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Sunday Morning Reflections 9.19.2010

By michaelcriner · Comments (0)
Sunday, September 19th, 2010

Today was the conclusion of our series skippingchurch.com – and I’m kindof sad about that. It’s been a really challenging series in my own life and I’m thankful the Lord led us that direction. But next week we start a series on the Beatitudes… It’s going to be great. Here are my reflections from today.

-I LOVED seeing our leadership wearing the red shirts!
-We have a culture of SERVICE. Seriously! They’re like a sea of ants making sure everything happens.
-I’m SO thankful for our adults who served and volunteered for us and served us the FREE FOOD!!
-It’s a core conviction of mine that we are saved by God’s grace. (Eph. 2:8-10)
-You cannot sin yourself out of God’s grace.
-You’re not busy. :-)
-If Christ has the power to SAVE you, He has enough power to SUSTAIN you.
-To deny the security of the believer is to misunderstand the heart of God, to misunderstand the gift of Christ, to misunderstand the meaning of the cross, to misunderstand the biblical meaning of salvation.
-The video shout-out from Charlie Hall was AWESOME!!! I did NOT know that was happening! Sign up for fall retreat at www.fwcm.org
-Life is not frogger… It’s LIFE!
-Christ kicked the anthill of grace!
-Had four FIVE students commit to going on our mission trip over Christmas!!
-Had ANOTHER student tell me today they want to be baptized… two others want to as well!!
-Nobody knew this but our team had a TON of technical difficulties, and it caused a little bit of frustration for them – but let me tell you something… the worship through song was POWERFUL!! If you’ve got some time you need to encourage that team. They did great!
-A quick shout out to my assistant Julie who made the lunch happen. Also, the team at the MAC served us well too – BIG thanks to them.

I ended this morning with some questions… they will be posted on the community blog at www.fwcm.org/blog. All in all, it was just a GREAT day!

enjoy!

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Sunday Morning Reflections 9.12.10

By michaelcriner · