Don’t forget that this weekend on Saturday night before you go to bed to set your clocks forward one hour. I really dislike that I lose an hour of sleep but at the same point I am looking forward to worshiping God sooner with everyone at Coastal Community Church on Sunday. I guess that there is a pro to every con. Look forward to seeing you Sunday at 10am at Monarch High School.
I cannot believe how fast this year is going. I am starting to put together my message for Easter, which is April 4th, and thinking about all of the people who will come to church this one day of the year. What an opportunity for us as a church to show people that the church isn’t about rules or religion but about relationship. I know that God has brought COASTAL COMMUNITY CHURCH to COCONUT CREEK for a reason. That reason is to show people that God loves them unconditionally and that he sent his son over 2000 years ago so people could not just know about him but KNOW HIM!
I want to encourage each person to step out in faith and invite your friends, neighbor, co-worker, the clerk at the grocery store, the barista at Starbucks, or basically anyone that is breathing air on this planet to church. They will come, they are programmed to come, they want to come. The question is, will you ask them to come with you?
Can we seize the opportunity that is before us to reach people for Jesus? I believe we can.
I know that because pastors get up on stage every weekend and talk about the Word of God that everyone thinks that we are the most secure people in the world and that nothing really hurts us. We are these indestructible forces who need to perform up to par week in and week out. We can never say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, in essence we have to be perfect.
One of the things that I struggle with is that I hope that every weekend that people like what I communicate. I determine for some reason that the amount of praise I get determines my value. I don’t know why I think this way, but actually I do. The reason why is that just like most people out there, I am insecure. I allow my perceived value and worth to be determined by others. I know that it looks like I have it all together because I talk about the issues of everyday life and how to handle them according to God’s Word, but the reason I know how to handle them is cause I am going through them myself. I am not indestructible, perfect or got it all together. I am just normal and trying to figure it all out. I am self conscience and struggle with not having it all together.
February 25, 2010 - 9:53 am - Sunday's message was God's Message from God's Word. He promised that His Word would NOT RETURN VOID. IT WILL ACCOMLISH THAT WHICH I SENT IT TO DO!!! Keep being faithful to speak His Word, It is being used POWERFULLY in my life and I've been sharing it throughout the week to those who need to hear it too!!! The Holy Spirit will guide our APPLYING IT PERFECTLY IN ALL SITUATIONS. s.t.o.p. SAVOR THE OBSERVABLE PRESENCE.
I am so jacked up for this weekend at Coastal Community Church . I love the series that we are doing right now called UNWRITTEN. It is so important for our walk with Christ that we get a vision of where we are going in life so we can make decisions based on the direction we are suppose to go. It is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of life and lose track of where we are and where we are going.
This weekend is going to be incredible. We have some things planned that are going to knock your socks off. I am going to be sharing a principle that has transformed my life personally and I believe will help guide you in relationships. You do not want to miss what is going to happen. I want to encourage you to invite a friend or three or thirty three because this weekend is going to be transforming.
Can’t wait to see you this Sunday, February 21st at Monarch High School at 10am.
One of the things that I have struggled a lot with in life is the fact that I don’t have a lot of formal education. I always have this bit of a chip on my shoulder because of it. I feel like I have to work a lot harder to prove myself because I don’t have a piece of paper that says I endured school. The question that I fear internally the most is the question of, “What qualifies you to be a pastor?”
I did attend an institute of ministry called Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Ok. but did not finish. I got hired by a church after my first year and never returned to finish up my degree. Because I don’t have a degree I have always felt like a less than and that I didn’t know enough. The real problem with this thinking is that I have always felt like I have had to make up my inadequacies by outworking everyone else. I told my pastor and mentor Randy Bezet one day that a lot of people are smarter, better looking, more educated and have more potential but it is really hard to beat someone in life who doesn’t sleep. I have made it my mission to outwork anyone and by doing that I can beat anyone. The thing that you don’t realize when you outwork everyone is that you truly sacrifice other areas of your life.
I would say that there have been times that I have had an affair on my wife. It was never with a person but with my work. There were times when I loved my job more than I loved her. There were times that I would sacrifice for the church but would not budge for her. All because of my insecurity in feeling less than I would hurt the one person who thought I was a more than.
I am totally not qualified by peoples standards to be a pastor of a church, but I am qualified by God’s. That is the thing that I had to learn. I had to learn that he was the one that called, qualified, and equipped not some person or institution. I had to learn that my greatest and first ministry started first and foremost in my home with my wife, who is my partner. I am so thankful for an amazing woman that I get to do life with everyday who I love more than life itself.
God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
February 19, 2010 - 6:18 pm - AMEN!!!
by T.J.
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