Do It Anyway
The 10,000 Reasons Project: Moments of “Good”
Sometimes our lives get so crazy and overwhelming that we lose the time and the mindset for thanksgiving. In those times, all the opportunity we get for gratitude is to observe the small moments of “good” that come our way.
So how’s this for good news: Pastor Jeff is cancer-free! He got a PET scan last week that showed his tumors are completely gone!
He went from having a 60% chance of being alive in five years, to having a 90% chance of being cancer-free for the rest of his life. How incredible is that? Praise the Lord!
There are so many things to be thankful for here:
- Jeff is cancer-free!!!
- the many people in many communities who prayed
- the medical staff who treated him
- Jeff’s unyielding optimism and energy
- a supportive church community
- the church staff’s preparedness and unflagging devotion
What would you add to the list?
10,000 Reasons: Another Version
Happy Monday!
Irish group Rend Collective Experiment did this beautiful version of “Bless My Soul (10,000 Reasons)” – give it a listen and get your week off to a good start!
A Poem for Life Groups
We love Life Groups so much that we wrote a poem for them! (If you want to get real particular, it’s an acrostic.)
Loving members open their homes to share,
Inspire, laugh, encourage, and care.
Food may be provided, but the real reason
Each group meets is to reconnect each season.
Grow and strengthen your faith by learning
Readings and questions based on the sermon.
Our goals are to challenge and improve your
Understanding of God’s wonderful Word,
Plus show you what Real Life is really about!
Sign up for Life Group today – don’t miss out!
This Life Group session runs April 28th-June 9th. Sign up today!
Reflections From The Pool
Yesterday was one of the two Sundays we set aside each year for baptisms. My heart is still so filled with love and praise to the amazing, life-changing God we serve!
Baptism Sundays are always my favorite days that we gather together. It is a time when the simple becomes the sacred. A 15-foot blue plastic pool set up inside a building is strange to say the least, but yesterday, the pool became a place of holy encounter.
I wish every one of you could have been in the water with me to hear all the stories I experienced yesterday. I wish you could have talked with the people who took steps of obedience in celebration of what God is doing in their lives. I wish you could have heard the powerful stories of the people who joined in to help baptize, and seen how God is using them to reach out and help people draw close to Jesus Christ. I wish every single person in our community could have joined in worship with us yesterday as we celebrated these moments of life change.
What a sacred time it was, and although it may not have looked like it, what a sacred place it became!
I want to encourage everyone who got in the pool yesterday to consider sharing your story. You’ve taken an important step on an incredible journey, and while you may not think so, you have experiences that others can benefit from hearing about. Simply email your story to laura@seekreallife.com.
God is using Real Life in amazing ways to transform lives with the love of Christ. You are a part of that awesome work! Celebrate today! Praise God today!
Soon Lloyd will have Sunday’s video edited, and we will be able to see those baptisms and rejoice and celebrate all over again.
God is doing great things. Soak it all in – these are amazing days! Thank you, Real Life, for being an amazing church!
-Pastor Jeff
April 2013 Baptisms!
This Sunday, we’re doing baptisms! We do baptisms twice a year and they’re two of our favorite Sundays of the entire year. It’s always a joy and a blessing to see so many people make public commitments to their Savior. We sing and cheer and it’s just a great time!
Check out our film of last fall’s baptisms if you don’t believe us:
We hope to see many more members of our community make a commitment and take the plunge! (Is that pun overdone? Probably.) If you’ve never been baptized before, this is a great opportunity. If you just want a symbolic “reset” of your commitment to Christ, this is a great opportunity for you, too!
If you want to learn more about baptism, you can read up about it here and even sign up if you’d like to be baptized this week!
Or, if you’re not sure you’re ready yet, don’t worry about signing up in advance – God calls us all at different times, and if He calls you on Sunday morning, we’ll definitely baptize you, even if you didn’t sign up!
Whether you’re ready to hop in the pool or not, we hope to see you on Sunday!
Poetry from Scripture
In the Good Friday service, Faith read a few poems that were created based on Bible verses. If you couldn’t make it to the service or just want to read them again, here they are!
Based on Romans 1:18-2:6
A people infected in a world that’s broken
The streets are lined with vile devotion
The curse of death and its violent commotion
Void and empty, again, a formless ocean.
People consuming, consuming their brothers
Avoiding the poor, the weak, the widowed mothers
Degrading their bodies with deep lust for another
Life and breath, God’s spirit they smother.
And a Voice calls out but is silenced by vanity
No desire for God, not for this lost humanity.
Yet, God keeps calling. But we’ve suppressed the truth.
God’s desire for each, in desperate love He pursues
Mountains, and streams and the rainbow’s hues.
Invisible made visible, leaving none with excuse.
But with rebellion comes our unfortunate dues
Given to our sin, consequence, where death ensues.
Death to our hearts. Death to our souls.
Death to our children. Death to the world.
And a Voice calls out but is silenced by vanity
No desire for God, not for this lost humanity.
And then there’s the pious, the religious and right
Judging all those who are lost in the night
Looking past themselves, past the God they’ve denied
Past the log firmly planted in their eyes.
Their fingers are curled, their arms extended
Keeping back the sinners, lowly and dejected
Their hearts are pure, they’re clean, “the elected”
Yet all the while it’s Jesus they’ve rejected.
And a Voice calls out but is silenced by vanity
No desire for God, not for this lost humanity.
Following History Channel’s “The Bible” – Week 5
Happy Easter! Last night, the History Channel aired the final episode of “The Bible.” Here’s a summary in case you missed it:
“Jesus’ fate must be decided. While High Priest Caiaphas condemns him to die, it cannot happen at Passover, so he must appeal to Roman Governor Pilate. Pilate feels intense pressure to appease his worried wife or keep the peace with Caiaphas, and he deflects his decision to the public. The crowd choose to release the murderer Barabbas, and so begins Jesus’ fateful and wretched climb to Golgotha, the place of his crucifixion. Mother Mary and the disciples live through the horror of his final hours but, as he breathes his last breath, the skies blacken, an omen of what is to come. The grief of Mary Magdalene and the disciples’ turns to joy when they realise their Lord has risen from the grave. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit invigorates the disciples, and they now have the strength to spread Jesus’ message, despite the hefty challenges they face. Disciples now become apostles – messengers of word of their Lord Jesus Christ. Early Christian persecutor Paul becomes the greatest messenger of all, taking the word into the heart of the Roman world, bringing countless followers to the new faith. The word miraculously lives on through the disciples and beyond.”
And here are a few questions to discuss with your friends and family:
- How has your life been changed by Jesus’ sacrifice?
- What are some specific images that stood out to you in the way Christ’s death is depicted in this episode?
- After seeing the sacrifice Christ made for you, is there any specific action that it motivates you towards? If so, what is it?
- What specific things stood out to you in the way Jesus’ resurrection was portrayed in this episode?
- How does Jesus’ warm and loving attitude towards all the disciples including those who deserted Him give you comfort?
- Jesus called Paul to share the Good News with the world. What is God calling you to do with your life? What’s your next step?
- What was your favorite moment from The Bible series and why? What kind of affect do you think it has had on your faith in Christ?
