Evangel June, 2012
Worship Set, Sunday, July 1
Zero To Hero, Wk 5: Pastor Doug
PS 115:1
Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.
Lord, never let the focus of my worship be me. As we worship together this weekend, let’s focus on the One who deserves to be worshipped: Jesus.
First Service
Open The Eyes of My Heart (Baloche)
Nothing But the Blood (Adams)
Beauty of the Lord (Packiam)
You Are My King (Amazing Love) (Foote)
Second and Third Services
God Is With Us Now (Beach)
You Revive Me (Assad, Maher, Tomlin)
Here I Am To Worship (Hughes)
Consuming Fire (Hughes)
In Hot Pursuit… By Pastor Terry
So I’m sitting at one of our local coffee shops with one of my students hearing them tell me that all they want is to know God in the deepest way possible and that they are willing to do whatever it takes to get to that point. In the same day, another student tells me that they’re “bored” in their walk with God and that they “just don’t care anymore.”
Two different students with two distinct perspectives of the one and same God that saved both of their souls and forgave their sins.
So, as any good pastor would do, I gave them the best advice I had and encouraged them both to commit to seeking the Lord in both the easy and difficult times of life. Problem solved…or so I thought.
You see, there was something bothering me about the second student that I talked to that morning. As I drove back to the office, I kept wondering how someone who has tasted the “goodness” of God in ways that would make a theologian jealous could simply give up on God because they’re bored. There had to be a better answer I could give the kid other than to simply “be consistent.”
Now allow me to take a moment and ask if you have ever been at the place where this student was in your relationship with God. You’ve heard the messages and read the passages in the Bible. You’ve sang all the songs and attended every Sunday service; and at the end of the day you are left…bored.
The answer is simple. When God hit me with it I couldn’t believe I didn’t see it before. Ready for it? Here it is: “The proof of your passion is in your pursuit.”
If God is unchanging, and He is, then it isn’t God that has become boring…it’s us. We have ceased in our pursuit of God, the very thing that brings that growth and spiritual depth we all crave, and have instead traded our passion for powerlessness. Our pursuit has shifted from the One that recklessly pursues us to something that cannot possibly satisfy our spiritual hunger like God can.
King David, when he was running for his life from people who wanted to kill him(and we thought we had it rough), says this in Psalm 63.1-8:
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water…Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands… MY SOUL PURSUES YOU WITH ALL I HAVE…
The chips were stacked against David when he wrote this. He was in a desert, running from people who were trying to kill him, and he had no hope. Yet, he still served notice on his soul, telling himself that that he would PURSUE God regardless of his situation because God is worthy of it…
…and that is reason enough.
Throwback by Josh Skjoldal
Thinking back to Sunday and our discussion on Asa, it seems that by now, many are probably immersed back into their tests with complacency, their culture, and their clans or families. It seems like while we are in God’s presence or hearing His word, the hero inside of us rises to the surface and an anthem emerges in our heart. We are ready to take on the world, change our life, stand the test, to fight the fight. I think as we walk out the door, back into life, the enemy comes and begins to wear us down once again until a few days later, that anthem in our heart seems a distant melody and that courage to rise up has drifted into fear or complacency. Each one of us would have to give in to that slow drift and settling back in to “life as we know it” if it weren’t for the Spirit of God.
God’s word says in 2 Timothy 1:14 to “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you–guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.” Be encouraged today that God has given you His Holy Spirit to remind you, to help you, to encourage you, and to move you forward. We were not meant to glide forward or to digress but to grow, prosper and to bear fruit. Even when you don’t feel it in your emotions, you can KNOW that God, by His Holy Spirit, is working in you and is carrying to completion the work He has started in you! Praise Him for how faithful He is! You can stand!
Zero to Hero – Part 4 – Current
Pastor Josh Skjoldal – Zero to Hero Message 4/5
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Zero to Hero – Part 4 – Crossing
Pastor Josh Skjoldal – Zero to Hero Message 4/5
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Worship Set, Sunday, June 24
Zero To Hero, Wk 4: Pastor Josh
This week we’re celebrating the victory God has won, and the confidence we have in knowing that He has better plans for us than we have for ourselves.
PS 37:23
The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
First Service
Blessed Be Your Name (Redman)
‘Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus (Stead, new bridge by Meyer)
Holy Is The Lord (Tomlin)
Worshiping You (Stockstill)
Second and Third Services
You Are Good (Johnson)
This Is Life (Woodley)
King of Wonders (Baloche, Chapman, Garrard, Houghton, Hughes)
You Have Conquered (Williams)
Throwback by Doug Graham
Zero to Hero – Simon The Cross Carrier
In reflecting on my message last Sunday, I felt a bit more ramped up than usual in conveying the significance of Simon’s influence on his family (Mark 15). Why? Because I know of no other more important thing in the world for a father (or mother) than how we influence our family (especially our kids!).
Think of it! Here’s a guy who’s traveled in from the countryside, he’s probably tired, thirsty, and just looking for a place to relax before going about his business in the busy city of Jerusalem. Then, out of nowhere, some Roman soldier grabs him by the collar and drags him to where Jesus is collapsed beneath His cross. “Carry this man’s cross!” the soldier screams in Simon’s face. Simon’s life was forever changed that day … and so was his wife’s, and his boys as well, Alexander & Rufus.
Yes, my name is Doug … but I am more intimately known as “honey” (by my wife) and “dad” (by my kids). More than any other achievement in the world, I want to succeed at home. We don’t hear any more of Simon after Mark 15, but we do hear about his wife and his sons later (see Acts 19:33 & Romans 16:13). Perhaps the most important thing about being a dad or mom is realizing that there are “moments in time” when not only OUR life is transformed, but like a chain of falling dominoes, everyone in our home is transformed.
Here’s a prayer I say quite frequently: “Jesus, help me to live to my fullest potential for You; and in so doing, inspire my wife and kids so that their lives make an even greater impact in the world.”
Pastor Doug
Zero to Hero – Part 3 – Current
Pastor Doug Graham – Zero to Hero Message 3/5
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Zero to Hero – Part 3 – Crossing
Pastor Doug Graham – Zero to Hero 3/5
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Worship Set, Sunday, June 17
Zero To Hero, Wk 3 (Father’s Day): Pastor Doug
This week we celebrate God’s faithfulness-His unrelenting love and pursuit of us even though we don’t deserve it.
Duet 7:9
“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.”
This verse means that God is faithful, and will continue to be faithful to us forever! Not just a thousand years from now, but right now, in this moment, God’s faithful love is available to us.
First Service
Awesome is the Lord Most High (Tomlin)
Fairest Lord Jesus (Fairer) (Seiss, Packiam)
Draw Me Close (Carpenter)
Here In Your Presence (Egan)
Second and Third Services
Deep Cries Out (Matthews, Gilbertson, Koepke)
I Will Exalt (Falk)
You Won’t Relent (Edwards)
Who You Are (Egan)