Spiritual Checkup

One of the great traditions we have at C3 is choosing a Scripture Verse of the Year to help guide us through what the New Year brings. The process we have been using for sometime now is called a Spiritual Check-Up. Like going to the Dr. yearly to check on your physical condition, a spiritual check up helps us diagnosis our spiritual condition.

SPIRITUAL CHECK–UP 2015

(Five questions to ask yourself to help you lead a healthy, purposeful life)

1. What was my scripture verse of the year for 2014?
If you chose one last year why did you choose that one? Reclaim it as your own.

2. Through what difficulties last year did God try to teach me to rely on Him?
Remember some specific difficult times you went through and look back to see how God was with you through them.

3. What fruit of the Spirit does God want to grow greater in me this year?
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

4. What ministry gifts does God want to develop greater in me in the coming year?
The way we develop gifts is to use them in service to others find a ministry in the church and help others. Find them Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 1 Corinthians 12:28.

5. What is God putting on my heart to be your scripture verse of the year for 2015?
Take time this week to turn off your t.v. and computer, open up God’s word and ask him to lead you to a verse that will lead you in the coming year.

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle

Memorize it. Meditate on it. Mark it on the wall of the service you attend.

Thursday’s 6:30pm
This Thursday Matt Dumler leads on Abraham

Choosing Your Scripture Verse

What joy I have felt during the last week while fellow staff members of Celebration Community Church have taken over the responsibility for these daily blog posts. I have enjoyed reading about their spiritual journeys and why they have chosen their Scripture Verses of the Year. I am so proud of them all and encouraged by this team who are fully devoted to Christ and to you the people of the Celebration. The Bible is the foundation upon which we build our lives. Last year I chose 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” (NLT)

As you think this week about choosing your scripture verse of the year remember:

1. “All scripture is inspired (God breathed)

2. All scripture is useful to teach us what is right and wrong.

3. All scripture prepares and equips us to do God’s will.

God wants us to put into practice what we learn. He gives us a message to not just to listen but to obey.

The Bible is an intensely practical book. It tells us what to do, and it tells us how to do it. It prepares and equips us. It contains God's practical plan on how to build a successful life, on how to build a family that God can bless, how to be happy, how to live a life of significance. All of the messages that Pastor Brant and I are basically "how to" messages. Why? Because the goal of the Bible isn't to make us more knowledgeable. As 2 Timothy 3:17 says "It is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do."

As you choose your Scripture Verse of the Year pick one that will equip you for what God wants you to do.

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle

Hope (n) confident trust with the EXPECTATION of fulfillment.

When I was praying about my scripture verse for 2015 I felt led to a verse I’ve chosen before, in 2007, after my husband and I had the heartache of a miscarriage. It was a verse that comforted me and gave me hope. We were blessed with our daughter Chloe the following year. She is a good reminder that God’s plan is perfect, and I need to trust it. Now 8 years later, I’ve felt led to that verse again.

On February 11, 2011 my son Kelby, then 7 years old, had a stroke at the kitchen table. Through a whirlwind of doctor visits in Kansas City we were sent home, with the doctor saying to “enjoy him while we have him.” We were broken and our hearts hurt but we knew God was still in control. We continued to pray and felt led to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. We went in April and heard the words that we longed to hear from the Pediatric Neurosurgeon, “I think we can help your son.” Six neurosurgeons before him had said they couldn’t do anything to help him, so you can imagine how ecstatic we were. Kelby had Gamma Knife brain surgery 9 days later. This surgery is a slow solution to the problem, meaning we’ve had to learn a “new normal” at our house while we wait for healing. During this time of waiting I adopted a quote:
“Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to Dance in the Rain.” – Vivian Green

This quote reminds me that during this storm that started 4 years ago my responsibility is to put my Hope in God and Trust Him with this, therefore letting go of the overwhelming burden of it and being able to enjoy my life just as it is right now, therefore, “dancing in the rain,” enjoying life in the midst of the storm.

