Bay Area Community Church

This weekend we celebrated Lead Pastor Greg St. Cyr and his wife Mary Kaye's 25th anniversary of serving at Bay Area! In Mark 10:45, Jesus gives us an example of laying down one's life for others, and in many ways Greg and Mary Kaye have spent the last two-and-a-half decades doing just that as they have served and led our church family. This weekend, we honored their example of denying self and being obedient to God's call as we explored in Scripture what it means for each of us to live a life of extraordinary faith.

We are engaged in an unseen war. It is a battle between two kingdoms: light and darkness, good and evil, heaven and hell. It’s a spiritual battle with one whom the Bible refers to as a dragon, serpent, murderer, liar, thief and many other terms. Satan comes against us seeking to draw us away from God, to deny God’s purposes and glory in our life, and ultimately to destroy us. This struggle is a deliberate, willful, well-designed war initiated by the devil who holds far too many of us in bondage. Join us as we learn how Jesus gives us victory and freedom over our greatest enemy.

There is no greater celebration of victory than Easter! Christ is NOT dead. He’s risen! The resurrection is God’s “amen” to the cross. The resurrection is the Father’s guarantee that we can be forgiven. The resurrection says that true life, eternal life is available. The resurrection makes possible the “branch life” that abides and bears fruit. At Easter we have the privilege of gathering to worship our resurrected Savior and proclaim His Good News to all who come.

Life at its best, life the way God designed it, is found by abiding in the Vine. That’s where the fruit is. We’ve talked about the fruit of answered prayer and love. This week Jesus shows us how to have joy overflowing. It’s a joy independent of circumstances because it is His joy in us that makes our joy full. Are you a bit discouraged, disappointed, depressed or know someone who is? Then this message is for you!

Before the days of rampant texting, spending hours on social media, and smart phones in every pocket, if you wanted to keep in touch with a loved one you wrote letters. This helped my game in trying to win my wife Kristen’s affection. She loves words. We’ve been married for 15 years, and she still loves words. You can call that her “love language.” If we want to abide in the Vine, we need to become conversant in God’s love language: obedience. Obey what? Obey who?

Why is it that for so many of us our prayer life is lackluster? We know we should pray. At times we will ourselves to pray. Yet we lack motivation. Answers to our prayers seem few and far between. What’s the solution? It’s found in one word, “abide.” Abiding in the Vine is the basis for a rich, rewarding and powerful prayer life.

As a church, we’re focusing on a chapter of the Bible that will guide us this Easter season: John 15. On the eve of His betrayal, Jesus uses a word picture to show us how to live a fruitful life. God's desire for each of us is that we be fruitful. What does that mean and how do we experience it? The key is found in one phrase: abide in the Vine.

Do you remember Captain Planet? It was a cartoon where five kids each had a special power emanating from a cool ring. Sometimes they could handle a disaster on their own, but in every episode they faced a problem that could only be handled when they combined their powers, summoning “Captain Planet.” The church is kind of like this. We have all been given individual spiritual gifts, but it’s when everyone is contributing that we are best able to show Jesus to the world, and to each other. In exploring “How This Thing Works,” this week we will learn how our church can become an unstoppable force for Christ.

IKEA is a global furniture giant that figured out how to get you to build your own furniture with a tiny Allen wrench. It's the only tool in a box full of hundreds of parts. That also amazes me – how many parts go into building even the smallest of bookshelves. And it turns out, those parts – down to the smallest and most random – all have an integral role to play in the structure. Local churches are like that. Jesus is building His church, building us, and we are all parts of that structure; we all have a integral part to play. As all the pieces build into one another, we discover that none of us are spare parts.

Life is short. God has a plan. He wants to use you! Don’t miss this sermon as we hear from six of our global mission partners, who have flown in from around the world to be with us. Travel the jungles of India, reach young people in Ghana, impact children in war-torn South Sudan, serve the poor in Belize, learn about church planting in Russia, and bring the gospel to Muslims in Southeast Asia. I hope you'll join us and have your world expanded as you are challenged to come help change the world in your lifetime!