Happy New Year!

Good Morning Church Family and Online Community,

On this last day in 2012, I pray you are well and blessed and that this year has been a year of blessing for you. It truly was an exciting year of ministry at Christ Community. Many new opportunities were added to grow, serve and witness in our church and community. For that, I am grateful for your desire to be a part of it. Thank you for your passion to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

At the 9:26 yesterday, we were able to hear the words from our worship planning team as they shared their favorite Christmas movie and a clip from it and tied their faith journey into it. Thank you Jill, Jeremy, Cherie and Bob for offering your words to us yesterday.

At 11:00, Jon Pincek led us in a time of special music and we were able to hear the gift of music from Marilyn Stephenson and Deb Pincek. Thank you all for sharing your musical gifts with us!

This weekend, January 6, we will celebrate the Sacrament of Communion at both services. We welcome you to be a part of worship in the New Year.

Have a blessed 2013 from your church staff at Christ Community!  It is an honor to serve and lead as your pastor.


Here is a link that was sent to me this morning. Enjoy!

Flash Mob Beauty

A Weekend To Remember for So Many Reasons

Good Morning Church and Online Community,

God's abundant blessings to you this morning. This morning is not like another Monday morning. It's a morning where we go back to school, to work, and into our community with hearts that still are filled with great pain from what we witnessed in Newtown, CT on Friday. We seek the peace that passes all understanding as we make sense of all that has taken place in our nation. May the Lord continue to pour out His grace to all who are in need this day. 

In worship yesterday, we centered our thoughts around this event from Friday and sought out ways to cope and ways we, as the people of Jesus Christ can respond. I was led to preach yesterday on Matthew 5:38-44 as Jesus turned the old law into a new way of living. In this passage, Jesus said, "⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." We see, in this passage, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount requires both love of, and prayer for, our enemies. 

In our society today, we have been accustomed to living under the old law of "loving neighbor and hating enemies." We no longer seek out opportunities to love all. May we continually seek out ways to love God and love all. Love all means more than those just in our circle. Love all means, love all. Many times we hear those words "love all," but they don't resonate to our deepest core. What must we do to begin to change the world? Love all in the love of Christ. Those whom society shuns, we must love. Those whom society neglects, we must love. May we see with the lens of God's love for all of humanity. 

Yesterday, Jill Todd led our Advent lighting at the 9:26 with a profound reading as individuals representing all the lives lost lit a candle in the front of the Sanctuary. A most powerful reminder to be the Light. Both of our worship services took time to spend in prayer for all those affected by the events at Sandy Hook Elementary. May God continue to watch over all of those who mourn this day. The following video was played in worship yesterday:

Last evening, we celebrated togetherness by joining in our 2nd Annual Night of Gifts! It was a joyous evening where so many people shared their talents with the church and community! 

A special thank you is extended to all of those who made this possible! A large crowd gathered following the Night of Gifts for a time of fellowship in Oz Hall along with a surprise visit from Santa! Below you will find pictures from last night's festivities! Click on one to enlarge. 

Have a blessed week church family! It is an honor to serve and lead as your pastor. 

Turning Christmas Upside Down: Give More

Good Afternoon Church Family and Online Community,

I pray you are well and blessed today! It was a great day for worship. We have seen many coming to our church from our community recently! It has been great getting to know new faces at both services! If you see an unfamiliar face, take a moment to give them a great Christ Community welcome!

At the 9:26, we welcomed Bailey Nicole for Baptism. She is the beautiful daughter of Tony and Alisa. It was a beautiful baptism and their family was here to celebrate! 

Our focus this Sunday was on the Advent Conspiracy: Give More. In the message, I was not advocating giving more gifts, however, our focus was on giving more "presence." Offering ourselves in the light of Christ to others is one way we can creatively give more. We shared some different ways to give, one being to go to Wal-Mart and offer to pay anonymously someone's lay away balance. Simply walk to the layaway department and ask the clerk that you would like to pay for someone's layaway balance. That's just one way we can "Turn Christmas Upside Down" this Christmas.

This week, we have the joy of going to Wal-Mart to spread Christmas cheer! This Wednesday, December 12, we will meet in front of Wal-Mart (Grocery Side) and sing carols to our community as they shop! We will meet there at 6:45 p.m. If you're hungry on Wednesday, we have a potluck dinner scheduled for 5:30 p.m. We will meet in Oz Hall for dinner! All are welcome!

Have a blessed week church! Know how blessed I am to serve and lead as your pastor.

Turning Christmas Upside Down: Spend Less

Good Morning Church and Online Community!

God's blessings to you as we enter into this season of Advent! It was a joyous weekend of worship at Christ Community!

Our message centered on Jeremiah 33:7-11, 15 the calling of the Branch who would come to execute justice and righteousness, foretelling the coming of Jesus Christ. How do we spend our money at this time of year? Do we fall into the trap of excess? How much is too much?

The challenge for us is to see if we live as Christ came, executing justice and righteousness to all of God's people. Dr. Bob Todd reported that Kiva, the lending program we joined in 2011, has repaid the loan to all those who donated. Those who donated, can, if they wish, donate to another small business or group so that they can earn a profit in their way of life. If you would like to be a lender or like more info on Kiva go to Kiva's Website

We also thank Dr. Bob and Bob Kline who delivered 64 flood buckets to the Eastbrook Mission Barn over the weekend. We are grateful for all of your support to those who donated in so many ways to make this possible. We are also thankful for Ron and Cathy Wesley's organization of our church decorating night! Great job everyone!

a few pictures of our church decorating on December 1st

Tonight we gather for our Annual Church Conference with our DS, Rev. Dean Ziegler. We will gather at 7:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. All members are welcome.

This Wednesday, invite your friends and family to come out to see special guest, Rev. Jeff Vanderhoff! He is a magician and I've seen his head get bigger and smaller. He's great! He will begin at 6:45 p.m. in the sanctuary on Wednesday! Anyone is welcome! Dinner is also at 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Please contact the church office by Monday, noon to place your dinner reservation.

Have a blessed week church family! How great is it that we are nearing 65 degrees in December! Enjoy the gift! It is an honor to serve and lead as your pastor.