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H O W   W E   W O R S H I P

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Start your Sunday off in a casual, low-key gathering where we share breakfast and chat about Jesus and life. Small groups for all ages – Nursery Available!
 
 
This ain’t your old fashioned
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10:00 A.M. Worship

“A little something for everyone and a lot of Jesus” is how we worship. Come as you are and experience our energetic, spirit filled service with moving messages and music ranging from contemporary Christian to traditional hymns.
 
 
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Teaching & Preachings

We teach and preach a Jesus that is real and authentic … Taken straight from the gospels with no biased or politics attached. Whether you’re an active participant or a “fly on the wall” listener, we have something for you.
 
 
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B I G  I D E A 
 
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15).
 
Pastor Bob
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
C H U R C H   M E D I A

Recent Devotionals

September 2021

Daily Respite; Day 41 — Sept 18th

“Daily Respite; Day 41 — Sept 18th”.


Daily Respite; Day 40 — Sept 17th

“Daily Respite; Day 40 — Sept 17th”.


Daily Respite; Day 39 — Sept 16th

“Daily Respite; Day 39 — Sept 16th”.


Daily Respite; Day 38 — Sept 15th

“Daily Respite; Day 38 — Sept 15th”.


Daily Respite; Day 37 — Sept 14th

“Daily Respite; Day 37 — Sept 14th”.


Daily Respite; Day 36 — Sept 13th

“Daily Respite; Day 36 — Sept 13th”.


Daily Respite; Day 35 — Sept 12th

“Daily Respite; Day 35 — Sept 12th”.


Daily Respite; Day 34 — Sept 11th

“Daily Respite; Day 34 — Sept 11th”.


Daily Respite; Day 33 — Sept 10th

“Daily Respite; Day 33 — Sept 10th”.


Daily Respite; Day 32 — Sept 9th

“Daily Respite; Day 32 — Sept 9th”.




 
 
 
 
 
F R O M   T H E   B L O G

Recent Posts

RANDOM THOUGHTS FROM WATCHNG WAR ON TV

  • A couple of years ago, we were introduced to Covid. We still don’t understand it and it still spreads, and kills. In this case, the world has banded together (at least much of it) to fight back. To take care of the sick; to try to save the dying; to find a cure. All of that is born from love. That’s God’s work!
  • In war, it’s just the opposite. In war its God’s precious children killing each other. No virus needed. War is the ultimate failure of humanity. War is all of our sin brought to the surface so that we can justify the slaughter of innocent people – conveniently called “collateral damage” by the ones ordering the actual killing.
  • We still haven’t learned that the ones doing the killing are also being injured by their actions. We were not created to kill each other. God didn’t make us so that we can shoot it out and bomb each other until the last little remnant of humanity remains. No, that’s humans at work. And we’re learning that the men and women on the front lines are also being harmed from within by carrying out orders to attack and kill fellow human beings. Everybody gets hurt when we fight each other.
  • We must always be aware that our most powerful sin, as described in Genesis 1, is wanting to be like God. We all are “infected” with this dis-ease. We want to rule over others. Sin makes us that way. We want to exert power over others. Sin makes us that way. We want what others have. Sin makes us that way. Basically, we want what we want and we want it now! So don’t get in my way or I’ll have to move you out of the way. Sin makes us that way. Sin is the absence of God. We need more God.
  • If you want to see a modern-day re-enactment of the Genesis story of Cain and Abel, tune in to any 24-hour news station, sit back, and watch Cain killing Abel all over again. It never seems to end, because it never has. From the very first offspring of Adam and Eve, we have been resentful and jealous of one another, and have always, eventually, resorted to fighting to get what we want.
  • Russia isn’t the only country to ever roll into foreign cities and declare its intentions to conquer native people by force or by death. We, too, have a scarred history when it comes to conquering or controlling other people. We’re at our worst when we fight to diminish or extinguish a culture different from ours. But we also fight to protect our “precious and rare democracy, built upon the belief that all people are created equal and have a God-given unalienable right to freedom.” Most of us, it seems, believe that freedom is worth fighting for, and dying for. That alone is a powerful statement about freedom.
  • I haven’t seen a foreign superpower like Russia roll into another country with tanks, bombers, and militia in my adult lifetime. I have seen the U.S. military roll into towns and villages in Viet Nam to try to conquer them, with hundreds of thousands of victims. And I have watched the U.S. military later roll into Iraq, and Afghanistan, to conquer the enemies of freedom, with hundreds of thousands of victims, including many innocent civilians … mothers … children … even pets if they happen to be in the way. We are all a part of this. Freedom, as they say, isn’t free.
  • I’m not naïve enough to think that in order to protect that powerful right of freedom for all people that we wouldn’t need to fight for this way of life. Indeed, fighting for our way of life, alone, can explain much of the history of the world since Cain. But there is a big difference between fighting for people’s freedom, and fighting to exert control over people. They are moral opposites. And we’re still trying to learn the difference between the two.
  • I have read about the Russian tanks rolling into Poland, or Czechoslovakia, or Yugoslavia, but I never was able to watch it on TV. Today, we watch it on TV. And let’s be clear about what we’re watching; the forces of power in the world that want to suppress the freedom of others in order to increase their own power and wealth, are rolling into Ukraine to retake a country that has now tasted freedom and democracy, and doesn’t ever want to give it back.
  • In watching the Ukraine military, and especially the courageous civilians who have stayed to fight, we can see how valuable freedom is to people who have waited a long time for it. And we can see how far they are willing to risk their own lives in order to keep it for their children and hopefully, for generations to come. I wonder if we have yet learned that until all people are free, no one is free.
  • I understand the power of sin in our world. It affects all of us. We are weaker because of our sinful nature. But, on the other hand, we are God’s children. That gives us access to a power greater than our sin. Many of us, all around the world, of various colors, languages, homelands, customs, and faith traditions, are together building the Kingdom of God right now, right here in our midst, and in the shadow of war. Trust this; despite appearances on TV, there is always more love being expressed in these desperate and tragic circumstances than sin. Love always wins. And love will win in the end. But sometimes it’s the getting there that kicks me in the gut. Because until loves win, we end up with a lot of dead people.
  • What’s going on in Ukraine? The very worst of humanity is being poured out on the Ukrainian people. And … the very best of humanity is responding. As you watch the tanks and the Russian military move into Ukraine, pay close attention to all the love that is working in response. God’s love is more powerful than any force on earth. But even then, with all the love we can muster, tanks and guns still win battles. Children’s hospitals are still bombed. Suburban neighborhoods are still bombed. Roads and bridges are still bombed. Millions of refugees are fleeing for their lives. A president is pleading to the world for help. And we sit by and watch this invasion on TV.

