we are enthroning God in our praise.  As we enthrone God, God refreshes us – as rain refreshes the fields:

Ask the LORD for rain, in the time of the latter rain. The LORD will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field for everyone.
– Zech 10:1

Victory
This is pretty simple to me.  Satan desires to receive worship as God, but he isn’t God.  When we worship the true God, it throws that reality right in Satan’s face!  He can’t stand it. The enemies of God flee when God’s people worship Him. In military terms, when you’re enemy runs away, it’s called victory!

Kingdom
As Christians we live with the promise of the future eternal kingdom of God in heaven, but there is a present sense of the kingdom of God that we should not miss: God working in and through us!  When the Pharisee’s asked Jesus about the kingdom, He replied:

The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you. -- Luke 17:20-21

Saints, we should keep our eye’s focused on the coming of our Lord:

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ… -- Phil 3:20

But we also should walk in the power and freedom of the kingdom of God that is within us.  Worship is something that recognizes that kingdom, embraces that kingdom, and manifests the power and presence of the Living God in our lives right now – today!

Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.
For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.
Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
 Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, Give to the LORD glory and strength.
Give to the LORD the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.
-- Ps 96:1-9

Think about these truths the next time you come to worship the Lord, whether in church, your home, or sitting on the beach.  


Pastor Clay

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

God's Plan for your life


Last week we were introduced to a young man named David, who at the time was only a young boy keeping sheep, but we know that God had bigger plans for David’s life!

I hear many people ask the question: “Does God have a plan for my life?” Here’s the deal: The question is NOT “does God have a plan,” but rather “What is God’s plan for my life?” Because rest assured, God DOES have a plan for your life! You may not know it yet, God may not have revealed it to you completely, but I want you to know, for sure, God has a plan for you!  The problem is that often we see ourselves as just one of billions, and we think God has other, more important people to work with.

This past week the population of the earth passed seven BILLION. That is a lot of people! But here’s the thing:  

You are not just a speck of life in a pool of humanity; God specifically designed you in your mother’s womb as a unique individual, different from each and every other of the seven billion people on this planet.   

And if God custom designed you, then it stands to reason that He custom designed you for a purpose!  And that purpose cannot be fulfilled by any other of the seven billion people on this planet, because they are not YOU! And it really doesn’t matter if our purpose seems to be as important as the next person because everything that God does works together to fulfill His great commission: to spread the gospel message from one end of the earth to the other.  There are no minor parts.  Every part is important.

So folks, don’t limit what God can do through based on your view of your importance, or your age, or even your ability’s, because that is not what God needs.  God only needs two things in order to work through us, like we learned about David:

#1 – A heart that seeks after God
#2 – The filling of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

That’s it!  I know, it sounds simple.  That’s why a lot of people miss it completely. I think it’s time we begin to fully and completely seek after God, and ask be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, and let’s just see what God might do! Trust me, if you seek Him, He will answer.  Jesus promised it:

For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.  Luke 11:10

Pastor Clay

Thursday, November 03, 2011

David, God's Chosen King

One of the things that Christians often struggle with is knowing the will and call of God on their life. We’ll assess our gifts, our abilities, and our circumstances, and try to figure out what God has in store for us. 

The problem is we often see ourselves as small and unimportant; a mere speck in the pool of seven billion lives on this planet. But if that is how we see ourselves, we would be wrong! Each and every life is important to God. Each and every believer has a plan and a purpose for the life they have received. Jesus said

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly! -- John 10:10

You see, God’s ways are higher than ours. He see’s the future, we cannot.  He see’s what we are capable of, while we do not.  Even more important, God can see what He is going to accomplish through us by the working of His mighty power in our lives.

This Sunday we will be introduced to a young man named David who, it could be said, was fairly obscure.  He was the youngest of eight brothers.  He was the least of all the members of his family.  He was so unimportant that when the prophet Samuel invited his family to a sacrifice and a meal, he wasn’t even invited.  But God knew who David was.  God had already searched the heart of this young man named David, and saw things in his future that David had never even dreamed of.

What was the defining characteristic of David?  Was he big and strong?  Was he valiant?  Was he skilled with a sword? Doubtful, as David was probably between 10-15 years old at that time. But there were two things in particular that set David apart:

#1 – David was a man after God’s heart:
The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people – 1 Sam 13:14

#2 – The Spirit of the Lord was on David:
…the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. -- 1 Sam 16:13

The interesting thing about these two attributes is that we aren’t born with them, and they aren’t the result of good genes or family endowment.  These are attributes that are available to any born-again believer that is willing to submit their life to God, and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

God’s choice of David shows that we don’t have to quit our jobs and enter into full-time ministry to be people after God’s own heart. We don’t need to be famous or prominent to be people after God’s own heart. We don’t need to be respected or even liked by others to be people after God’s own heart. We don’t need status, influence, power, the respect or approval of men, or great responsibilities to be people after God’s own heart.All we need is a heart that is submitted to God and to the Holy Spirit that lives within us.

Don’t miss this Sunday, as we open a new chapter in our study of 1 Samuel: David, God’s Chosen King

… till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay