Christmas Weekend Services
Monday, December 12th, 2011 in Uncategorized
Uncategorized
Christmas Eve Service: 6:00 p.m.
Christmas Morning Service: 10:00 a.m.
Keep in mind, both of these services will be exactly the same. We’re hoping you will choose one of these services to attend, and be sure to bring your family with you. Those family members who are coming to be with you over the weekend, let them know ahead of time that your plans to celebrate the birthday of Jesus will include being in church one of these two services.
Please keep in mind, we will not be having a nursery or kids’ church for either of these services. Parents with little children will need to be aware of this. We will have a very good time of worship through song and scripture reading. There will be an opportunity to participate in the communion time and offering in both services. I will preach a Christmas message that will direct our thoughts towards the Greatest Christmas gift of all…God’s Son.
I look forward to celebrating Christmas with you this year.
Kevin
The Reason for Christmas
Monday, December 12th, 2011 in Uncategorized
The following poem reminds us of the reason for the season. As you see who wrote this, you might sense that his dad is quite proud of him and is glad to share it in this newsletter. Kevin
Tis the season, of tons of stuff
Hustle and bustle, in the name of “love”
Presents, tree’s, and baskets of cheese
A merry red coat, white beard, can I have this toy please?
Stuffed in the corner, a scene so dear
Of Mary and Joseph, not some red nosed reindeer
A manger of hay, for there was no room
For the King of the earth, who was due oh so soon
Is that Him behind Elmo? Sheperds might say
Or maybe over there! Behind the new car, Fresh out today!
Maybe He’s hiding, the angels would sing
Underneath all the shiny’s, the sweet “bling bling”
Did we leave the scene unfinished? Did we forget the true meaning?
Or is He calling out, in the midst of the screaming?
If we stopped and listened, moved the wrapping out of the way
Would we see our Savior, waiting patiently, in that hay
I know I’m guilty, I’m the first to admit
That I can lose Jesus, in my rush to the gifts
Not this year, I will say, til the day is gone and done
Never once did I stop, to say “Thank you” for your Son
He came in the quiet, in the middle of the night
In a little teeny town, not a castle with a crown
He came for you, He came for me
He came to live, move, and breath, to set us free
He came with love, more amazing each day
He came so that I could even celebrate this way
When I open that KU beanie, or that Cowboys vs Aliens movie so sweet!
I know these that those gifts, with a King, can’t compete
For Jesus is the reason, not Santa, not Walmart
Because He died for me, rose for me, and lives
In my heart
- Jonathan Moyers
Volleyball & 3-on-3 Basketball
Friday, October 14th, 2011 in Uncategorized
Interested in
playing???
Volleyball
Join us on Monday nights @ 6:00 pm starting November 7th. We don’t sign up for teams. We just show up and play.
Basketball
We need team captains to sign up on the north bulletin board in the foyer at the church by November 6th. Team captains must be from CCC. Games will be played @ 8 & 9 pm on Monday nights starting November 7th.
FALLOWEEN 2011
Thursday, October 13th, 2011 in Children, Uncategorized
MONDAY
OCTOBER 31st
5-8 PM
CCC SOUTH PARKING LOT
This will include our annual Trunk-or-Treat but will also encompass a wide variety of other fun things like games, inflatables, food, plus much more that kids and adults alike will enjoy; and it is all FREE!!!
Our goal is to reach out to our community and invite them to a fun and safe fall celebration where we can share the love of Jesus Christ with them!
WE NEED A LOT OF HELP!!
To make this possible we need you! Our needs are numerous, so we are confident there will be something for everyone to do. Our greatest needs are:
PRAYERS - Pray that this event will impact our community in ways we can’t even imagine. Pray that God will reach lost souls because of the seeds planted at this event. Pray for good weather. Pray for all the details of the event to fall into place.
PEOPLE - We need people to help prepare and serve the food and drinks, to bring a trunk and hand out candy, and to help with set up and clean up. Sign-up lists are in the foyer on the north bulletin board. Please sign up to help on Sunday.
FUNDS - last year we spent around $3,000 just to buy the candy needed to hand out to the kids. In addition, we served hot dogs, hot chocolate, brownies & ice cream. We will do most, if not all, of this again. We need your help! We are looking for $4,500 to help cover the expenses of this event. Donation checks should be made out to CCC with “Falloween” in the memo line. They can be given to Tim or Paul, or you can drop them in the offering.
Thanks for all your help. Please come out and join us in this event. Help us give our community a safe, fun, Christian environment on October 31st.
October, Pastor Appreciation Month
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011 in Uncategorized
Take time to tell your church staff how much you appreciate them. It’s one way you can show love to your neighbor. I’m so thankful to God for the staff He has given us here at CCC. We work good together. We support and encourage each other. We enjoy being together…we like each other, and certainly that is a good thing. Something I appreciate too about our staff is there are not a lot of big “egos” within our staff. We are not about ourselves. If Joe gets a lot of praise and strokes from the congregation, PTL. If Dusty gets that, PTL. When somebody comes and tells me that they’re here at CCC because of the chldren’s ministry, and they go on and on about Paul and what a wonderful person he is…PTL. Every person on our staff contributes to the ministry here. There would be a big hole without each of them. I’m thankful we are “for” each other, and more importantly, we all are FOR JESUS. We want the glory to go to Him.
With that being said, it sure is nice when someone from the congregation encourages us…so take the time to be an encourager to your church staff, and don’t forget to pray for us, too. We need that even more.
Kevin
Live to Love
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011 in Uncategorized
Over the last two weeks we’ve started a series on Sunday mornings called “Live to Love”. We are being challenged through God’s Word to love our neighbor, which is the 2nd great commandment in all of Scripture. What a difference this could make in our community and ultimately in our church and God’s Kingdom if we would truly “Live to Love.” As you get your “Love Works” card each Sunday, do your best to carry out the instructions of that card through the week. It will be a blessing to you, and it will prove to be a blessing to your neighbor, too. An added bonus is that our Sunday evening small groups are looking for opportunities to put love into action. Instead of just studying about love and talking about love, which we have done lots of, we are actually practicing love.
Love will draw people to Jesus. Pray that over these weeks to come there will be people who will come to Jesus through our acts of love. If you’ve missed these first two weeks, I hope you’ll decide to get in on the weeks to come. If you know of someone who’s missing church, why don’t you give them a call and let them know they are missed. That would be a wonderful act of love on your part. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.
Kevin
A Testimony of Giving
Monday, October 10th, 2011 in Uncategorized
I hope you have taken the time to read Tonya Piatt’s testimony, entitled “Does God really have a plan for all of us?”. I wanted to add a little bit of a “sideliner” to this testimony because I think it speaks so highly of our church. Tonya spoke of the “crunch” they were in to pay their insurance premium that was almost $1400 per month. They were looking at a period of 3 months between the two jobs that they were going to have to pay this amount from their own pocket. They simply did not have the money to do that. The problem was even more complicated in that without the proper meds provided by the insurance, Troy was going to die. Troy and Tonya are in our small group on Sunday evenings, and we had just finished studying a book called “Crazy Love”. In that book, we were challenged to look after our brother and sister who are in need. It was a great study. Now we were faced with the question of “Are we going to live what we have just studied, or are we going to close our eyes to our brother who is in need?”. We decided as a group we could not sit back and do nothing. We couldn’t live with ourselves if we did that, but it was a little more money than what our small group could do by ourselves. So I put together a letter to let this particular need be known. I sent the letter to a couple of other small groups that Troy and Tonya were connected with. I also sent the letter to some of the people that they sit by in church every week. I simply shared the critical need that Troy and Tonya had, and I ask for people to give as God would lead them to do. Within a period of 2 weeks, the need was met. I’m talking…the insurance premium for all three months was paid! We actually had to send another letter out and tell people to STOP GIVING. It was amazing and a wonderful testimony of what God’s people can do when they truly love each other. I was reminded of two different stories in the Old Testament. One was with David, and the other was with Moses. In both cases, there was a need for God’s people to give. The plea was made, and the response was overwhelming, to a point that the people had to be told to stop giving. More than enough had been received. I have to tell you, this was the first time I’ve ever had to tell people to stop giving. PTL, for how people responded to this need. It truly is “more blessed to give than to receive”.
Kevin
Does God really have a plan for all of us?
Monday, October 10th, 2011 in Uncategorized
Well, some of you may know that I lost my job of almost 14 years in November of 2010. I had truly given this employer 110% and thought they could not survive without me. Well, I was wrong. I was asked to come to St Louis to meet my new boss and everything went fine, we planned for the future. When I got home and she called me at 7:15 am on November 12, she told me that they were cutting down in our department and I would be logging off of the system at that point and they no longer needed my services. I would be getting a severance package but my employment with them was done. I was devastated, I mean in total shock and very hurt. Kevin asked Troy and I to come into his office so he and Marcy could pray with us. You see, Troy is disabled and I am the main financial supporter of our family. I kept hearing people say, “you know God had a plan for you Tonya or this would not have happened”. Well, it is easy to say and hard to believe in those moments. I know God watches over us and all, but I could not imagine that I would get another job that could support us like this job did. I took a few weeks to just be angry and hope they would call me back, but they didn’t. I was applying for jobs but because of the economy, so were a lot of other people. 70 people applied for one job that I applied for, so it was a very solacing experience to find myself still unemployed after 6 months. Severance pay ran out and because Troy has such an extensive disease, health insurance was a must. I received the papers for Cobra Insurance and my monthly amount was going to be $1436.00. Even though that sounds incredibly expensive, it was much cheaper than his monthly medical expenses. It was do or die but that was an impossible number for us to afford. Finally, I received an offer for a job and was grateful, however insurance was not available for 90 days. Another blow to my on-going struggle. I was thinking to myself, ok God, what kind of plan is this? However, a group of incredible Christians donated monies to our family and the medical insurance amounts were paid for. I do not even know how to fathom such an amazing gift, but I could see…God had a plan for us. After being at this job for 3 weeks, I was offered another job with a brand new company. I looked for a job so long, now I have two of them to pick from, complete irony! I prayed and discussed with my family and something in our hearts said the “new” place was the best choice. I accepted a job with them and basically started all over after a 14 year job. I really seemed to excel at this job and liked everything about it. I was a supervisor at the old company and those qualities just never left, I am a helper by nature and so even though we all are on the same team, myself and a few others took on the role of helping others in the unit. Doing our job and trying to help anyone who needed it, it was a challenge but necessary. This past week, I was offered a promotion within this company that almost put our finances back to where they were last November when all of this devastation hit our family so hard. Now, if you do not think God has a plan for you, even in your darkest moments, even when you know it is not going to work out…HE DOES. This is truly a testimony of God removing me from something that was no longer good for me and putting me somewhere that is perfect for me. I, however knew none of this until just recently, God knew it all along. Don’t let things get you down. God will always come through. He will always take care of us and remember, it is all about His will, not ours. I love the Lord with all of my heart and I will know in any event that happens in my life, it is for a reason and I can rest assured that He will work it out for the best. God bless you each and TRUST in Him. It works!
Thoughts Along the Way
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011 in Uncategorized
From Mike Armstrong’s blog, Thoughts Along the Way, a response to Pat Robertson’s recent controversial statement on Alzheimer’s Disease and divorce. Mike is one of CCC’s “Timothys”—a person who has left CCC to minister in another location. As a church, we support Christians on Campus at the University of Arkansas, which Mike has been leading for about 30 years.
Monday, September 19
A Response to Pat Robertson
I realize that for some, this is old news. Others, however, might not be aware of the small uproar created last Tuesday by television evangelist Pat Robertson. I would typically ignore what he said and encourage you to do so, however, there are a couple of things about last week’s comments that deserve some comment.
In case you missed it, Robertson was responding to a question about a man whose wife has Alzheimer’s. The man was bemoaning the unfairness of having to care for a wife who no longer knew him and he had begun to see another woman. The writer wanted to know what she should say to the man.
Robertson said he wouldn’t blame those who decide to divorce a spouse suffering from Alzheimer’s, that divorce would be OK in a situation that involves something as terrible as Alzheimer’s.
“I know it sounds cruel, but if he’s going to do something he should divorce her and start all over again,” he said, “[and] make sure she has custodial care and somebody looking after her.”
Robertson continued: “I hate Alzheimer’s. It is one of the most awful things because here’s the loved one, this is the woman or man that you have loved for 20, 30, 40 years and suddenly that person is gone. They’re gone. They are gone!”