As we prepare for another trip to Mayo Clinic over Spring Break for another angiogram and Gamma Knife Brain Surgery scheduled, I need to be reminded “For I know the plans I have for you”- God knows what the doctor at Mayo will see in March, it’s not going to surprise God, and I trust Him and His plans, so I can rest in the assurance that God has this planned out, exactly as He sees fit according to his purpose. His word says “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” I trust His plans. They may not look exactly the way I would have written them (I’m pretty sure I would’ve left this chapter out if I were writing the plans for my life!) but I know his eternal perspective is so much better than my earthly one.

Someone shared with me this quote that describes this difference in perspective:
“Our life is like a stained glass window; sometimes all we see is a broken shard of glass, but when God looks at the big picture of our lives that shard of broken glass fits into the picture to create a beautiful masterpiece, and without it, the picture would not be as beautiful.”

What I sometimes see as broken glass, God sees as a vital piece to His masterpiece! So, even though I may have preferred to keep this chapter out of my life story, God’s plan is perfect. His plans promise hope and a future.
“Where there is Hope there is Faith, Where there is Faith, Miracles happen.”

My verse for 2015: Jeremiah 29:11-13
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.“

DeLynn Rice

What is your Scripture Verse of the Year?

Memorize it. Meditate on it.

Mark it on the wall of the service you attend.

Time

We all have the same amount of it each day.
24 hours, 1440 minutes, 86400 seconds.
When we become adults, time seems to speed up. I find myself thinking things like, “where did the time go?” And “wow, time flies!”

I've realized in searching for my scripture verse of the year that I need to take more time to play and enjoy this wonderful life God has given me.

The verse I have chosen this year is psalm 16:11, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”

With the best of intentions you may tell yourself to work now and play later, not remembering that work sometimes takes up all the time, leaving no time for play, not realizing that you haven't played for a long, long time. But play is a reflection of God’s ways just as much as the most serious prayer or good work. Your whole person needs the alternating rhythms of activity and rest, work and play.

God is playful. He delights in us, his creation. He gave us a playful side so I can only think that he has one too. We who are made in God’s image are meant to play—not just when we were children but also now as an adult. We are meant to look at things with childlike wonder and joy. My niece Bella asks me to play with her a lot and I have learned to embrace my inner child by saying yes more often than not.

If you have been too busy giving your life over to work, you are missing out on the glorious gift of play. Playing refreshes the spirit. Play helps you break out of the box and think in unexpected ways.

I encourage you to let your inner child come out and play, often. Play can restore the joy in your heart and the joy of the Lord is our strength.

“Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever.” Psalm 5:11 NLT

May you all have a playful 2015!
Ericka Pfeifer
Pastors Assistant

What is your Scripture Verse of the Year?

Memorize it. Meditate on it.

Mark it on the wall of the service you attend.

Alicia Hunter

He shed His blood for this! Look at your life. Look at your future. Look at your past. Look at where you are right now. He shed His blood for this. We pass by that thought like its just another tulip in the garden but look at it again. Read it like it's got power! This isn't just a v8 this is a four-cell NASA rocket engine ready for take off. He shed His blood for this!

Ecclesiastes 3:11 in the amplified version says "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men's hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end."

It's so easy for us to narrow our gaze, to tighten the lens that we are looking through, only to see that which is directly in our path in that exact moment. But, what if we were to see things through the eyes of eternity? What if we were to see our lives defined not by what we do but by what He HAS done?

He shed His blood for this, for me, for you. His forgiveness is real. He is real. I know we have heard it a thousand times but what if we truly made that the banner of our lives, the label on the jar, the tagline of our existence! What if we were to go through our day seeing each conversation, each opportunity, and each action from an eternal mindset? What if we were to live out our calling with intensity that only comes from an intimate relationship with Him?

What if we were to depend on Him in way that we depend on nothing else? What if we were to truly accept that this God we serve isn't just a Sunday morning routine but the all-powerful King of our life. What if we were to accept His gift and see ourselves as redeemed?

