Gentlemen,

I’d love to get a last opportunity to see you and watch some football. Turn up tonight at Splitz.

Texas A&M vs South Carolina begins at 6pm. Guys will be arriving throughout the evening. Come when you can, leave when you must.

Splitz is off Newberry Rd,  just west of I-75

The secret to Steve Spurrier’s success, pictured with SOS below, will be joining us.

A previous post wrongly stated that FPU begins tomorrow.

There is only ONE adult class at 9am tomorrow: The Pursuit of God

Tomorrow kicks off our Fall schedule:
9:00 classes
10:30 worship service

The adult classes are:
A.) Financial Peace University
B.) The Pursuit of God
Some quotes from the book:
God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which he must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves.

Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.

To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love.

Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called and his work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry. It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it.

Let us practice the fine art of making every work a priestly ministration. Let us believe that God is in all our simple deeds and learn to find Him there.

O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this.

—-A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

My name is Stacey Greene. My husband, Zach, and I have been members of Christ Community for about 4 years. We were active at the church from 2010 to 2013 while my husband was in medical school at the University of Florida. Residency took our family to Columbia, SC for the past year. We returned to Gainesville in June for the remainder of Zach’s residency in Anesthesiology at Shands. He has three more years of training. We also now have a son, Jacob, who is almost 5 months old. I most recently enjoyed volunteering during Vacation Bible School and have loved reconnecting with families and meeting new ones! My educational background is in Industrial and Systems Engineering and Leadership Studies from Mississippi State University.

Just as our personal season of transition and change is coming to an end, our church family’s season of transition and change is just beginning. When deciding to derail Zach’s professional training in switching his specialty from Orthopedic Surgery to Anesthesiology, we prayed that the Lord would make our path clear and definitive. The path was paved back to Gainesville, and the Lord provided a smooth transition. For the past 6 months, Zach and I have been praying over what our time will look like in Gainesville. There are many opportunities, small groups, Bible Studies, etc. to dive right back into, but we wanted to be discerning in what God was actually calling us to. My personal tendency is to over commit and spread myself thin, but I knew that God was asking me to pray and to take time before committing to too many “good” things. For that reason, I have been intentional with my prayers and with the people who I have consulted regarding this particular need in the church.  I am reminded of Timothy who was a young leader in the church:

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 3:15

I am so encouraged by the church members who are willing to come along side so that this important ministry has direction and manpower this year. While I always knew that I would be once again be an active, participating church member at Christ Community, I could not have envisioned that the Lord would call me to such a formal role. The seemingly different paths God takes people down are all for His singular purpose. I feel that the Lord has placed me and my gifts in this church at this time and is asking me to use them for this specific purpose. I am excited for the plan’s God has for Christ Community during this season of transition and change. It is my prayer that the church will be refined and that God will raise up leaders. I am humbled when I acknowledge that I am one of those leaders.

This Summer in our gathered worship we have added the historical element of “passing the peace” to our liturgy.

Now, I have something to encourage understanding and I have a question.

1.) When I was studying 1 Peter I came across an enlightening riff that Ed Clowney did on Peter’s words:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
I’ve attached them below.

2.) question:
What have you observed and/or experienced with our passing of the peace this Summer? I’m very interested. Would you be willing to let me know? rpendley@christcommunitychurch.com

Here’s Clowney: