Committed to Christ: Bible Reading

Good Afternoon Church Family,

Today was an incredible day of worship as we celebrated Worldwide Communion Sunday. At the 9:26 worship, our time of communion lifted the ministry of Kenny Hiser, missionary to India from our church. Kenny facebooked me this week and shared some of the breads that are common to the people of India. I thank Jill Todd for arranging the breads to be shared in communion! Next Sunday's Red Church offering will go to support Kenny Hiser's mission in India.

At 11:00, we celebrated the sacrament around the rail as we gave thanks for God's indescribable gift, Jesus Christ. We welcomed April Cox today on her first "official" Sunday as our new choir director.

In our message today, we centered upon 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Scripture is God-breathed and used for teaching. We connect with God in reading of the Scriptures and our able to share our hope and our salvation through the reading, hearing and sharing of God's Word.

We thank Larry Kretzler for sharing his story of the importance of Bible Reading with us at both worship services. Many of you turned in commitment cards for a life journey of Bible reading. Here are the results:


Week 2 Bible Reading

No, I am not ready to make a commitment today     0%  
No, I am not ready to start, but I want to with all my heart     0%
Yes, I will read the Bible sometimes       12%
Yes, I will read the Bible frequently      24%
Yes, I will read the Bible daily and I am ready for a structured plan of Bible reading  24%
Yes, and today I will begin reading the entire New Testament       3%
Yes, and today I will begin reading the entire Old Testament        3%
Yes, and I will sign up for a weekly small group to study the Bible together     5%
Yes, and I will look for additional opportunities to join a Bible study       7%

Reading the Bible will be a priority in my life, growing to include the following:
I will strive for my daily life to reflect the teachings of the Bible.  I will surround my family and friends the Scripture.  Through reading the Bible I will find strength, power, peace and direction to face the week.   20%

I am praying for you this week as you have committed in one or more of the areas above.

On another note, I am proud of our youth and its leaders after spending most of Saturday in Pittsburgh serving on the Northside at New Hope UMC. Great work Cherie, Kevin and youth!

It is with a sad heart that we accept the resignation of our Christian Education Director of 14 years, Mel Alston. Mel has been an integral part of the Christ Community Church staff sharing her many talents with children/youth/and adults during her time here. Mel has taken another position outside of the church and will be traveling quite extensively with Al and their son Jake, as he is being recruited for football by many colleges. We wish Mel God's greatest blessing as she journeys in a new direction and are grateful for her love and devotion for Christ Community over these last 14 years as our Christian Education Director.

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

Sabbath Rest

I normally take Friday's as my Sabbath. Today, I had an open day. Kids were off to school, Jenn was off to work, and I had some time to enjoy God's creation in it's fullness! Can't resist the opportunity to share what I saw at McConnell's Mill and Moraine State Parks. Great day for a hike and some kayaking!

click on the pic to enlarge

The Small Things in Life...

This past weekend allowed some quality family time. Saturday night, I got to go to the "surprise" Pirate game with Abby and on Sunday, following worship, we traveled to Deer Lakes for a cheer competition to see my niece, McKenzie from Connellsville cheer.

Following the Pirate game, Abby and I were walking to the car and Abby said, "Daddy, this was one of the best surprises of my life." Thank God for those brief moments in life that bring a lifetime of memories.

Committed To Christ: Prayer

Good Morning Church and Online Community!

I pray you are well and blessed this day! It was certainly a great weekend to be together! A large number of people were in attendance for our new series: Committed To Christ. Yesterday's first commitment centered upon prayer. As we took the Scripture from Matthew 6:5-15, we see Jesus' main concern was regarding the motivation behind praying in public. Jesus demonstrated prayer by giving us, his followers the prayer that we know as The Lord's Prayer.

Cheryl Livengood shared her witness on how important prayer is in her life. Thank you Cheryl for giving your witness to the church.

At the end of the message, each of us were asked to commit to a new level of prayer in our daily life:

Here are the results: (percentage of our congregation responding to each level of commitment)


Today I am not ready to make a commitment to pray 0 %
Beginning today, I will pray when I am in a worship service 16%
Beginning today, I will pray when I am facing a difficult decision 18%
Beginning today, I will try to pray daily 16%
Beginning today, I will pray daily, using a devotional guide 7%
Beginning today, I will pray daily, remembering the prayer requests shared in worship   10%
Beginning today, I will pray daily, using the weekly prayer list from the church 7%
Beginning today, I will pray daily, setting aside 15 minutes for daily devotional time 6%
Beginning today, I will pray daily, and be in the church prayer chain or prayer group 4%
Prayer will be a priority in my life, growing to include the following:.... 16%

May we desire to commit to a greater prayer life with our Lord. 

We thank Jon Pincek, who led the 9:26 worship service while many in the band were out of town. We also recognized Jon at the 11:00 a.m. for his work as interim choir director in the month of September. At 11:00 we welcomed in person our new choir director, April Cox. April begins directing duties this Wednesday and her first official Sunday will be October 7. Welcome April!