Co-host Terry Meeuwsen noted that when couples marry they vow “for better, for worse.”
Robertson replied, “You said ’till death do us part;’ this (suffering from Alzheimer’s) is a kind of death. I certainly wouldn’t put a guilt trip on you if you decided that you had to have companionship; you’re lonely. I can’t fault them for wanting some kind of companionship. If he says in a sense she is gone, he is right. It is like a walking death.”
I just want to make a few quick points:
* To those who judge Jesus and the Christians around you by what Pat Robertson (or any television evangelist) says, please stop. Pat Robertson doesn’t speak for me. He never has, through his long history of saying things without thought or Scriptural backing. Don’t assume that because he wears the name of Christian that he speaks for all of us, or even many of us, and please don’t assume that he speaks for Jesus. The same thing is true of anyone you see preaching on television. They don’t speak for me. If you want to know what I think, ask me. It gets frustrating when all of those who follow Jesus are lumped in with those with the loudest voices or who can afford television time.
* What Robertson is espousing is what he and too many others have been teaching for years – a “prosperity” gospel that teaches, at its core, that following Jesus is the way to make sure your life is always full and happy – that your happiness is the greatest good and greatest goal. Whether it is through having all of your material wants or a marriage that is always satisfying.
But the Scriptures don’t teach that. God’s highest will for you isn’t your happiness. It is your character, that you mature into the fullness of Christ. God knows that it is in being like Jesus that you will find peace and joy, and it will be the way that God is most glorified.
Yes, there is blessing and fullness of life that comes from a relationship with Christ, but it is a blessing and fullness that often comes in the midst of struggle and sorrow and disappointment. Jesus said that we would face difficulties. What we find as those who walk with Christ is that we can experience fullness and peace in the midst of conflict and difficulty and pain as we become more and more like Jesus.
* The New Testament describes marriage as an image of Christ’s relationship with his Bride – the Church. The relationship between a Christian husband and wife is to be a picture of what our relationship with Christ is like. The Apostle Paul tells us that Christ
“… loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” (Ephesians 5:25-28)
The truth is that Christ’s love for us isn’t dependent on how beautiful or useful we are. He loves us because that is his nature. And his love is one that always seeks to give. Too often, we have chased a “love” that is more concerned with what we can gain than what we can give, with what’s in it for us rather than what we can do for another.
* There is no more beautiful image of a life well-lived than that of a husband or wife faithfully, lovingly, and sacrificially caring for the one they have committed to love – even if it isn’t recognized or appreciated. Years ago, I read a letter from Robertson McQuilkin, former president of Columbia Bible College, whose wife, Muriel, suffered from advanced stages of Alzheimer’s. In announcing his resignation, he said:
“The decision was made, in a way, 42 years ago when I promised to care for Muriel ‘in sickness and in health…till death us do part.’ So, as a man of my word, integrity has something to do with it. But so does fairness. She has cared for me fully and sacrificially all these years; if I cared for her for the next 40 years I would not be out of debt. Duty, however, can be grim and stoic. But there is more; I love Muriel…. I do not have to care for her, I get to! It is a high honor to care for so wonderful a person.”
Gina and I both have family members who have modeled the same kind of deep, sacrificial, beautiful love as they have cared for their wives and husbands through the struggles of dementia. My admiration and respect for them goes far beyond what I could ever give some television evangelist, sports hero, or entertainment star. They have been people of character and integrity who have modeled the love and faithfulness of Christ in very real and tangible ways.
Russell Moore put it this way:
“Jesus tells us he is present in the weak, the vulnerable, the useless. He is there in the least of these (Matt. 25:31-46). Somewhere out there right now, a man is wiping the drool from an 85 year-old woman who flinches because she think he’s a stranger. No television cameras are around. No politicians are seeking a meeting with them. But the gospel is there. Jesus is there.”
GIRLFRIENDS MOVIE NIGHT!!!
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011 in Uncategorized
Let’s have a night out with girlfriends! We’ll watch a great movie—Soul Surfer—and just have a fun time chatting and eating movie style snacks. Join us on Thursday evening, September 1, at 7:00 in the Fellowship Hall! No ticket needed, just bring a girlfriend and come for a relaxing evening.