Cedar Crest

Jesus draws a clear line in Matthew 6 between two ways of living: one centered on earthly things and one centered on Him. A man-centered worldview revolves around getting more for yourself, while a Christian worldview filters everything through the lens of Christ. Where you invest your time, talent, and money reveals what you actually value most. Money is not evil, but it makes a terrible master, and no one can serve both God and money at the same time. When Jesus truly becomes your greatest treasure, everything else finds its proper place. The disciplines of prayer, generosity, and fasting help shape this kind of worldview from the inside out. Fame, success, and wealth cannot fix what is broken on the inside. Only Jesus can, and His invitation is open to anyone who calls on His name.Looking to get involved or take a next step? Check out the links below:🌐 Website: www.ccbchurch.org🙏 Prayer Requests: www.ccbchurch.org/prayer📅 Upcoming Events: www.ccbchurch.org/calendar

Fasting is one of the most overlooked disciplines in modern Christianity, yet Jesus assumed His followers would practice it. At its core, fasting is a willing embrace of physical hunger to express a greater spiritual hunger for God. It is not a bargaining chip, a path to a problem-free life, or a way to earn spiritual gifts. Instead, fasting reorients our focus back to God, exposes what is truly going on inside us, and reignites a passion for Him. The Bible presents three types of fasting: total, normal, and partial, each rooted in self-denial and dependence on God rather than self-improvement. Jesus warned against fasting for public attention, as the Pharisees did, and called His people to fast with pure, private motives. When paired with prayer, fasting helps tune out the noise of life so we can hear from God more clearly. It is not about performing a religious act but about humbling ourselves and making room for God to move.

Prayer is not optional for the Christian life. It is as essential as breathing. In Matthew 6, Jesus gives His followers a clear pattern for how to pray, warning against praying for public attention or filling prayers with empty, meaningless words. Instead, He calls us to pray with an honest heart, in private communion with God, using the framework of the Lord's Prayer as a guide. That framework covers six key themes: Perspective, Praise, Place, Provision, Pardon, and Protection. When we stop praying, we quietly declare that we have things under control, but the truth is we were never meant to live this life on our own. A consistent, honest prayer life is one of the most powerful things a believer can cultivate.Looking to get involved or take a next step? Check out the links below:🌐 Website: www.ccbchurch.org🙏 Prayer Requests: www.ccbchurch.org/prayer📅 Upcoming Events: www.ccbchurch.org/calendar

Communion is one of the oldest and most meaningful practices in the Christian faith, yet familiarity can quietly drain it of its power. Instituted by Jesus Himself, the Lord's Table is designed for believers who confess Him as Lord, and it calls us to approach it with honesty and intention. When we do, it redirects our eyes toward Jesus, realigns us with His purposes, recommissions us for the mission He has placed us on, and reignites a deep and lasting joy. Paul's instructions in 1 Corinthians 11 are clear: confess unconfessed sin, seek reconciliation in broken relationships, and come to the table prepared. The empty tomb is not just a historical fact. It is a living declaration that shapes how we walk out the door every Monday morning.Looking to get involved or take a next step? Check out the links below:🌐 Website: www.ccbchurch.org🙏 Prayer Requests: www.ccbchurch.org/prayer📅 Upcoming Events: www.ccbchurch.org/calendar

Jesus did not frame giving, prayer, and fasting as optional. In Matthew 6, He used the word 'when,' not 'if,' making clear that these are expectations for every follower, not suggestions for the spiritually elite. The real question is not whether we do these things, but why we do them. When our motivation is to be seen by others, public approval is all we receive. When our motivation is God alone, He becomes our audience and our reward. All of this flows from one source: abiding in Christ daily. When we stay connected to Him, our eyes open to the needs around us, and the Holy Spirit leads us into moments of mercy and grace that open doors to the gospel.Looking to get involved or take a next step? Check out the links below:🌐 Website: www.ccbchurch.org🙏 Prayer Requests: www.ccbchurch.org/prayer📅 Upcoming Events: www.ccbchurch.org/calendar

Loving your enemies is one of the clearest and hardest commands in all of Scripture. In Matthew 5:43-48, Jesus calls His followers to love, pray for, and act toward their enemies in a way that reflects the character of God. The command to hate your enemy was never in Scripture to begin with. It was a man-made addition that Jesus directly corrected. Loving only those who love you back is simply human nature, not a Christian distinctive. Followers of Christ are called to something higher. The goal is to reach a place where, through love, prayer, and forgiveness, we can honestly say we have no enemies. God loved us when we were still His enemies, and because of that, we are called to do the same.Looking to get involved or take a next step? Check out the links below:🌐 Website: www.ccbchurch.org🙏 Prayer Requests: www.ccbchurch.org/prayer📅 Upcoming Events: www.ccbchurch.org/calendar

Every believer is called to live on mission, not just pastors or full-time missionaries. Acts 1:8 makes it clear that the call to be a witness belongs to all of God's people, in every place, at the same time. Jesus did not leave His followers without help. He promised the power of the Holy Spirit to work through anyone who makes themselves available. God does not need perfection. He needs availability. And with Jesus returning one day, the urgency to reach the people around us has never been greater. Think about the people God has placed in your life who do not yet know Him. You are called, you are equipped, and the time is now.Looking to get involved or take a next step? Check out the links below:🌐 Website: www.ccbchurch.org🙏 Prayer Requests: www.ccbchurch.org/prayer📅 Upcoming Events: www.ccbchurch.org/calendar

When someone wrongs us, our first instinct is to get even. In Matthew 5:38-42, Jesus challenges that instinct directly and calls His followers to a radically different way of living. The Law of Retaliation given in the Old Testament was never meant to fuel personal vengeance. It was designed to promote justice, fairness, and restraint. Jesus redefines righteousness by calling disciples to respond to insults, injustice, and unfair demands with undeserved grace. The antidote to retaliation is compassion, and these two things cannot coexist. Kingdom people do not seek revenge because they know who defines them, provides for them, and protects them. Retaliation is natural, but compassion is supernatural.

Learn more about Cedar Crest at www.ccbchurch.org

Life is full of uncertainty, but Colossians 3:1-4 points us to a powerful solution: setting our minds on things above rather than on the temporary things of this earth. Because believers have been raised with Christ, their lives are hidden with Him in God, making their future completely secure. Practically, this means saturating our minds with Scripture, meditating on God's promises, dedicating ourselves to prayer, and letting the beauty of creation point our hearts toward heaven. Living with a heavenly mindset keeps us from being entangled in the world, anchors us in biblical hope, and gives us the strength to live worthy of the gospel. It also fuels a life on mission, reminding us that God has placed people in our lives who need to hear about Jesus. The uncertainties of this earth are real, but they are overwhelmed by the certainties of heaven.

Learn more about Cedar Crest www.ccbchurch.org

In Matthew 5, Jesus addresses oaths and vows as part of the Sermon on the Mount, calling His followers to a higher standard of honesty and integrity. The Sermon on the Mount is not a checklist for earning a place in God's family. It is a description of how those who already belong to Him should live. People in Jesus' day had developed clever systems for making promises they never intended to keep, and Jesus confronted that directly. His instruction is straightforward: let your yes mean yes and your no mean no. When we are rooted in God's Word, it shapes the way we speak and the commitments we make. The goal is not perfection but faithfulness, and faithfulness starts with integrity in the small, everyday promises of life.

Learn more about Cedar Crest Baptist Church: www.ccbchurch.org