New Life Sunday – The greatest gift…

I hope this past week has been “the most wonderful time of the year.” There is so much for which to be thankful: Our Savior that was born in Bethlehem Friends and Family Time to reflect on the past year and set some goals for this next year Sharing gifts Eating way too much food (should I be thankful for that? :)) With five kids, we had plenty of gifts getting passed around at our house on Christmas eve and Christmas day. Everything from socks to superman to a doll house.   And this is no ordinary doll house.   Leigh-Ann came up with this idea several months ago and then found all the supplies. For weeks, I tried to ignore her and all her supplies. I complained about all the work this was going to make for us. I even made sure that my day off was full of other higher priorities, so I wouldn’t have to help set up that doll house.   And then it happened…Christmas was fast approaching and I either had to help with this doll house or pony up the money to buy them something.   Like a typical guy, I became motivated by my pocketbook.   I will admit, the initial installation was not one of my better days, but things got better after that. I will even go so far as to say I enjoyed the part I helped on the doll house.   It turned into such a great gift…and the girls LOVED it.   I have even attached a picture (because I’m so proud of Ligh-Ann :)) so you can see for yourself.   When it comes to Christmas, there are many great gifts…however, this Sunday at New Life we will be reminded of the greatest gift. We will finish up our study of 1 John with a sermon from 1 John 5:13-21 entitled, “The greatest gift.”   Our children’s program is a go (it was rescheduled from last week because of the weather) and I have a hunch you will love it. We have kept up the decorations from the spirit of Christmas for one last week and we may even get to sing a final Christmas carol or two.   It’s going to be a great day and I hope you can join in!   Troy Announcement: If you have children that will be involved in the Christmas program, don’t forget to arrive by 8:30am for rehearsal and then breakfast.

New Life Sunday…#newlifesoc

 

God changes lives!   If you were not able to attend the New Life spirit of Christmas last night, you missed an evening that was packed with testimonies to the fact that God changes lives.   Lives that were handcrafted by God before birth became trashed by the influence and control of Satan.   However, our trashed lives have been REDEEMED!   New Life…full of hope, vision and dreams.   The spirit of Christmas was a platform for broken people to serve broken people through music, art and inspirational stories.   The spirit of Christmas was meant to provide a space where each person held an equal amount of dignity.   It was a time for mutual respect and equality.   Christmas is an ideal time to share this message.   The King of Kings was born into a dirty barn and spent many nights with no place to lay His head Jesus was accused of leading people astray, gluttony, drunkenness and being possessed by a demon The Messiah rubbed dirty shoulders and spent His time with many in poverty This Sunday, we will carry on the theme from the spirit of Christmas into our morning service. We will spend a majority of our time studying 1 John 5:6-12. Interestingly enough, in the midst of all the facts about the life of Jesus and the accusations against His deity, John writes down the testimony of God for the validity of His Son.   A changed life is one of many proofs to the deity of Christ!   I can’t wait to share more stories and more proof for Jesus as the reason for the season.   Merry Christmas! Troy P.S. If you would like to learn more about the spirit of Christmas you can see the clips from Channel 9 here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152090969125991   http://www.kmbc.com/page/search/htv-kc1/news/kansas-city/Concert-features-performers-formerly-currently-homeless/-/11664182/23575160/-/11r15wsz/-/index.html   The audio for the evening will be on our website Sunday after 2pm: http://www.newlifekc.org/Media

New Life Sunday…life on the edge

Yesterday, I was able to spend some extended time with a new friend that God has put into my life. In one sense you could call this a discipleship relationship.
 
Our past is very different!
 
He has spent time on the streets, been addicted to alcohol and drugs and last summer was shot at close range and survived.
 
Our present is also very different…but not quite as extreme!
 
He is still technically homeless, struggling to regain a relationship with his three children, he has limited employment and no transportation. We are similar in that we are each reading the Bible, we have been born again and we desire to be around other believers.
 
Our future is identical!
 
We have an identical inheritance in the same location (heaven) and will be hanging out with the same people forever. We desire to see glimpses of God’s Kingdom while we are still here on earth.Yesterday, my friend wrote out three pages about how he believes that God can change our city…AND…I agree with him.
 
Something occurred to me while we were talking through this vision for the future:
 
TOO OFTEN WE BASE OUR RELATIONSHIPS ON THE PAST!!!
 
The results are that we become very cloistered around people who grew up with similar education, work in similar careers and live in similar neighborhoods.
 
How boring!!!
 
I believe that God made us to develop our relationships around His future plans and not our past experiences.
 
This Sunday we’ll talk more about this as we will look closely at 1 John 5:1-5…in a nutshell we are called to believe, obey and conquer. Then next Thursday…6 days from today…I HOPE AND PRAY you can come to the Spirit of Christmas. You will hear from my friend and several others who have spent time on the edges of society, but share a common vision for the future.
 
If you want more information, or would like to invite friends you can check out these two links:
https://www.facebook.com/events/445715575533757/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KnmH6sVzUU
 
Stay safe and warm!
Troy