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Beloved Christ Community Members and Friends, Grace and Peace. This Sunday, March 15, we are canceling all gathered worship services. We will offer Live-Stream worship services at 8:30 and 11:00 AM. This Sunday, I will be preaching from Romans 8:26-39 and our full liturgy will be available in a downloadable format for your family and small group to use. * C3 Children’s Ministry Director Becky Clark will also be making a downloadable children’s lesson available. * C3 Next Gen Pastor Charles Johnson will be in communication with Student Ministries families in the coming week. Follow the links below to join... Read this post

‘#GirlDad’ is going viral and understandably so. Asked by someone whether he and his wife Vanessa might have another child in hopes of a son being born, blessed as they were already with daughters, Kobe Bryant responded, “I’m a girl-dad.” For Kobe, there was nothing out of balance with being a dad to ‘only’ girls – and thank heavens for that response. His late daughter Gigi backed him up too. When it was suggested that Bryant needed a son to carry on his sports legacy, Gigi answered, “I’ve got this.” From all accounts, she did. She was a gifted player,... Read this post

Clarity and Charity 2 The Foundation of Christian Sexual Ethics 1 Corinthians 6:9-20 January 12, 2020 As we noted last week in Paul’s earliest letter, addressed to the Thessalonians, Christians are called to sacrificial love and sexual holiness. * Holiness is not rigid and repulsive but beautiful in every way. We worship in “the beauty of holiness” – Ps 29 There are many competing voices today on both love and holiness and whether eternal standards for such matters even exist. As a Christian community, we are looking at the documents, at the teaching of Jesus Christ and his Apostles on... Read this post

Clarity and Charity 1 1 Thessalonians 4:1-10 January 5, 2020 Paul was with these people only a brief time before persecution forced him out of the city and down to Athens and then on to Corinth. This was a small fledgling Christian Community to whom Paul wrote and this is the first letter Paul ever sent to a church. That makes it the first document of the Christian Scriptures. That’s important to know – when we read this passage we are getting a sense of ‘firsts’, of the basics for what Paul wanted in life for those who called themselves... Read this post

One We Struggle in this Conversation – Our Own Sins (and shame) – Our Own Suffering (abuse and temptation) – The Church’s Failures Abuse of children and women Self-Righteousness and Neglect – The Pace of Cultural Change Acceleration and Language Two Why We Need this Series 1. Declare the Whole Counsel of God – The Bible is not anti-sex; exactly the opposite! 2. Deal with Falsehoods – Permissiveness and Culture Warriorism 3. Deal with Confusion and Questions 4. Open Up Avenues of Healing – These broken places can be healed 5.Open Up Hearts to Gospel-Shaped Living – Concerns for our... Read this post

One of the responsibilities of Pastors is to lead in repentance. A friend of mine recently pointed out to me that what I wrote below was uncharacteristically uncharitable and censorious. He was right. I’m sorry. And here’s the deal. I’ve deleted a large portion of this, not because I think what I wrote is incorrect but because even if it is correct, this isn’t the way to express disagreement or even offer a reproof. This kind of approach simply causes distress and offers no appeal to our better angels. I apologize. Pray I’ll do better. When I wrote it, I... Read this post

The aesthetics of worship are always a source of both inspiration and conflict. From sound, light, color, and clothing to bread, wine, oil, and water the elements that constitute the look and feel of worship are massively important and even defining of what a church is all about. Think about it. If a Pastor stands on a large platform behind a plexiglass pulpit wearing a Hawaiian print shirt and skinny jeans, and is surrounded by guitar stands, his image broadcast on large screens in a room without windows and illuminated by theater lights, you know that’s a particular kind of... Read this post

These are the sermon outline notes from September 8, 2019 Scandalous Savior Healer of Hearts and Homes Mark 10:1-16/Matthew 19:1-15 Sept 8, 2019 The ‘jagged stones…’ – David Brooks We’ve all been impacted by divorce. There is no one here who has not been wounded through divorce, unhealthy marriages, and family brokenness. Pastors sense the need to navigate a minefield when they approach this issue. Why? Christians and non-Christians alike are impacted by these issues in very painful ways People here who are going through a divorce Want a divorce or fear a divorce Single people who can feel left... Read this post

Paul’s Big, Wild, Loving, Punch in Gut Letter to the Corinthians “I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters…” – 2 Corinthians 10:9 Lesson One: The Big Picture Suppose you overheard a conversation about a big church in a major city that was having problems with divisions in their fellowship rooted in the powerful preachers they preferred, the place of spiritual gifts, how women were supposed to function in ministry, marriage, divorce, and celibacy, the way the wealthy handled the poor, and whether or not they were being too accommodating to the prevailing culture on... Read this post