Christ Church Saturday Nights!

Christ Church Saturday Nights started up this past Saturday, Easter weekend! Here is a picture of the early crowd!

I think it was a great turnout for the first Saturday! Grant and I disagree as to whether it was more packed because of Easter or less packed because of Easter...I think because it was Easter and several people were out of town, it was less. That's just my opinion though. 


The message was GREAT, in my opinion. I am trying to take good notes to relay to my blog. Grant gave us a sneak preview of what we are beginning this week. The series is called "Bizarro Jesus" where we will be removing our idea of Jesus and learning about who he really is from the scriptures. So, in his sneak preview he started out with the verses from Matthew 7:21-23:


"Not all those who say 'You are our Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven. The only people who will enter the kingdom of heaven are those who do what my Father in heaven wants. On the last day many people will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, we spoke for you, and through you we forced out demons and did many miracles.' Then I will tell them clearly, 'Get away from me, you who do evil. I never knew you.'" 


In verse 22, it shows that they say to him "Lord, Lord" which is a sign of respect...so these people know of him and who he is but they don't really KNOW Jesus. Jesus is anti-religion and the series will touch on that. Many people in our day who may be teachers are sacrificing authority of the Bible for their feelings and opinions...that is dangerous as you can see in the verses above.


Many people know of what people are now calling the "Prosperity Doctrine" that is being taught by some churches today. 2 Timonthy 4:2-4 talks about these teachers: "Preach the Good News. Be ready at all times, and tell people what they need to do. Tell them when they are wrong. Encourage them with great patience and careful teaching, because the time will come when people will not listen to the true teaching but will find many more teachers who please them by saying the things they want to hear. They will stop listening to the truth and will begin to follow false stories." (Italics mine). Who doesn't want to hear things that make them feel good? But, when it comes to the Bible and the preachers that we listen to today, we need to be challenged in the word, not just taught things that they think we want to hear. 


But, we are accountable for our actions...we must explain how we have lived:
"God's word is alive and working and is sharper than a double-edged sword. It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined, to the center of our joints and bones. And it judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. Nothing in all the world can be hidden from God. Everything is clear and lies open before him, and to him we must explain the way we have lived" Hebrews 4:12-13


How will we be able to detect false teachings and find out who Jesus really is and what he's about? Be like Jesus...be in His Word! 2 Corinthian 3:18. 


That was just a tid-bit of his sermon but it really spoke to me.


CC Saturday Night services are all about building community and working together to figure out how to live as Christians and learn about the character of God! I am excited to see where it goes from here! 


After the service, we invited the congregation to go out to eat at a Sports Grill...here is a picture of a few of us afterwards.

Til next time :)


P.S. my Mom and I found the CUTEST little onesies for Maksim...just thought I would throw this one in there! I am trying to figure out the room design for Maksim...I thought I had it the other night and then figured out the bedding was WAY too expensive for our tastes...so, back to square one :)