This Sunday, our focus will be on Committed to Christ: Bible Reading from 2 Timothy 3:16-17. To engage in study, we have Wednesday Nights @ Christ Community for all ages! Dinner this week is beef stroganoff. We begin dinner at 5:30-6:30 p.m. Choir is dismissed at 6:15. Classes begin at 7:00 p.m. We welcome you to this great opportunity for study and fellowship!

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

Three Simple Rules # 3 "Stay In Love With God"

Good Morning Church and Community! 

God's abundant blessings upon you this morning! I pray each of you reading this had a great weekend. (Although the Steelers lost in the last seconds...) 

Yesterday, in worship and in children and youth Sunday school classes, we concluded our series on The Three Simple Rules. Our attention yesterday was centered upon "Staying In Love With God" based on John 21:15-17, 19 where Peter was asked three times of Jesus, "Do you love me?" Peter went on loving God's people and feeding the sheep. We were challenged to attend to the ordinances of God through our spiritual disciplines. I shared that God's creativeness gave us many ways to "connect." We watched a video that Jeremy Peffer directed us to use from Andy Stanley's Northpointe Church. You can see it here. What Way Do You Connect With God?

Yesterdays message allowed us to look at the 5 Love Languages from Dr. Gary Chapman. Chapman illustrates in his book, "The 5 Love Languages" that all of us have a primary love language. To find yours click here 5 Love Languages Assessment   for an online tool to find yours! 

If you wish, you may then go to YouVersion (What's Your Love Language) and take the Christ Community love language poll and see how you compare to the rest of the church! 

Lastly, thanks to Jeremy Peffer for filming, editing and sharing his gifts with "Butler Dad." Butler Dad, according to the Three Simple Rules concluded yesterday with this video on "Staying in Love With God." Good work Butler Dad! Butler Dad's "Stay In Love With God"

This Wednesday, we have fish and pierogies for dinner at church! If you are planning on coming for dinner, please contact the church office today with your reservation. Almost every table was full last week! It's great to see such a great crowd so early on in this new ministry! 

Next Sunday, our church will begin a new journey together through November 4.  Committed to Christ: Steps to a Generous Life will offer a road map, a series of paths, a journey toward holy living and mature Christian discipleship. It offers a vision-a vision to grow closer to the Lord through the series themes of prayer, Bible reading, worship, witness, financial giving and service. You will be invited to grow, step by step, in your life as a follower of Christ. Each week, you will be invited to fill out a commitment card to help you plan that growth. Join us in this six week stewardship program that presents giving in many ways as a part of your lifelong journey in Christian discipleship.

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

"Do Good" Rule # 2 of The Three Simple Rules

Good Morning Church and Community,

God's blessings this beautiful day from sunny Butler! It has been a beautiful weekend! Saturday, I had the honor of officiating the wedding of Melissa and Joe Suders. Melissa and Joe are relatively new to the Butler area and found Christ Community to be the perfect place for their wedding! We welcome them to Christ Community!

Our choir launched into the fall with a beautiful piece, "Come Lift Up Your Voice!" We thank our choir and Jon Pincek, interim director for leading us in worship.

Butler Dad made another appearance as he tried to understand the concept of "doing good!" You can see it here: Do Good Rule # 2 from Butler Dad

Yesterday, we centered on Chapter 2 of The Three Simple Rules by Bishop Reuben Job. Chapter 2 relates to "doing good." Our text came from John 13:34-35 a call by Jesus to "love one another." Jesus' command was an imperative one, that is, one that came with absolute necessity to follow. In two short verses, Jesus commands us to "love one another" three times. John Wesley once wrote, "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can." John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement had a vision of grace. The grace of God extending itself to us via the means of grace: prayer, fasting, study of Scripture, healthy living, Communion, Baptism, and Holy Conferencing. Wesley also was attuned to works of mercy: doing good, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, feeding and clothing those in need, earning, saving and giving all one can and the seeking of justice.

We were encouraged to live in a way of living good that will require us to live in continual assessment of life: that is, to do good and to make a wise decision to follow Christ in all we say and do.

Over this past year, our church, has had the opportunity to do good when it applies to extravagant generosity. Pledging for 2012, increased our pledging contributions tremendously. Our receipts YTD, surpass our expenses by over $20,000 and our spending is approximately $2,500 below our YTD spending expectancy.

This faithfulness on the church's part has allowed us to do more good, living into our mission even more faithfully! This has allowed our church to give a gift of the Three Simple Rules to each family unit in the church so that each of us are growing together in discipleship. Our children/youth ministries are working on the Three Simple Rules too! Your goodness has allowed us to launch new ministries like Wednesday Nights @ Christ Community, giving people of all ages an opportunity to study, fellowship and grow. These are just a few examples of how you are reaching out in faith and showing God's grace and goodness! Thank you church for your response!

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

A New Ministry Begins Tonight!

Good Morning!

The new iPhone5 comes out today! However, that's not the only new thing out! Wednesday Nights @ Christ Community begins this evening! It will be a great opportunity for you to grow in faith through a meal around the table with church family, singing in choirs (Adult and Children and Youth), children and youth studies, adult studies and much more! Dinner begins at 5:30 p.m. Nursery care is available from 6:30-8:15 p.m. This will be an incredible opportunity for you to know, grow and go! All are welcome!