Check out what came in the mail today from one of our friends from C. C. Spaulding Elementary School. It speaks for itself!
This post is for my blog friends and FB friends who have never been to New Horizon Church or have never met my wonderful colleagues and wonder what they're like...Check out this awesome promo video, then DON'T MISS our services on Christmas Eve at 4:24 & 6:24. It'll be the highlight of your Christmas!
New Horizon Church Christmas Eve 2009 Promo from New Horizon Church on Vimeo.
Several times per week, as I listen to people passionately share about loved ones, describing how low they are; they often end with, "I guess they'll just have to hit rock bottom." I take great comfort in knowing that God is that "Rock". A few years ago I listened to a testimony of a man who made horrible decision, after horrible decision and ended up hitting rock bottom. In his testimony he said, "I ended up hitting rock bottom, and when I did I discovered the rock was solid." He accepted Christ & his forgiveness and became a new creation.
Psalm 62:1-2 [MSG] says, 1-2 God, the one and only— I'll wait as long as he says.
Everything I need comes from him,
so why not?
He's solid rock under my feet,
breathing room for my soul,
An impregnable castle:
I'm set for life.
Pray for your loved ones, that if they hit rock bottom, they discover the Rock is solid.
Last Friday we attended the memorial service for a 27 year-old man who had taken his own life. Throughout the service, as well as afterward, we began to understand how isolated this young man had become. Suffering from depression all of his adult life, we learned from his blog that he felt ostracized by society. Most unfortunately, according to a blog entry, he felt especially ostracized by Christians, who he stated "judged him". Feeling like life had no meaning, no purpose, no future & no one to help, he sadly choose suicide as the only way out.
Our culture and sadly, many churches, turn away from depressed, mentally ill people who require a lot of intervention and support. The depressed person therefore isolates themselves and unfortunately, we let them. Isolation leads to desolation.
The antidote, which is counterintuitive, but right, is "insulation". People struggling with hurts, hang-ups, additions & mental illness, easily isolate themselves. Churches, we need to sound the alarm that we are the life-saving stations that God intends us to be, not the country clubs that many have become. We need to create a culture counterintuitive to current culture, where the depressed, down-and-out, hurting, and addicts can come as they are and find hope. People, take off our blinders and look around. Slow down and help someone who is without hope and has isolated themselves. It'll take a lot of your time and resources, but you'll grow, and maybe even save a life.
If you are reading this post and you feel you are without hope, believing no one cares, come this Sunday to New Horizon Church; where you'll find people who want to come around you, support you, and love you enough to not allow you to stay where you are. Then, come back on Tuesday night at 7pm for Celebrate Recovery, where just about everyone you'll encounter, has felt exactly like you feel now. God designed community and His word describes this support very clearly -
Two are better than one, 10 If one falls down, 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. 12 Though one may be overpowered, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
because they have a good return for their work:
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
But how can one keep warm alone?
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Had a great blessing today that came from holding someone accountable. Sunday, immediately following the second service I began calling several people who had not brought their Angel gifts. Many answered the phone, thanked me for reminding them, and made arrangements to bring their gifts as soon as possible.
This afternoon, the last presents arrived. The person delivering the gifts thanked me for calling on Sunday and then admitted that they probably would not have fulfilled their commitment had I not called. The person went on to explain that money was tight, but after my call, they looked at a purchase they had made for themselves and decided to return that purchase in order to buy the gifts for their Angel recipient.
After sharing the story, the person told me how much joy they felt after making that decision, then following through with the commitment. I shared what a blessing this interaction was for me. Thinking the blessing couldn't get better, this person, who hasn't quite been able to commit to joining a small group, asked me to help find the perfect group! Call me pushy, but...
Check out what came in the mail today from one of our friends from C. C. Spaulding Elementary School. It speaks for itself!
Following on the heals of our Cameron Park outreach last week, and providing coats & shoes for the entire student body of C. C. Spaulding School yesterday; is another amazing opportunity to impact our community this Friday night.
Over 5000 fliers were distributed to every elementary school student in the Orange County School system inviting parents to drop off their kids this Friday night, December 11th, and have a great date knowing their kids were having a great & safe time too. Many of these families are unchurched or do not currently have a church home. What a great opportunity to introduce these families to New Horizon Church and our awesome family environment! I know I can't wait to have fun playing with a group of kids, eat way too much fun food and watch "Night at the Museum 2". Want to have fun serving these families, while introducing them to New Horizon Church?! Click here to sign up and Kid's Pastor Cathy will be in touch with the details. Join us in making a difference!
Good morning world! I just received a story from one of our long-time New Horizon Church members. Her story demonstrates how God uses us to impact people, far beyond how we can imagine. It started with our pastor's vision and his obedience to God and continued with our obedience to God. DD's story says it all and I know we'll hear even more impact stories in the coming days.
"Leah, I work with the parent of one of the CC Spaulding kids. She came into work showing the voucher to our co-workers (not knowing that I was a member of NHC). She was overwhelmed! She said that her little girl was so excited and could not wait to pick out her coat. She told us how she has seen children standing in the cold waiting for the bus, many with no coat. I have always been proud of my church and my church family but this day, I was not only proud but also thankful to be the member of an UNSTOPPABLE church. Thank you Jesus!"
Today was delivery day and we thought that our delivery of coats filling three cars and an extended bed truck would overwhelm the staff of C. C. Spaulding School. It's not too often when an entire student body of extremely needy children gets to pick out a brand new coat and pair of shoes and have them delivered on the coldest morning of the season, thus far.
Guess what? We were the ones being overwhelmed...with overflowing gratitude. We weren't two steps in the school lobby when I heard through multiple school radios, "They're here, they're here!" Immediately, all auxiliary staff, along with the principal, Ms. Kelley were eagerly pulling bags from our cars and truck, thanking us each time they grabbed a new handful of bags.
To top it off, at the end of our delivery, when we asked Ms. Kelley if we could capture a few words on video, she exclaimed, "It's my birthday today! What a great gift!" Wow! The truth is that the gift is ours. How amazing it is to be part of God's plan in providing the bare necessities to "the least of these." Matt 25:40. New Horizon Church, you're awesome! J. C. Penney's, you're awesome! Linda & Randall Poythress, you're awesome! C. C. Spaulding staff, you're awesome! C. C. Spaulding kids, you're awesome! And we can't forget Pastor Dave, who listened to God and shared his vision...you're awesome! Ultimately, God, you're awesome! Amen.
Continue to pray for Ms. Kelley, her staff, the children and their families as we enter this Christmas season.
I'll be posting a video later this week, so stay tuned!