Our Family

Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian. Ephesians 2:19 (TLB)

The Bible says that when you become a believer in Christ, you become a member of God’s family.  The moment you were born into this world physically, you became a part of the human race and a part of a family. I became an Ermoian when I was born. When you were reborn spiritually, born again, you were born into God’s family.  You became a part of His family.   

The Bible says that the family is called the church.  It’s interesting to me and I hope to you that the church is not an institution.  The church is not a business.  The church is not an organization, or a social club.  The church, the Bible says, is a family.  We at Celebration Community Church are a family. The Christian life is not just about believing, it’s about belonging, belonging to a family. 

There is no greater evidence of this than what I saw this week at the memorial services for Dianna Folland and Cliff Edwards. Both of these longtime members of C3 had a great outpouring of church members bringing food, sending flowers and their small groups being present in force to celebrate their lives and support their families. 

At Celebration Community Church we invite you to become part of our family through our Connections Class. During this 1 & 1/2 hour class you will learn what C³ is all about and most importantly, how you can find your place and purpose in it. 

Connections meets in the Pond (Children’s Church Area) THIS SATURDAY at 10am. RSVP TODAY to ericka@celebratejesus.org

Child care is provided upon request.

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle

Wonders In Heave Above

Last night I set my alarm for 2:30 am and looked up in the crystal clear night a total lunar eclipse,  This “blood moon” is the first of four consecutive (tetrad) and complete lunar eclipses occurring at approximately six-month intervals which will all be visible over the United States this year and next. I saw the sunset red glow that rings the Earth as it blocks the light from the sun is cast upon the moon.

The upcoming dates are Oct. 8, April 4, 2015, and Sept. 28, 2015.What is the prophetic significance of the four blood moons? Is this the end of the age?" John Hagee asked this question in his new book, ‘The Four Blood Moons. Hagee says, "I believe that the heavens are God's billboard, that He has been sending signals to planet Earth, and we just haven't been picking them up."

If we look at the prophecy in Acts 2:19-20 we can see it as a sign in the sky: "And I will show wonders in Heaven above and signs in the Earth beneath, the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord."

Hagee writes, “There are no solar of lunar accidents; every heavenly body is controlled by the unseen hand of God to send signals to humanity of coming events.”There were 31 fulfilled prophesies regarding the first coming of Jesus. The messianic prophecies that Jesus fulfilled 2,000 years ago, when He came the first time, happened to the very day predicted.. Hagee explains how Jesus’s second coming events will also happen to the very day of the Fall Feasts. 

Jesus died for our sins on Passover, was buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, was resurrected from the grave on First Fruits, and then sent the Holy Spirit to indwell believers on the Jewish Feast of Pentecost. Jesus lets us know that we will not know the day of his coming again but should look for the signs. Keep looking up!


 Your pastor and partner in ministry,
Kyle

Four Blood Moons

In a new non-fiction book, “Four Blood Moons,” Pastor John Hagee draws on scripture, NASA science and recorded history to explore the significance of astronomical events and to caution believers of a momentous, upcoming series of lunar events that may directly impact not only the nation of Israel but possibly all of humanity.

According to Hagee, four blood moons have occurred on the Hebrew holy days of Passover and the Feast of the Tabernacles, only three times in the last 500 years. These same three dates in Israel’s history just happen to be the most important dates for the nation, writes Hagee. “

In 1493, the four blood moons occurred on the Hebrew holidays of Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. This signified the beginning of the fall of Spain following the expulsion of the Jews a year earlier and was God’s announcement to the world that “the mantle of prosperity had thusly been placed on the shoulders of the infant nation that would become the United States” since it became a refuge for the Jewish people.

The second appearance of four blood moons appearing on Hebrew holy days was 1949-1950. They occurred on Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles and coincided with Israel being declared a nation.

The third occurrence was in 1967-1968, when the Six-Day War took place, uniting the city of Jerusalem for the first time in 2,000 years.

The next four blood moon tetrad (an occurrence of 4 total  lunar eclipses  in a row) falling on the same Hebrew holy days, occurred early this morning April 15, 2014 – only the fourth time in the last 500 years.

• April 15, 2014 – Passover
• October 8, 2014 – Feast of Tabernacles
• April 4, 2015 – Passover
• September 28, 2015 – Feast of Tabernacles

What is the prophetic significance of these events? Looking through the lens of Biblical prophecy we see in Joel 2:31, the Bible says, "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD comes." What could this mean for us?

I will explore more of this in tomorrow’s blog.

