Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Peace in the Storm


This is by far my favorite picture when I think about the passage from the text in Isaiah that says, "Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon thee, because they they trust in you" (26:3).

My daughter, Melanie, and I made this birdhouse years ago. It was built, not to take the winter snowstorms away, but to give the birds a place of shelter within the storm.

It reminds me that in life, no one is immune to storms, tears, troubles, or fears. But in the midst of the storm there is a promise of peace we can hold on to: presence of Jesus.

Jesus brings peace right into the center of our hurt and frantic striving. He can cease the noise, calm the storm, and surround our hearts with a sense of peace. He is indeed the Prince of Peace.

This Christmas, take time to be reminded of His promised peace. 

When we have peace with God, we can experience the peace of God.





Friday, December 15, 2017

12 Months of Fun at Centerpointe Church



As we approach the end of 2017, we take time to look back on the impact Centerpointe Church has made locally and around the world. We also look forward to God’s assignment for us in the future. It’s been a wonderful year with the family.

2017 can be characterized with the words family, fun, and mission. We continue to hear the same themes from our guests and new members: warmth and friendliness. People are cared for, prayed for, and experience God’s grace. At the same time, we are on a mission together to impact our community and the world with the message of Christ.

Local Impact
In 2017, we took a major step and launched the Vietnamese Christian Fellowship. This is our second non-English campus. They have already maxed out the space we provide for them. For the fifth year, we housed 40 guests during our Hypothermia Prevention Outreach, partnering with 33 other churches to house the homeless in Fairfax County. We also added 23 members to Centerpointe Church, ten of whom are part of our Vietnamese Christian Fellowship.

We continued to focus on discipleship with 52 people going through some part of our Follow process and 135 people joined a Life Groups.

During the Christmas season, we serve the families of Ragan Oaks a meal and provide gifts for the kids to give to their parents. Our Brazilian congregation served another 40 families with meals, clothes and presents. Our Christmas Eve services continued to grow as we added an additional service in 2016.

Global Impact
Centerpointe Church has always been focused on missions beyond our local church. In 2017, we took youth and adults to Haiti to work on a church building project and lead a Vacation Bible School for 300 kids. In December, we took a team to Chile to work on a church building for their kids ministry.

During our September Faith Promise focus, we received over $98,000 in pledges over the next 12 months to support 66 different missionaries around the world. To date, this year, between Faith Promises, special mission projects, and mission trips, our Centerpointe family has given over $134,000 to local and world missions. We also made significant contributions to Operation Christmas Child and disaster relief agency Convoy of Hope,

Vision Investment
We believe God wants to continue to expand our impact in Fairfax County and the world in 2018. The top of our priority list is to see a spiritual renewal in our hearts leading to greater passion in following Jesus. We begin the year with a month of prayer focus. We pray that people will be transformed by God’s grace and work in their lives. We are also looking to grow our worship and fine arts ministry. In order to do this, we will have to add additional staff, at least part time, to lead us in this effort.

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We continue to look at properties to relocate. So far, we have seen or reviewed 16 different properties. Our prayer is to stay within 5-7 miles of our current mission field. The challenges are significant, but we know that God will direct our steps.

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

A Journey of Joy


An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger’” (Luke 2:9–12).

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests’” (Luke 2:13–14).

On Sunday, I spoke about three aspects of joy; the first one is one we don’t usually consider when we think about joy.

Joy and Pain are Strangely Connected

If you think about the Christmas story, there really was no reason for joy the night Jesus was born. The Israelites had waited hundreds of years for the Messiah. The Roman government occupied and ruled over Israel. Emperor Augustus declared a world tax (that is never good). Mary, a teenage girl was pregnant outside of wedlock. Joseph, pledged to be married to Mary, had very little control over his own life. He had to take his nine-month pregnant fiancée on a long trip to Jerusalem on foot (or donkey). There was no place for Mary and Joseph to stay (Stables were often caves with feeding troughs (mangers) carved into the rock walls.). Shepherds were out on a hillside working the nightshift. They were not singing “I’ll be home for Christmas.”

It was in this backdrop that we are introduced to message of angels. The angels intrude, breaking with the ordinary. They show up in unexpected places at unexpected times.
Jesus comes at just the right time in history.

The angels message: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy…”

The same message is for you and for me, “You are about to experience joy.”  

When we are going through pain or disappointment or discouragement, we have to wait things out because of the joy that will flood our hearts when God does his work. It is because of the joy before us that we endure what we are going through today.

Even in the midst of hardship there is a longer, broader view, a perspective that shows us that our trials can lead us to grow and become mature in our faith. As we walk in relationship with God, we can grow to experience a sense of joy that comes from understanding there is more than the pain we’re facing.

One of my favorite passages in scripture is Hebrews 12:2, which says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” What kept Jesus from disserting his mission? The joy of having a relationship with us.

Read page 52 of The Star devotional.

Joy is Contagious

Have you seen pictures of when a village receives a working clean water source? If not, here is a good one for you: Water Aid Video

The exuberant smiles on the faces of the people say it all—pure joy! The joy was experienced in the whole community.

The angel said the good news of great joy is for all people. The good news isn’t just for all shepherds or all Americans or all Christians. The good news is for the world—everyone.

Psalm 96 puts it this way: “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes” (Psalm 96:11–13).

Joy Leads to Worship

Worship and joy fit wonderfully together. When we worship, we experience joy. When we experience joy, we worship. This is one of the reasons we sing when we get together as a church. It reminds us of the joy set before us.

In the Christmas story, the angel announced the good news of great joy, and then the entire host praised God. The shepherds immediately went to see the baby Jesus, worshiped Him, and then left telling everyone they met about what they saw. “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him” (Matthew 2:10–11).

We can experience the same this Advent season as we journey toward the birth of Christ and live in the truth that the good news of His arrival is the salvation He brings.
Peter told us our walk of faith in Jesus brings us a sense of joy: “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8–9).

Name the Sorrow. Name the Joy

Sunday I suggested that you name the struggle/season/pain/sorrow that you are going through. After naming it, cross it out and replace it with the joy you expect to have when God completes his work in you. For example:


Prayer

God, thank You for the good news of great joy that is for everyone—that Your Son, Jesus, has come to save us. Please help us to experience joy alongside the pain of life and to respond to joy in worship. Draw us to Yourself as we draw near to Christmas, and let us be a source of joy to others in this season and every season. Amen.


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