–We have to think in terms of the deeper causes of what we need to confess in our lives to save us from SUPERFICIALITY in repentance.
–Often we want to escape being specific, so we try to get by with generic one-size-fits-all confessions…

Its hard. To be open and honest enough with yourself and God to examine your life and see your sins. Its no easy task. In my repentance to God I was reminded of something as well. Often we reduce sin to only the acts of commission; things we DO that are sin. Those are most easy to pinpoint. But there are also sins of omission that are often rampant in our lives. Sins of omission are things we don’t do that we should; like loving our neighbors, serving our church and community, etc.

Let me challenge you for this week to do the hard work of examining your life for sins of commission and omission as we continue the practice of true repentance.

~Pastor Robert

x3 Watch

This app is easy to setup and will automatically email 3 accountability of your choosing a report of your internet activity on your iphone…

There is also a PC and Mac version available through their main website: www.x3watch.com

“Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:7 KJV

Firmly rooted means to become stable, be rooted, strengthened with roots and figuratively to be firmly fixed, thoroughly grounded.

The verb suggests stability, nourishment and life derived from contact with Christ.

“BLESSED (HAPPY, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.
But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.
And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].” Psalm 1:1-3 AMP

Built up indicates the placing of one layer upon another; literally means to build upon, erect a superstructure… for the eternal importance of the correct building “code” and the consequences of utilizing “cheap” building materials.

And established in your faith means to make firm or reliable so as to warrant security and inspire confidence.
Men should inspire confidence in their family and co-workers

The message is clear: be established and keep growing.

As result of the fact that we are rooted and are being continually built up and established, we are to add be abounding with thankfulness.
That means you do not grumble, complain and criticize. You cannot have it both ways. To be thankful means to find something in every situation for which you can genuinely be grateful.

Imagine being given a bowl of sand containing tiny particles of iron, and you are told to remove the iron from the sand. You have two choices. You can pull your fingers through the sand, searching for specks of iron but finding very few. Or you can pull a magnet through the sand and watch it attract countless bits of iron.

Like the fingers in the sand, the grumbling heart finds very few mercies. But as the grateful heart moves through life, it finds countless blessings, just as the magnet finds iron.

Of all the choices we make in life, few affect us more powerfully than our choice between gratitude and grumbling.

Grumbling overlooks blessings, but gratitude finds blessings everywhere—even in dry, sandy places!

Jeff

I was not chastised by the Lord for having had this fear or for the rather lengthy time it had been there. I was not yelled at or stamped “Reject” but instead… Before the Lord revealed it, He affirmed me with powerful words that told me of His great love FOR MEEE…pointing me out apart from everyone else. He esteemed me! And then gently, quietly, in a whisper allowed the Truth to come to the light.

How did the whole revelation come to take place to start with you might wonder… Well, prayer and fasting surely helped — me pressing in with a zealous determination praying for seemingly unrelated needs…but I think the biggest factor that led to this specific instance was because I asked the question: “Before I ask for any healing for any one else in my personal situation, IF THERE BE ANY WAY IN ME…?”

So, there that fear was – exposed, naked! So I sent that jaybird running! And I gave that perch to Gladness and Joy! Out of my mouth comes: “Gladness and joy will OVERTAKE me, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” Isaiah 51:11

May God bless each of you as you release your flocks of fears and exchange them for The Dove!

Michelle

To be quiet honest its hard for me to imagine a world where racial equality isn’t the norm. I moved all over when I was younger, both my parents worked for Wal-Mart and they had a way of keeping us relocating every few years. I’ve lived as far north as New Jersey and as far south as San Antonio. I’ve lived in many racially diverse areas and seen some racial injustice, but with my generation racial equality was just… well the norm and felt right. I believe its a testament to the God given mission that MLK embodied and fought for and eventually gave his life for. I’m not naive enough to believe that true racial equality exists everywhere in America, but to think about how far we’ve come in a little over 40 years is awe inspiring.

But one area has always stuck out to me as more segregated than it should be, and that has been… churches… I’ve been to large churches, small churches, denominational churches, non-denominational churches, city churches, country churches, and rural churches… and most them do not accurately reflect the racial make up of the city they are supposed to be serving. But I look at TCOC, and I instantly begin to smile. There is something that is just well right here. Looking out at the crowd I love to see how many ethnic and racial groups we have represented at our church, because truly that is not the norm at most. I love how we are unified in Christ and issues like race, socioeconomic status, or gender aren’t things that unnecessarily divide us. I love that Catalyst Youth ministry isn’t a bunch of clones of me. And I love that we can celebrate our diversities together and not feel the need to all wear the same clothes, listen to the same music, or have the same styles.

As TCOC continues to grow, and we continue to “Serve Christ By Serving Others,” let us also continue to be a church of diversity that isn’t afraid to worship with and serve those that may be different than ourselves. Its something that Martin Luther King Jr. fought and died for, and so did our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:28  out of The Message translation puts it this way:

In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ.

~ Pastor Robert Jordan

I’ve been thinking a lot about family these past few weeks. It’s a research interest of mine always and now I officially have my own! During this whole process of getting married, I’ve been able to interact with and communicate with and rely on my various families: my family of origin (Multiple families of origin, really!), my new in-laws, the TCOC staff, Clark, and of course all of you, my church family.

I owe my salvation and relationship with the Lord to two institutions that I believe in so strongly that it is hard for me to articulate my feelings- The Church and The Family. Although both in my experience are far from perfect, I know without any hesitation that they are the most effective way to deliver the Gospel, the hope of humanity, to a hurting and dying world.

Reggie Joiner observes it this way:

There are two powerful influences on the planet-
the church and the home.

They both exist because God initiated them.

They both exist because God desires to use them
to demonstrate His plan of redemption and restoration.

If they work together they can potentially
make a greater impact than if they work alone.

They need each other.

Too much is at stake for either to fail.

Their primary task is to build God’s kingdom
in the hearts of men and women, sons and daughters.

This past Fall, Pastor Jeff challenged us all to incorporate family devotions into our daily routines. Well, this past week has been my first week to experience such a thing! We’re reading through our Daily Message bible, starting in Genesis and the Psalms. We’re keeping it simple, reading through the passages before bed and starting with a few reflection questions listed after the text. Just in a week, it has given us opportunities to touch on topics ranging from grace, sin, the characteristics of God, how He chooses to reveal Himself to us, doubts, questions, faith. We’ve been able to share perspectives, encourage one another, pray together. It’s not some big ordeal, we don’t have to sit down and have an in-depth bible study curriculum to spend time together as a family, reading God’s word, and drawing closer to Him and one another.

I guess I just wanted to encourage you all, remind you of the responsibility that we have to one another, to our families. To encourage you to continue the practice of coming together to read God’s Word, to discuss with one another, to find ways to apply it to daily life, to pray. Or if you’ve gotten busy, to pick the practice back up again, or to start for the first time! We owe it to our families, to those that we love.

Again, I love you my TCOC family. I cannot imagine what my life would be like without all of you.

~Sesalle McDaniel