What I Still Can't Stand...

I love our church. I love what God is doing through our church.

 

I can’t wait for each Sunday…worshiping God as our band leads, meeting new people, hearing dramatic stories of Gospel transformation every week, witnessing entire families accept Christ as their Savior, or watching our volunteers in action as a bridge to the love of Jesus. To me, nothing is more rewarding.

I consistently walk away so inspired and overwhelmed by God’s grace. One Sunday in particular in 2011, new people flooded into our services (We grew by 80 people that one Sunday), several people accepted Christ as their Savior, the worship was amazing, and God clearly transformed hearts.  We started the year praying for a move of God in ways that we couldn't imagine. We were experiencing that move of God!

Then what I have described for you before inevitably happened again. I walked back into my office and saw this picture. A picture I see every day hanging above my office door. I was reminded of the 60,000 people in our community who have no clue about what is going on at Centerpoint…the 60,000 who have never believed or have left the “church” at some point in their lives. And as great as the service was that morning, they were no closer to a relationship with Jesus. I can hardly stand the thought of that. It keeps me restless and passionate for what needs done in our community.

I can’t stand the fact that this area has so many churches, many of which are reaching “church people”, while so many others have never heard the Gospel and are right outside our door. These are the people we come in contact with at the grocery store, in our neighborhoods, and at the gym. They are the people we do life with every day. So what do we do? Many of you are investing & inviting every week and people are coming and lives are being changed…but what else can we do? I believe a great place to start is the same way we started off 2011 - praying & fasting.

We easily lose sight of what God wants to do in our world. This is especially true in the arena of reaching unbelievers in our sphere of influence. If we’re not careful, we will drift into comfortable huddles with other believers without reaching or praying big for those around us.  Maybe we are intimidated or just caught up with life that we don’t think about it. But as we begin to pray, “God , I surrender my will” and “I declare my dependence” I believe God will ignite a passion for the things he is passionate about – like reaching people who need Jesus.

The good news is that our church is growing. The bad news is the number of un-churched in our area is growing much faster. I still can’t stand that. But what if that trend turned around? As our trust grows and our view of God expands, I believe we will see that happen. Our trust in God will be activated and our concern for the un-churched in our sphere of influence will be ignited. What could happen in our church and community if we prayed in such a way that our will conformed to his will?

Frankly, I have no idea what will happen, but I know we had a small taste of what's possible in 2011. What might God do through us in 2012. It starts with “God, we know you can, we are asking if You’re willing”.  I believe this will be an incredible, life altering, church transforming journey.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and join us. Let us know what God does through your 21 day journey via our twitter handle (@CenterpointFL) or on our facebook page.

Bryant

21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: It's not what you think

It’s the beginning of a new year, which brings the promise of a fresh start. This is the best time to stage your comeback and to recover your spiritual momentum through Christ. Last week we talked about “Getting Back” into God’s Word, and this week we will be talking about “Getting Back” into prayer.

There is only one path to a relationship with God but multiple expressions of that relationship. We all have unique approaches to our relationship with God (log onto our website to take the “Discover Your Style” test), including our prayer lives. To jump start our prayer life as a church family - but still honor the fact that we all have individual styles - we are launching a 21 Day Fast on Monday, January 30^th.

Most of you equate fasting with not eating. Relax. You can fast from any number of things, such as TV, music, coke, desserts, etc. It may be just turning off the radio on your morning commute and using the time to pray. The possibilities are endless. During the 21 Day Fast, you are fasting from one thing in order to gain some extra time in prayer. By making sacrifices, we are reminded of our dependence on God and His ultimate sacrifice for us. This is an awesome time to grow in your relationship with God by trying something new and out of the box.

I want to encourage you to log onto our website (www.centerpointFL.org) and download the YouVersion Bible App under our “media & resources” link. In addition to its various Bible reading plans, YouVersion has a 21 Day Prayer and Fasting Guide to walk you through the next few weeks. It’s free to download so take advantage of this great resource.

To kick off our 21 Day Fast, join us for a Night of Worship, Prayer, and Communion this Sunday, January 29^th, at 5 pm in the Worship Center.

In Christ,

Bryant

Who's There To Help You Up?

“Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

The above verse is one of the many reasons that our church is built on this principle: Small groups lead to life change (circles are better than rows). As you look back on your life or look at your current circumstances you’ll see stumbling blocks along the way (ideas, people, wealth, hard times)? Stumbling blocks are those things that cause us to stumble away from God. It’s during those times that community or lack of community with others will determine how far we stumble or how hard we fall.

Still, creating authentic community takes time, trust, and commitment. It takes a sacrifice of your time to make a small group a priority because it always seems like there is something more important. The urgent (the soccer game, paying bills, the project, Tivo) usually wins out over the long term. We always have the idea we are going to make time later.

What I know about you is that your greatest regret or pain could have been avoided or less traumatic because of caring, authentic relationships around you.  Think back on how your childhood would have been different if your parents had been in a small group with other believers on a consistent basis. How could your child’s experience be different because of the choices you make today?

Autonomy is part of the American dream but it’s not a Biblical principle. Growth, accountability, belonging, and care happen in Community Groups (Small groups) . . . in circles, not rows. It's easy to stumble away from faith when you are a nameless person sitting in a row on Sunday morning. But it's almost impossible to stumble away, or to stay away, when you're in community, doing life with a group of people. (1)

Don’t let the urgent win out over the necessary. The outcomes could make all the difference in your life and the life of those around you.

 

To choose a community group and get connected attend our GroupLink this Thursday at 7 PM. RSVP here: http://www.centerpointfl.org/grouplink

Bryant

Lead Pastor

 

(1) Stumbling Along from @northpointministries