CCW Podcast

This Sunday, our practical series continues with Everyday Christianity: How to Live out Your Faith in Your Home. We, as parents, help determine how high our children will rise. That is why we must, first of all, create the right climate in our home. The words you speak, the order you establish, the music and television programs you allow, and the time spent on social media we allow are molding our children’s character and future. If we are too busy to notice these things we are too busy. Secondly, we need to give them the right mentors. Ruth followed Naomi. Timothy followed Paul. Our children are going to follow someone. The question is, who? Our best defense against destructive influences is offensive teaching, and a Christ-like example. Read God’s Word to them each day. Pray over them and with them. Do it! Don't be shy. Satan won't be shy with his tricks.

We continue our practical series on Everyday Christianity: How to Live out Your Faith. The focus this week is Your Church! Colossians 4:7-18 describes an organization composed of many members, varying in gifts and backgrounds, and yet one unit in that God uses us for one purpose, serving as a team and not separately. Church history tells us that the Church has grown because everybody found their gift and utilized it for the glory of God.

This Sunday we will look at the makeup of the church and I trust the Spirit of God will show us that every role is essential. The leader, whether the Apostle Paul, or myself and the pastoral staff, is responsible to equip the body for the work of the ministry, but the work of the ministry requires a large group of people for the work of the Church to be successful. This Sunday we will see how we can follow the example of the Church at Colossae, as they lived out their Christianity through their Church.

I hope you're enjoying this practical series on Everyday Christianity: How to Live out Your Faith. The focus for this week is Your Faith! I have been blessed by the Lord to have been in the company of some great men of God. Men, who by the lives they have lived, the message they have preached and the motives from which they served the Lord have made a great impact on my life. I am so thankful for those who have lived Jesus in front of me and have demonstrated to me the truth that regardless of what we do, our motives should always be pure and our life a living reflection of who Jesus is. The Apostle Paul was this kind of man. Paul was a living example to us all of what a genuine Christian should be. Come this Sunday and take a close look with me, at how Paul lived out his faith everyday.

Last Sunday, we began our new series on Everyday Christianity: How to Live out Your Faith. The area of focus for this week is YOU! What does it mean to live out your faith every day? What does it mean to have a testimony for the Lord?

James reminds us that life is “like a vapor, that appears for a little time” (James 4:14). We can learn two things from this statement. One, life is short, and two, life is significant. While we are here upon earth we “appear” before men and women for who you are. As short as your life is, it makes its own impact, in terms of behavior, influence, service, and sacrifice. As Paul puts it, “None of us lives to himself” (Romans 14:7). In this sense, each life is of tremendous significance. "You are writing a gospel, a chapter each day, by the deeds that you do and the words that you say. Men read what you write, distorted or true. What is the gospel according to you?" That little line of poetry has stuck with me for years to remind me that we are to be a living testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ every day, every where we go. So let your light shine!

This Sunday, we begin our new series on Everyday Christianity: How to Live out Your Faith. Pastor Rick will kick us off with a message focused on Everyday Christianity in the the Schools. Students, parents, teachers, and everyone who cares about the next generation will want to come with a heart prepared to hear from God's word and Rick's years of experience in student ministry.

This Sunday, we will be looking at our last Core Value - Fulfilling Service. Last week we learned that we are Living Stones being built together into a spiritual house - 1 Peter 2:4. We all are part of a construction project working together as co-laborers - 1Corinthians 3:9. We all have a ministry that we must fulfill in building God’s house. Ministry is an act of service given in Jesus’ name. That’s why everyone's ministry is so important. Taking people like you and me, finding out what our gifts are, and offering ourselves into service and circulation in the body of Christ. This Sunday we will look at why every Christian should use their gifts for ministry.

As we continue our study of our core values, following clear biblical truth, intimate fellowship, we now move to vibrant worship. "Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being" (Psalm 146:1-2). "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created" (Revelation 4:11). Worship is the highest activity of man; and the redeemed soul rises to its highest potential and capacity when it engages in deep reflective thought of our God. "True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). The central teaching of Scripture is the worship of God. Man was made for worship, and he rises to his highest potential especially as a redeemed person when he worships. This Sunday we will see what Christian worship is.

Loving one another through Intimate Fellowship is a core value at CCW. We know the story of John 13 well. It’s the last evening that our Lord spends with the disciples before the Garden of Gethsemane, before the cross. And as Jesus is spending time with those disciples, we see Jesus talking about this incredible love that we are to have for one another. He said that we must love one other just as He loved us. If we love each other, everyone will know that we are His disciples (John 13:34-35). This Sunday we will look at what we must do to love as Jesus loved.

God’s Word is the ultimate authority in this world. What God says is far more important than our opinions. CCW is committed to presenting Clear Biblical Truth, because it is so essential to our lives as Christians. This is why it is one of our core values. This Sunday we will see how the words of Jesus changed the disciples lives in Luke 5:1-11. When God's word comes to you, it will have an impact on you as well. I can't wait to share this beautiful story of how the word of God changes lives. Come early as we look at what God’s word will do for you and me when we allow it to have the same place in our hearts that the disciples allowed for Jesus that day.

This Sunday, we will be starting our Core Values sermon series. We'll begin by looking at the foundation for these core values which is our vision and mission. The vision statement for CCW is to be a gospel-centered, community church for all generations. You've often heard us say that our purpose is to "Share the good news with every generation". Our mission is to have a great commitment to a great commandment. We want to love people, love God, and to serve the community at home and abroad. So how can we influence our community? We must be Salt and Light, just as Jesus commanded. Salt is no good if it stays in a salt shaker and Light is no good if it is never turned on. To be effective, Salt and Light must be used. The same is true of us, as Christians. We must be of use at home, at work, at school, and everywhere we are. In Jesus’ prayer the night before His crucifixion, He said He brought glory to God the Father by completing the work the Father gave Him to do (John 17:4). Then, He prayed in John 17:18, that just as "you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world". We have a mission, just as Jesus did, to bring glory and honor to God by finishing the work God has sent us to do. We must be Salt and Light.