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle

Remain In Me

This last week we laid to rest Dianna Folland and during her memorial service I spoke of her and her daughter Jenny’s love for gardening. Why does someone plant a garden? Certainly for pleasure but the whole goal of gardening is to produce the fruit. 

If gardens did not produce a yield how many of us would go through all the trouble of planting? The goal of the garden is the fruit. And so it is with God.

God is a gardener. God has planted us His people in His garden, and He too wants to produce fruit for his own pleasure. You and I were created by God for a purpose—to produce fruit for Him.  But what kind of fruit is God looking for? He is looking for obedience, righteousness, worship, and multiplication of his family.  

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit… John 15:5

The only way we can fulfill our God given purpose (bear much fruit) is to remain (abide) in Him. We accomplish this by being in His word, being responsive to His Spirit and being connected to His church. 

This Sunday we will all have a great opportunity to bear fruit for God by inviting a friend, neighbor, co-worker or relative to join us at our Easter Sunday Services at Beach Schmidt performing Arts Center at 8:30am, 10am and 11:30am.

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle

Full Serve Saturday

This Saturday April 12 from 9am-12noon Celebration Community Church and CERV’s Conoco & Convenience Stores are partnering in a Full Serve Saturday. Members of the church will wash windshields, pump fuel and offer a five cent per gallon rebate on up to 20 gallons purchased.

This church service project will take place at three of CERV’S locations in Hays at 27^th and Vine streets, on Hall street (just north of 27^th) and downtown at 16^th and Main.  For more information contact the church office at 785-625-5483.

On behalf of Jenny and Parker Dixon we want to thank our church family for your tremendous outpouring of love at this time of Dianna’s passing.  We are so grateful for the prayerful support and  appreciative of  the moving and meaningful memorial service with awesome music that Dianna would have loved.  To all who provided the food for the fabulous fellowship dinner, thank you. This whole experience has been honoring to our family and to our God who has welcomed Dianna into His heavenly garden.

We are so  thankful for our wonderful church family.

With love,

Doug Folland

Blessed Are The Meek

The greatest teacher of all time, Jesus Christ, proclaimed in His famous Sermon on the Mount "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." (Matt. 5:5) 

I don’t know what comes to your mind when you hear the word meek but I know I used to think that meek and weak rhymed because they were interchangeable.  The Greek word for "meek" does not mean weak but rather strength under control.

Like a powerful steed that is under the control of its riders reins.  A meek person has all the emotions and ability to lash out and vent but who is able control themselves in all ways. True meekness is a submissive and trusting attitude toward God and others.  

The perfect picture of someone who lived a life of true meekness is Jesus himself but when I think of someone who I have had the pleasure of being a pastor to that exemplifies meekness, it would be Dianna Folland.

Today in a memorial service  at 4pm, we will celebrate her life and the life everlasting promised  to her by her Savior who blessed her with the most gentle of spirits.

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle

Jesus Is Grace

Last Sunday while speaking on a passage from John 8, I asked the congregation to ponder a question. I have always speculated about what Jesus wrote in the dirt when a group of Pharisees brought to him a woman who was caught in an act of sexual sin. The law called for her to be stoned – killed by them throwing stones at her until she died. They wanted Jesus to condemn her, I guess so that they could blame him for her death.

At this point in the story, Jesus silently began writing in the dirt with his finger. Then He looked up and said “whoever was without sin should throw the first stone.” This caught them off guard, for certainly none of them could claim to be without sin. Starting with the oldest ones, these men walked away.

This had obviously been a set-up to trap Jesus. For one thing, the man who had been involved in the sexual sin was not brought – only the woman. The woman must have been shaking in fear, knowing that she very well could be killed and that the Pharisees were bent on getting Jesus to speak words of condemnation to her.

Have you ever wondered what Jesus was writing in the ground? I have thought that maybe he was writing a list of sins that the accusers had committed. Or perhaps he was even writing their names and the names of women with whom they had committed sexual sin. Maybe he was even writing in the sand the 6^th and 7^th commandments (I am going to make you look them up) We can only imagine what he wrote but the result was that the woman was left there with Jesus, and the accusers were gone.

Jesus’ simple words to her were, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

She answered, “No one.”

Jesus showed great compassion and mercy as he said, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

The awesome thing about this passage is that Jesus will say those same words to us too if we come to Him to ask forgiveness. No matter what sin, mistakes, rebellion, and unbelief we’ve had, those simple words will set us free. He will enable us to leave our lives of sin and become the people who walk in the joy of truly following Him.

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle