Iowa and VBS

So tomorrow morning Allison, Natalie, and I are flying to Iowa. While we are there we will go to or be a part of two weddings, a funeral, and the first of several birthday parties for Natalie. It will be fun to see everyone again but we are going to be slam jammin' all weekend. Please pray for us through this weekend. Summer is here and the summer schedule is packed!

Keep praying for VBS this week at WJACC. These kids have been awesome and the week has just started.

intentional encouragement

Yesterday God used Logan to bring a message that touched several people. We have some in our church that are hurting and struggling with different situations in their lives. The key is you were never meant to hurt alone. As we open up about our struggles then we can lift each other up and support each other through these struggles. God intentionally places people in our paths for a reason. Who is God putting in your path today that you can encourage?

Softball and Psalm 24

So last night our softball game was canceled due to weather. That makes 3 out of 4 scheduled games that have been canceled so far this season. Everyone keeps saying that Florida is in a drought but it has done nothing but rain since we've been here. Friday we have a double header scheduled so I hope everyone can come out to support the team.

Tonight at WJACC we will be looking at Psalm 24. We are very familiar with Psalm 23 but how often have we looked at the next chapter? Tonight we are going to dive into this chapter and see what God has planned for us.

Hope to see you there.

Monday morning

Yesterday was Father's Day. It was awesome seeing so many dads in church with their families. Please keep praying for all of our families. It seems like there are more and more things trying to tear down families these days and it was very cool to see so many families worshiping together yesterday.

I do want to take a second to thank the praise team for allowing me to join them yesterday. I hope I didn't mess them up too much.

If you are reading this and are a member of WJACC then you must have noticed the address in the bulletin. I will try my best to keep this blog updated with personal and church stuff so feel free to make comments from time to time. I appreciate your feedback.

Keep praying about how you can make an impact with the "Back to School Bash" coming up later this summer. It is going to be AWESOME!

Have a great day and keep dreaming!

Father's Day

I am pumped about this weekend. This is my first Father's day with Natalie face to face and I am jazzed about that. The sermon this week is focused on when hope seems to be fading out Jesus always shines bright. There is ALWAYS hope when Jesus is involved. That is AWESOME!!! I hope you all have a worshipful weekend. If you get the chance check out Allison's blog titled "Natalie versus the tornado"...

Tonight

Tonight is our second night on the story of Lazarus. What amazes me about this story is the community that Jesus uses to accomplish this miracle. He has others roll the stone away. He has others help untangle Lazarus from his grave clothes. There is no doubt that Jesus performs the miracle of resurrection but He does allow others to play a part in that miracle. It does make me wonder what role Jesus will allow us to play at WJACC in the miracle of salvation for others. Whatever it looks like we'll do it together.

Dreaming Big

Last night we had our first "Dream/Vision Meeting" here at West Jax. It was fascinating to hear some of the dreams for ministry that folks had and have here. We talked about everything from BBQ's to Young Adult ministry and everything in between. I have absolutely no idea where God is going to lead us as we dream but I know it's going to be exciting. God is building His kingdom through saving the lost and growing the Jesus follower. That's the kind of ministry I want to be a part of. I want to ride in the car that God's driving and see where He takes us.

Jesus said, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." (Luke 18:27) That ROCKS my world!"

Lazarus

OK. Long story short. Lazarus dies. Jesus comes and raises him again. Everybody moves on...or do they? JOhn 12:9-10 tells us that the chief priests were looking to kill Lazarus as part of their efforts to take down Jesus.

I wonder how this made Lazarus feel. I'm guessing that he made one of two choices. 1) "Oh no! Theyr'e after me! What am I going to do?! I better hide or stay out of the way or just lay low for a while.

The other option may look something like this...2) You want to do what to me? Kill me? Sorry...been there done that. If that's all you've got then...Bring IT! I would rather die in full confidence in Jesus than to live scared the rest of my life. So until that time I'm going to let people know what Jesus did for me.

I wonder which approach people will choose today. I ask for your prayers for this Sunday. I am preaching on the "God of the Impossible" then later in the day we are having a Dream/Vision meeting for the church. It's going to be a full Sunday.

Keep dreaming in grace,
chris

Feelin' the flow

This week we are in full swing. Allison and Natalie went with Uncle Robert, Joene, and Kaitlyn yesterday to see Raymond. He was pretty taken with Natalie. Apparently he was even willing to share his hat with her. Of course, nothing could distract him from his Mountain Dew. They had a great time. I was here in the office as Logan is in NC for a few days helping with summer ministries training. We still have a few things to do to get completely settled but things are moving right along. Natalie is starting to sleep 'til at least 6am and that is a good thing. Hopefully she will continue that trend. Until next time...