What’s a Christian to do?

O Lord, come to our assistance. O God, make haste to help us.                                                                                   Praying for Peace,                                                                                                                                                             Pastor Bob                                                                                                                                                                         


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“8 Things I Saw in Heaven on Earth this Week”

Hello Friends & Neighbors –

I just returned from my latest trip to the Kingdom of God, and it really is like heaven on earth! Even so, it’s still difficult for me to predict when these little “Junkets with Jesus” will happen, but they seem to be happening more and more around here lately.  And when they do come, it’s kinda like buying those last-second vacation packages – you get a call and you drop everything and you’re all in.

That’s a pretty good description of what happened, from what I remember. I don’t remember much — I think the Light was way too bright for me! But I did take some “spiritual snapshots” during my time in-between and I’ve put each one of them in writing below.

Snapshot 1) Imagine seeing …

Two smiling and giggling siblings (one 9 yr. old boy; one 7 yr. old girl) playing around in the church, with soft skin the color of a golden bronze – like if all the skin colors in the world were blended together, this is the color they would make. Absolutely Beautiful! Precious children of God.

“You gotta know there are happy and beautiful kids in heaven!”

Snapshot 2) Imagine seeing …

Their dad. He’s one of those unsung “single dad raising two kids” heroes, but most earthly people think less of him. They just may not know the steepness of the mountain he’s been climbing for way too long, through blackness and brownness, through tornadoes and floods, caring a grand piano full of resentment and hopelessness, where Murphy’s Law seems to rule all the time. That dad? Yesterday we celebrated his Independence Day!

You had to know that Independence Day can happen on any day to anyone in God’s Kingdom!

Snapshot 3) Imagine seeing

The local police department, the public school system, the state department of children’s services, a small flock of angels from a small but mighty Jesus church in town, and one family in need – all converged over a 2-day period and some lives were saved and others were changed – and all were filled!  

You should know that EVERY church in the Kingdom of God is a Jesus church: established 33AD.

Snapshot 4) Imagine seeing …

Fields of green, red roses too; and everybody saying to each other, “I love you.” Funny thing is, I kept seeing these things over and over, and it changed the way I saw everything else.

You may have guessed that in God’s Kingdom everybody sings this to each other all the time!

Snapshot 5) Imagine seeing …

A Lois Lane to Wonder Woman spiritual transformation right before our very eyes, as the normal everyday “boss in the office” appeared to have that heart expand to the size of Montana as she literally became a mother to a son she didn’t know she had; a grandmother to three kids she didn’t know she had, and a relentless church organizer pulling people together to save the day! We all said: “It must be the work of the Holy Spirit!”

I think that I forgot to mention above — but the Holy Spirit was also present during our Kingdom excursion, because you can’t have the Kingdom if you ain’t got the Spirit!

