Bob Nelson

Forgive me for making a slight commercial, but I'm very excited that Bob Nelson is coming to our Church for a Comedy Concert on March 4th, 2011 at 7:00 PM.  His career has taken him to HBO, Letterman, The Tonight Show, Merv Griffin, the silver screen, Broadway, Radio City Music Hall, and even the White House where he performed for Ronald Reagan.  If you are going to be in the area, you won't want to miss this.  Follow the link below to the Church website for more information.
www.northsidechristianchurch.net/page.cfm?page_nbr=146

The Bible in 90 Days

This Sunday, our Church will begin the Bible in 90 Days Challenge!  I'm very excited about this opportunity.  Let me know if you've ever tried something similar.  Blessing?  Challenges?

Glory

The glory of the Lord continues to unfold right before our eyes.  I'm not sure we can fully understand just how big the glory of God is.  In Isaiah 6, we see that the train of His robe filled up the entire temple...and that was just the train of His robe.  How much more the full robe!  Throughout all peoples, tribes, languages, nations, and even time itself, we see that God's glory gets bigger and bigger.  It's like when you drive to the Rocky Mountains.  When you're crossing through Kansas and you first begin to come into Colorado, you can see the mountains on the horizon, but the closer you get, the bigger and more magnificent they become.  The longer I'm with God the more magnificent He becomes to me.  The more I grow in the Christ, the smaller I get.  I guess that may be what God's glory is all about.  Let me know what you think.

Leave the Water Pot

As a worship leader, I have regularly taught out of John 4 as a passage about what God really wants...worshippers.  This morning, my eyes were opened to another application point from Jesus' encounter with this Samaritan woman.  Before you read on, please read John 4.  She came to the well for water, but she was confronted with her sinful pattern.  Jesus offers her living water that will completely satisfy her (unlike her sinful pattern).  In verse 28 it says that she left the water pot and went into town.  How many of us have recognized the eternal source of life that Jesus is, but continue to haul around an old water pot?  We try and fill it up with a sinful pattern, or sinful thoughts only to find that we are dissatisfied and have to fill it up again.  Jesus is the source of true life.  When we leave the "water pot" totally behind and let Him give us life, then we'll truly be living.  So, what is the water pot you are holding onto?

Unfair is Good

Normally, we don't like it when things are unfair.  We prefer fair treatment.  My kids are prime examples of this.  When one has a snack, the other has to have one...even if he's not hungry.  This is just the tip of the iceberg.  We all want things to be fair.  But the one area where we benefit from unfairness is with God's grace.  Romans 5:12-21 tells us that God's grace is far greater than our sin.  Imagine that your sin is on one side of a scale and God's grace is on the other side.  They do not balance each other out.  It's not like a yin and yang.  God's grace is far greater.  Take some time this week to thank God for His marvelous grace that washes you clean and ushers you into His presence.

Momentum

This Fall, our Church will be going through a sermon series and small group study called Momentum.  It's a study of the driving force of God's Spirit through the book of Acts!  I have been excited about this season at Northside for most of this year and it's finally upon us.  What has blown me away, however, is how God has begun building Momentum in this congregation even before we officially started the series!  Once again, God has reminded me in a simple way how this is His Church.  He brings the growth.  I'd love to hear how God is building spiritual momentum in your life.  Take a few minutes to respond and brag on God.

Time for Sabbath

I'm heading on vacation for a few days this week.  This will be a great time for me to get away with my wonderful wife and three kids.  I'm praying that this becomes a chance for me to get away and devote some serious and focused time with the Lord.  Even Jesus needed that time with the Father, so why shouldn't I?  If you have any ideas on what would make some great devotional books or music for this time, I would appreciate the help.  Unfortunately, you'd have to reply in about 24 hours from this posting!  I'll be in the wonder-land of not having access to internet!