| God Moved Powerfully on Easter Weekend |
Our Easter weekend began with the solemnity of Good Friday, where we gathered to remember the death and burial of our Savior, on the cross and in the tomb. It was a powerful evening of heavy hearted worship and reflection. We ended the night in silence as we left the room with the tomb closed.
Then, on resurrection morning, we gathered to celebrate our Savior’s triumphant defeat of death. Easter Sunday was a major moment in my history as your pastor. We saw 1100 people gather to worship our Savior, all of which heard the gospel message and were invited to repent and believe in Jesus. We saw people trust Jesus as Lord, indicate they want to be baptized, and others who asked to speak further with a pastor. God was praised and life-change took place!
What a reason to celebrate! God is answering our prayers and is changing lives through the ministry of Christ Community. Pray for those who made a decision for Christ and for our staff team as we do the hard work of follow-up and discipleship.
| Growth Track |
At Christ Community, our mission is to make Gospel-centered disciples among all people for the glory of God. Growth Track is our roadmap for accomplishing that mission. Growth Track is a 4-week class that will introduce you to our church, give you the tools you need to grow in your faith, and equip you to carry out the mission.
Growth Track classes can be taken in the following two ways and we have BOTH options coming in in the next several weeks. Identify which is best for you and register now.
Growth Track One-Day – Sunday, April 28 beginning at 12:00 p.m.
- A 3-hour intensive where all four sessions will be covered
- Lunch and childcare provided
- Register here for Growth Track One-Day
Growth Track Class – Every Sunday in May from 9:00-10:00 a.m.
- A four-week class designed for your spiritual development
- Regular opportunities to have your questions answered by one of our staff
- May 5, May 12, May 19, and May 26
- Childcare provided
- Register here for Growth Track Class
| Widow’s Banquet |
One of the highlights of our year is our Widow’s Banquet. In Scripture, we’re called to care for widows and our widow’s banquet is one of the ways we show honor to these women.
The Widow’s Banquet will take place on Sunday, May 5 beginning at noon. If you are a widow or if you know a widow you would like to bring to this special lunch, please follow this link and register today.
| New Sermon Series Begins Sunday |
I will begin a new sermon series this Sunday, looking at five of the major areas of life that can often cause the most frustration. These include:
- Marriage – April 28
- Parenting – May 5
- Work – May 12
- Finances – May 19
- Friendships – May 26
This is a great series to invite your friends to be a part of as I will help us see what God’s design is for each of these areas. Begin praying that God would use this series to open hearts to his design for our lives.
| A Final Word About Mark |
This past Sunday, we ended our sermon series through the Gospel of Mark. After 40 sermons, we finished the series with Mark 16:1-8. Now, I need to provide some clarity because if you look in your Bibles, you will find a longer version of Mark that includes verses 9-20. These verses are believed to have been added to Mark later, and therefore should not be considered canonical.
To help you understand why I did not preach these verse, Michael Byrd wrote this helpful article to provide our position on them. I hope this helps provide clarity on the long version of Mark and why I preached the short version.
| Finally… Pray! |
I want to encourage you to pray for our church. When God is at work like he is, Satan can’t stand it. He will come at usAsk God to continue to do an amazing work among us. Ask him to do far more than we can ever imagine. Let’s remember that God is the one we must be prayerfully dependent on for ever need we have personally, every decision we must make, and every moment of our life.
Rejoice in God’s goodness and faithfulness to our church family. I look forward to worshiping our resurrected King together again this Sunday. Until we meet again, we live on mission for his glory.
Pastor Ronnie
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