Ephesians 3:20 (The Message)

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!

It’s time for our nation to band together to rise above the fear! Town Hall For Hope isn’t just a one-time event; its a nationwide movement to bring hope back to all Americans.

Invite friends. Invite coworkers. Invite neighbors. Invite family. Invite the lady that checks you out at Aldi. Invite the person that serves you coffee at Panera. Invite the wait staff that serves you lunch today. Invite your dentist. Invite your babysitters. Invite, Invite Invite!

Plan to Attend

Join in the crusade by making your voice heard! We want to spread the message of hope across this country in every way possible, including the best social networks on the internet.

Leading financial expert Dave Ramsey joins us to share timeless advice on the money matters right under your own roof. Learn how to take control of your financial future and launch a personal financial revolution during our upcoming message series starting March 15th.

John 1 (The Message)

The Life-Light

1-2 The Word was first,
the Word present to God,
God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
in readiness for God from day one.

3-5Everything was created through him;
nothing—not one thing!—
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn’t put it out.

6-8There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light.
He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in.
John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.

9-13The Life-Light was the real thing:
Every person entering Life
he brings into Light.
He was in the world,
the world was there through him,
and yet the world didn’t even notice.
He came to his own people,
but they didn’t want him.
But whoever did want him,
who believed he was who he claimed
and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves,
their child-of-God selves.
These are the God-begotten,
not blood-begotten,
not flesh-begotten,
not sex-begotten.

14The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish.

15John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.”

16-18We all live off his generous bounty,
gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
who exists at the very heart of the Father,
has made him plain as day.

I sometimes so desperately want everyone have “abundant life” in the light of Jesus that when it seems that darkness is winning I feel like a failure.  I’m surprised at how quickly this feeling of failure can take me to my own dark places.  And what’s crazy is that 99.9% of the things or people in my life can be moving closer to the light and experiencing the “exuberant giving and receiving” of Jesus, yet I will be consumed with the small percentage of darkness.

Why do I trust my emotions?  Why do allow myself to go there?

In reading this passage over and over God finally got through to me this morning.  HE IS THE LIGHT! My assignment is not to change darkness into light, I CAN’T DO THAT.  Like John the Baptist I am to speak of the light, point people to the light and by the power of the Holy Spirit shine light into dark places.  I can’t control the darkness.  The darkness will either be consumed by the light or flee the light, the two, light and darkness, cannot exist in the same space.  You would think that I would understand this by now, I have to press into the truth, what I know not what I feel.  I am discovering more and more when I trust what is true I feel much better about life.  There will always be darkness, I can’t fix that problem.  I can continue to represent the light and trust God with the response of the darkness.

I’m starting to ramble, so it’s time to stop.

So, I’m going to begin John 2 this morning.  I wonder how many days this journey will last?

Due to the questionable weather, refreeze this afternoon, and the general difficulty of getting into the church I have decided to cancel our Christmas Eve service. The Church will be closed today and I encourage everyone to stay home and be safe.

I have a few ideas for you this evening as individuals and families.

1. I encourage everyone to read the Christmas story found in Luke 2:1-20.
2. Reflect upon, remember, write down how God has blessed you.
3. Listen to or sing Christmas songs all day long!
4. Visit Lifechurch.tv/christmas Internet Campus today at 1:00, 2:30, 4:00 or 5:30 for a Christmas eve worship experience. You could invite someone to join you on the Internet Campus today.

Be creative!

I look forward to seeing everyone this Sunday for a great morning of worship. If you have not already responded please take time and vote for you favorite sermon of the year.

Please be safe and pass the word to those without computer access regarding tonight’s service.

Peace on earth and good will to all,
Jerris

Tell us what you want below:

Or Click Here to fill out the survey.

How Great Is Our God - Celebrate Grace 2008

God of This City - Champaign, IL

2008 has been an amazing year where God has clearly shown up and led us forward. I can’t wait to see how 2009 unfolds.

Thanks to everyone for showing up and cleaning up all sorts of things around Grace. Great job!

This has been a very hard year for me and my family. In an instant everything that I had mapped out for my life became a far off memory. I found myself in the one place that I didn’t want to be and at a job that didn’t fit into my plan. I felt like God had just forgot about me. One day I was driving home from work and just had this break down. I was praying and telling God how frustrated I was. I don’t know what I was expecting to get out of my emotional rant, but I became really convicted. It was never that God forgot about me. The problem was that I just didn’t like the answer or the way that God was providing in my life. It was uncomfortable and I didn’t  have control. When I finally began to be ok (really ok, not just saying I was ok) with doing God’s work WHEREVER He wanted me, not just where I wanted to be, my life began to drastically change and I saw God moving in some really incredible ways.

Once I learned my lesson I asked God to use me WHEREVER He wanted; even if it meant staying where I was. I attended the wedding of two of my friends…had a 3 minute conversation with Jerris…and here I am…eagerly anticipating and watching for what God will do next. There is a line in a song by The Cobalt Season that I think is appropriate, “Careful not to draw your maps in pen and ink.”

Thank you for taking a step of faith to bring me here. I have already been blessed by so many of you. I am excited about getting to know you all and walking through life together. 

Peace,

Brittany Black

To register for the 3 Month Tithing Challenge download the form linked below and return it to Grace: