CCC Gainesville | Blog
Yes, my sins have all been paid for, once and for all, on the cross. But Jesus taught us to pray for forgiveness as part of our ongoing communion with God. We need a fresh understanding, a fresh experience, of His grace and of His forgiveness every day. There is no greater state than to get up from your knees knowing that in God’s sight you are clean, that He has forgiven every sin you’ve ever committed. Without that grace, without that forgiveness, I don’t think I could live in this world for another sixty seconds. This is something we all desperately need, and we have but to ask for it.
–RC Sproul
Look what has shown up in the last week…
Two swing sets were donated to our playground…
This is the first set getting put together. This has been a very long process and so that you appreciate our play systems even more I’m going to share their little story with you.
Once upon a time… all good stories start there right? Once upon a time I was asked to do a little research on finding what might be a good swing set to add to our playground. I got online and started ordering all sorts of catalogs. As they began to arrive it became very clear that these wooden structures were not really in our budget. Well some were but for the sort of traffic we would put on a church swing set the kind that fit our budget would only last us a few years at the most. Not just that but because we would have children over the age of 8-10 years on them most companies would not honor the warranty. I started praying and doing a lot of research and discovered a company in Ocala called Rainbow Play Systems. I was already excited because that means we are dealing with a “local” company, so that if there were any problems they could always send some one over to fix it. Another reason I started liking this brand was that they use 100 percent untreated redwood. Untreated was really important because that means no chemicals, and that’s always something I like when kids are involved. Another plus is that there is no weigh limit, that means… adults can use the swings too! I called the Ocala location and got connected with their sales representative. It became clear very early in our conversation that he wanted me to buy a swing set that was way out of the budget I was given. I told him I would hopefully be in touch soon, but in my head I was thinking I had hit a dead-end.
I started praying and obsessing and worrying and then praying again, and a month went by and I did nothing. Honestly I didn’t know what to do. It was clear in my mind that the safest and best play system was Rainbow but the reality was that we just didn’t have the budget for it yet. One Sunday as I was looking through the Rainbow Play System’s catalog at the Welcome Station a parent came up to me and I started telling her about how we were looking for a swing set. Then what happened next was… well, it was God answering our prayers, and meeting me with an even better option that I had been trying to figure out. The mother said, “Oh is that a Rainbow catalog? We have a Rainbow that I think we are done with and would love to give it to the church.” Not just any swing set but the brand that I had felt was the best option for our situation (i.e. lots of kids of all ages).
Just wait, God gets an even better idea.
I called to check on the donation and make sure every member of the family was really ready to get rid of the swing set and yes we were ready, and oh “I have a friend who also has a Rainbow and wants to give it to you too.”
See I told you it gets better! Through two families who were generous with their loved swing sets God was bringing us two play systems, one for the little kids and one for the big kids. Now we could have two different class rooms outside at the same time. I had never even had that as a dream, I had never even had that as a thought. I was only asking for one, and He provided two!
Now the actual work began. We had to line up Safety Inspections of each set and then order some new parts. Once those were finished we had to wait on the new lumber to get delivered and then finally after that the Ocala location send up someone to take apart the two sets and bring them to our property and then set them up. I imagined a whole team of men arriving to put them together, but no one guy did the both of them alone. Mike the Ocala Rainbow guy we give you a huge pat on the back, its amazing you did all that work by yourself. We are also thankful to the Ocala store because they were helpful in arranging a complex system of two system owners, a soon to be owner (CCC), their sales rep., the set up guy, the business manager, our business manager, and a really hot two days of tearing down and setting up.
We are so thankful to the two families who gave without asking for anything, and were so helpful in the the ordering of new parts and the transition of the systems. Thank you thank you thank you. And thank you for letting God use you.
And finally thank you to everyone who knew what was going on and had to have a lot of patience with me. This was my first time to pull of such a huge job, and everyone was so patient with me and let me fumble my way through and gave me grace when I made mistakes.
And finally thanks to God for bringing us two beautiful swing sets that the children of CCC can use for years and years to come.
Our next phase is to create shade, but that’s another story yet to be born.
Youth discipleship groups are back up and running this Wednesday, August 24th from 6:30 to 8 PM at the church. This week will be laid back since everyone just started school. Dinner will be served, games will be played, and hang out will ensue.
D-groups will happen every week at the same time and place. There are 4 different discipleship groups – Middle School Girls, Middle School Boys, High School Girls, and High School Boys. The idea is to spend time in a small community getting to know your peers and to be discipled by a leader. That means modeling prayer, studying God’s Word together, catching up each week on what’s going on in life, offering advice, building relationships, playing games together, grabbing dinner together, etc.
If you’ve heard about d-groups and always wanted to participate, now’s a great time to jump in. Contact me with any questions.
“The central work of God’s kingdom is change. God accomplishes this work as the Holy Spirit empowers people to bring his Word to others. We bring more than solutions, strategies, principles, and commands. We bring the greatest story ever told, the story of the Redeemer. Our goal is to help one another live with a ‘God’s story’ mentality. Our mission is to teach, admonish, and encourage one another to rest in his sovereignty, rather than establishing our own; to rely on his grace rather than performing on our own; and to submit to his glory rather than seeking our own. This is the work of the kingdom of God: people in the hands of the Redeemer, daily functioning as his tools of lasting change.”
– Paul David Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands
“Mission arises from the biblical doctrine of
the church in the world.
If we are not THE CHURCH, the holy & distinct people of God, we have nothing to say because we are compromised. If on the other hand, we are not IN THE WORLD, deeply involved in its life and suffering, we have no one to serve because we are insulated. Our calling is to be HOLY and WORLDLY at the same time. Without this balanced biblical ecclesiology we will never recover or fulfill our mission.”
–John Stott, The Living Church
