It's been a busy and eventful past week (Trunk or Treat / Fall Festival, watching World Series games, ABU softball at UNT, attending the Championship Parade, and more). But I didn't want to miss out on congratulating the 2023 World Series Champion Texas Rangers!

I'll process this more in a future (and full) episode, but for now, "Congrats!"

Kevin can be reached at [email protected].

Links:

Community North Baptist Church website: ⁠⁠⁠communitynorthbc.org⁠⁠⁠

Music: Lookin' Up by Shane Ivers - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.silvermansound.com

How good is good enough? Religion can be spelled "DO," while a relationship with Christ is spelled "DONE." That's because religion is about all of the dos and don'ts, but a relationship with Christ is about what He has done for us. He lived a perfect life (that we couldn't live), died on a cross, and rose from the dead to give us the opportunity to have a relationship with Him, be forgiven of our sins, and know that we can spend eternity in heaven with Him. So rather than trying to earn our salvation, let's accept the free gift God has for us.

Kevin can be reached at [email protected].

Links:

Community North Baptist Church website: ⁠⁠communitynorthbc.org⁠⁠

Music: Lookin' Up by Shane Ivers - ⁠⁠https://www.silvermansound.com

The word "legacy" has been on my mind a lot lately. What does it mean to leave a legacy? The reality is that we all will leave a legacy, so how do we leave the kind of legacy we'd want to leave? In this episode, let's talk about what it means to leave a legacy of loving God and loving people.

Links:

Community North Baptist Church website: ⁠communitynorthbc.org⁠

Music: Lookin' Up by Shane Ivers - ⁠https://www.silvermansound.com

What are 3 things you could do to help prepare for your own Celebration of Life service? In the spirit of Stephen Covey's "Begin with the end in mind," it's a question worth asking - and answering. I reflect on the Celebration of Life service I had the honor of conducting recently and offer up an answer to that question that I hope you'll wrestle with.

Links:

Community North Baptist Church website: communitynorthbc.org

Music: Lookin' Up by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

We experienced a significant death in our church family this week, and I'm preparing for the Celebration of Life service. We'll chat in the near future about "a life well-lived," but for today, you can rest assured that the person we'll be celebrating fits that title well.

Please be praying for the family and for our church as we celebrate his life and walk through our own season of grief. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Links:

Community North Baptist Church website: communitynorthbc.org

Music: Lookin' Up by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

This episode's title obviously comes from the book (and movie) Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. We've all experienced days like that, haven't we? If you haven't, I hate to tell you, but you will. And we'd like to think that following Christ would prevent this, but Jesus promises that "in this world you WILL have trouble" (not "MAY have trouble"). It's a promise we'd rather not claim. But Jesus promises that He has overcome the world, and He also promises that He will be with us in the midst of those days.

Join us as we look at a day in Jesus' life that certainly started out as a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, but one in which God still did amazing things. And when we go through those days, God will be with us, and we can claim the promise that God's not done working!

Kevin can be reached by email at [email protected].

Links:

Community North Baptist Church website: communitynorthbc.org

Music: Lookin' Up by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Where does your value come from? Where do you get your worth? Were you designed as a carbon copy of someone else, or were you created to be an original masterpiece?

In Luke 15, Jesus answered His critics who said that He loved to eat with "sinners" and tax collectors by saying these are the very people He came to save. He tells 3 stories about people who lost something or lost someone and who rejoiced when the thing or the person was found. And Jesus says that the angels in heaven rejoice when one sinner repents.

Whether you have followed Christ for decades or haven't made a decision to follow Him yet, may this episode be an encouragement to you about how much God loves you and values you - and the price He was willing to pay for you!

Kevin can be reached by email at [email protected].

Links:

Search for Significance (book): Click here

Search for Significance Student Edition (book): Click here

Community North Baptist Church website: communitynorthbc.org

Music: Lookin' Up by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Birthdays are an exciting time for reflecting, being reminded of the incredible people who have blessed us throughout our lives, and to be reminded of God's faithfulness to us in the past and to be reassured that He will be faithful to us in the future.

As I (Kevin) celebrated my birthday this week, this was a good chance to reflect on these things!

Kevin can be reached by email at [email protected].

Links:

Community North Baptist Church website: ⁠⁠communitynorthbc.org⁠⁠

Music: Lookin' Up by Shane Ivers - ⁠⁠https://www.silvermansound.com

Welcome back to Community Chat after our second summer hiatus! In this episode, we'll take a quick look at the upcoming sermon series at Community North Baptist Church: "Discover Your SHAPE." God has made each and every one of us unique, and He has wired us with our own Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experiences. When you put all of that together, you get your SHAPE. Discovering your SHAPE and figuring out how to utilize it will bring fulfillment as you become whom you were created to be and do what you were created to do!

Links:

Community North Baptist Church website: communitynorthbc.org

Uniquely You website: uniquelyyou.org

Congratulations...You're Gifted (by Doug Fields and Eric Rees: Amazon link

Music: Lookin' Up by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

We're going to go ahead and take a break until after Labor Day. Before we do though, let me remind you that "leaders are learners." Whether you attend conferences, read books, have great mentors, or whatever learning may look like for you, always be learning! We look forward to seeing you again after Labor Day!

And P.S. Thank you for your prayers for our Vacation Bible School! The kids who came had a great time learning about God's love for them!

Links:

Community North Baptist Church website: ⁠⁠communitynorthbc.org⁠⁠

Music: Lookin' Up by Shane Ivers - ⁠⁠https://www.silvermansound.com