CCC Gainesville | Blog
This Jesus of Nazareth—the one you saw, the one you knew, the one you crucified—he is more than you know. Jesus may not be what you expected, but he is better. He may not be what you were looking for, but he is bigger. Have you ever considered that what you saw in Jesus is not what God sees in Jesus?
You thought he was a false prophet, but according to Moses, he was the Prophet.
You spoke against him, but Samuel spoke of him.
You said his father was the Devil, but he was the promised son of Abraham.
You had no ears to hear his gospel, but the Lord God said to listen to him in whatever he tells you.
You considered him a blasphemer, but he was the Holy One of Israel.
You treated him wickedly, but he was the Righteous One of God.
You gave life to a murderer and murdered the Author of Life.
You handed him over to die; God raised him up from the dead.
You denied him before Pilate; God glorified him in heaven.
The One you delivered to the Romans, God has made your Deliverer.
Have you ever heard of a man like this? Can’t you hear him calling your name? Can’t you hear him speaking to you now through his word? If you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Now is the time to repent and believe. For the Savior you would not set free is mighty to save, even for you.
We had a great turn out for our Shoebox Chili Cook Off on Sunday! Over $250 was raised in support of our Operation Christmas Child project. Those funds will now go towards supplies and shipping for boxes packed by our Children’s Ministry classes. Thanks to all who brought chili, made cornbread, helped set up or clean up…we couldn’t have done it without you!
Awesome panoramic shot taken by Rob Pendley of the event.
This was a wonderful kick off to jump start our church’s Operation Christmas Child efforts! Last year we collected 173 boxes and the majority of those boxes were sent to Madagascar. (Hopefully you were able to see the video about Madagascar on Sunday…if not, check it out below.) Our goal for our church is 200 boxes this year. We can do it! If every person or couple or family packed just one shoebox we would far exceed this goal. So, let’s get packing CCC!
Here is how to pack a shoebox gift:
Use an empty shoe box (standard size, please), a small plastic container or just grab a box from church. You can wrap the box (lid separately), but wrapping is not required. Most importantly, pray for the child who will receive your gift.
Determine whether your gift will be for a boy or a girl, and the child’s age category: 2-4, 5-9, or 10-14. Print out the appropriate boy/girl label by downloading the artwork from the OCC website. Mark the correct age category on the label, and tape the label to the top of your box.
Fill the box with a variety of gifts that will bring delight to a child. Use the gift ideas provided on the bottom of this page.
Please donate $7 or more for each shoe box you prepare to help cover shipping and other project costs. You can give online by using our “Follow Your Box Donation” option, or you can write a check to Samaritan’s Purse (note “OCC” on memo line) and place it in an envelope on top of the gift items inside your box. If you or your family are preparing more than one shoe box, please make one combined donation.
Place a rubber band around each closed shoe box and drop it off at church. National Collection Week is November 11-18, but you are welcome to begin bringing in your completed boxes as soon as this Sunday. You can put them on the wooden stand in the Foyer.
And if you still need more motivation to pack a box…please visit the OCC Stories page to read story after story of how God uses these simple gifts to change hearts and lives and communities around the world. It is truly amazing to see how God uses something we would consider insignificant to spread his Kingdom and glory all through the Earth.
If you have any questions, please contact kids@christcommunitychurch.com.
Stott & Keller: This short section is the classic text describing the very earliest church and how it lived its live corporately. It is extremely concise but also extremely complete. John Stott writes: “It is incorrect to call the Day of Pentecost ‘the birthday of the church’. For the church as the people of God goes back at least 4,000 years to Abraham. What happened at Pentecost was that…God’s people became the Spirit-filled body of Christ.” Thus this picture of the church is also a picture of what the church becomes when the power of the Spirit is in evidence. During times of spiritual revival and renewal, the church can return to some degree to this form. People studying this text seriously can discover an almost endless stream of important insights as to how Christians should live together in community.
Reading Acts together:
Tim Keller: Discussions of the nature of “glossolalia” (speaking in tongues) must not distract us from the main point of this miracle. On the first day of any church, a very important decision has to be made. What language (and therefore what culture) will he church conduct its worship and business in? When Redeemer Church held its first service, it did so in English, which automatically made ministry to other people (who did not speak English) of secondary importance for the church. Well, on the first day of Jesus’ church, he refused to choose one language or one culture to minister in! If the apostles had spoken in Hebrew or Aramaic or Greek–the signal would have been set that the gospel was primarily for just one people group. But the Lord on Pentecost shows the world that the gospel is for every tongue, tribe, people, and nation. The first “worship service” is multi-lingual, multi-cultural, multi-racial in the extreme.
Pentecost means that the unity of the Spirit transcends all racial, national, and linguistic barriers. For centuries, commentators have noted that Acts 2 is a reversal of the curse of Babel. Acts 2 provides a “Table of the Nations” as does Genesis 10. But in Acts 2, a miracle of blessing brings people together through understanding despite linguistic barriers. While in Genesis 11, a miracle of cursing breaks people apart through division despite original linguistic sameness. In Genesis 11, the people of the earth unite to “make a name for themselves” (v.4), and this leads to the disunity of racial and cultural alienation. In Acts 2, when people unite “to call on the name of the Lord” (Acts 2:21) and the result is racial and cultural healing.
Well she’s been with us all year, but I never had a picture so I never put her biography up. But then someone sent me a great picture of our one and only Clara Driebe.
Clara has been with our church since we began 15 years ago. She teaches the 4th and 5th graders during the first service. Thank you Clara for all your hard work!