 Snapshot 6) Imagine seeing …

One short glimpse on video of a young mother living in literal and spiritual darkness, knowing neither her true self nor her living God, and a long way from both. I still haven’t gotten that video glimpse out of my mind. And every time I think of it, I pray for her.

You may be surprised to know that even in the Kingdom of God, there are the lost and the strays, which means the work is never complete and the Kingdom never ends – until, of course, the Big Fella up above sings in the shower! (And when he does, don’t expect to hear, “Jesus is Just Alright with Me” by the Doobie Brothers!)

Snapshot 7) Imagine seeing …  

The third sibling, just as bronze and beautiful as her sister and brother, but not a child of the dad mentioned above, — and then see her as the reality of what this ginormous change will mean for Daddy, brother, sister, and … OMG she says … me! “I’ll be without them in my life starting today.” The reality came upon her gradually, like letting the air out of a balloon very slowly so that it makes that “fun for a second, but then annoying as trying to open a Dollar General plastic bag with gloves on, sound. It was heart wrenching to witness. Every time I think of her, I pray for her.

You may want to know that anywhere one goes where there is great love, there is also great pain, because even in God’s Kingdom on earth, we still have our hurtable tender human hearts.

Snapshot 8) Imagine seeing …

Ourselves, each and every day, in that very same Kingdom of God. When in the midst of this 2-day spiritual whirlwind, we didn’t have the luxury of pausing to reflect on and share how God was working all around us … although we did keep saying that “God is in charge of this and God is working all around us.” Don’t look up. Just keep doing what God says. Don’t ask any questions that could be considered logical or rational. And most of all, trust God, because when you’re in the Kingdom of God … God is King. And His will, will be done. Just as it is in heaven.

Well, what did you think of my 8 favorite spiritual snapshots from my recent excursion into Godland? You know what? I bet you too will have some personal experience of the Kingdom of God this week. Just put your eyes and ears on your heart.  And when the Kingdom comes, take some spiritual snapshots that you can write down and share with us. And if you have a camera, you can use that too!  

Give Peace A Chance <>< Put God in Charge <><
Work for Jesus,                                                                         
Pastor Bob

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SPEAKING FROM HEAVEN — A MUCH NEEDED VOICE IN THESE TIMES

I‘m not sure how many of you knew about the life of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, or more specifically, about his death on the day after Christmas last year. I remember it. Not much attention given to one of the globe’s spiritual giant, a saint in our midst with a reputation as a sage and a prophet. And this reputation is growing by the day! 

But it’s today … Today that I need to hear that squeaky squawky voice of meekness and calm in the middle of chaos and fear. Doesn’t that sound like a voice we need to hear today? These words below, taken from his Nobel lecture, are both gripping and convicting … urgent and compelling.

Please delve right in! And then lets … ???

Peace <>< Pastor Bob

                     “Let Us Work to be Peacemakers”

                                              By

                         Archbishop Desmond Tutu

We are now much closer to a nuclear holocaust than when our technology and our spending were less.

Most nations are engaged in a mad arms race, spending billions of dollars wastefully on instruments of destruction, when millions are starving.

And yet, just a fraction of what is expended so obscenely on defense budgets would make the difference in enabling God’s children to fill their stomachs, be educated, and given the chance to lead fulfilled and happy lives.

We have the capacity to feed ourselves several times over, but we are daily haunted by the spectacle of the gaunt dregs of humanity suffering along in endless queues, with bowls to collect what the charity of the world has provided, too little too late.

When will we learn?

When will the people of the world get up and say, Enough is enough?

God created us for fellowship. God created us so that we would form the human family, existing together because we were made for each other. We are not made for an exclusive self-sufficiency, but for interdependence, and we break the law of our being at our peril.

Unless we work assiduously so that all of God’s children, our brothers and sisters, members of our own human family, enjoy basic human rights, the right of a fulfilled life, the right of movement, of work, the freedom to be fully human with a humanity measured by nothing less than the humanity of Jesus Christ himself, then we are on the road inexorably to self-destruction, we are not far from global suicide; and yet it could be so different.

When will we learn that human beings are of infinite value because they have been created in the image of God, and that it is a blasphemy to treat them as if they were less than this, and to do so ultimately recoils on those who do this?

In dehumanizing others, they have dehumanized themselves. Perhaps oppression dehumanizes the oppressor as much as, if not more than, the oppressed. But they need each other to become truly free, to become human. We can be human only in fellowship, in community, in koinonia, in peace.

Let us work to be peacemakers, those given a wonderful share in Our Lord’s ministry of reconciliation. If we want peace, so we have been told, let us work for justice. Let us beat our swords into plowshares.

Taken from by Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Nobel lecture, 1984.


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