He HAS made everything beautiful in it's time. He already did it. He already made it beautiful. It's past tense. Do you see it? That difficult situation you are in. That conversation that still haunts you. That strained relationship HE HAS ALREADY MADE IT BEAUTIFUL! He shed His blood for this. He set eternity in the hearts of men. He is our true source. He longs for us. He forgave us so we could be with Him. He loves us; the proof is in the story. He gave up everything. He shed His blood for this!

Christmas and Easter are both about Him living. The first time He overcame the physical mystery of a heavenly father and an earthly mother. The second time He overcame the spiritual mystery of giving us an adoption pass so that we too could have a heavenly father. Simple? Yes it is. Profound? Absolutely! That's why Eccl 3:11 is my verse of the year.

What is your Scripture Verse of the Year?

Memorize it. Meditate on it.

Mark it on the wall of the service you attend.

Pastor Nick Eiden

As I prayed and studied, waiting for God to reveal my scripture verse of for 2015, I concentrated on asking God what He wanted me to learn or change. Of course, that list is long, but I kept coming back to the idea that He needs me to be solely focused on Him and His plans for my life, family and ministry. I found Acts 5:29, and felt that this was the verse that God would have me apply in my life.

Peter and the apostles were brought to the high priest and the high council, having been just arrested (for the second time in two days) for teaching about Jesus. The high priest admonished the apostles for defying his orders, and they gave their answer. The opening of their reply is my verse of the year:

“We must obey God rather than any human authority.” Acts 5:29 (NLT)

Facing ridicule and harsh punishment, the apostles stood firm in their beliefs, and their obedience to God. They were arrested for teaching publicly about Jesus, as they were told to do by Jesus himself in Matthew 28:20, and more recently by an angel of the Lord in Acts 5:20. It mattered not what any person told them. It mattered not what the societal standard was. It mattered not what their families might think. All that mattered was obeying God.

God desires, and expects, our obedience. What human authority are you listening to, that is taking you away from obeying God? What goals are you chasing that are distracting you from pursuing Jesus wholeheartedly? What person are you idolizing as you strive to impress them? What temporary item are you placing your faith in? What amount of money are you unwilling to give up? What level of safety do you require?

This world is full of distractions that pull us out of God’s obedience. Pray that God will reveal to you where your true allegiance lies. Then, as it says in Proverbs 6:8, “in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” When you cast off the standards of humans, you are free to do God’s work – in your family, your workplace, your church, your community, and your world.

My family and I wish you all the greatest blessings for 2015, and pray that you maintain an eternal perspective through this, and every year.

Pastor Nick Eiden

What is your Scripture Verse of the Year?

Memorize it. Meditate on it.

Mark it on the wall of the service you attend.

TRUST

Control has been a struggle for quite awhile. I want to know what is going to happen, when it is going to happen and how it is going to happen. I’m a problem- solver. If there is an issue, I want sit down and figure out all the possible solutions and determine the best one.

There are times in our lives that we can control certain things, but there are many things that we can’t control. Things good and bad that can change the course of our lives that are out of our control. This can be difficult for control freaks, like myself, to handle and accept.

Life appears to be better when I’m in control. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Here is the problem with me trying to be in control – I’m not trusting God. Faith means that I trust God is in control. When I try to take over, I’m saying I have more faith in myself to figure this out than I do in God. That’s a dangerous place to be. Things need to be done God’s way, not mine.

While I’ve improved in giving God control over the years, it is something I want to focus on in 2015. I want to give God control and trust in His goodness and His promises on a daily basis. He knows what is best for my family and I, much better than I ever could.

With that in mind, I have selected Psalm 31:14-15a for my scripture verse of the year: But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hands.

Here’s to giving up control and trusting in the one who directs our paths! Looking forward to 2015 and what God has in store! Happy New Year!

Pastor Derek

What is your Scripture Verse of the Year?

Memorize it. Meditate on it.

Mark it on the wall of the service you attend.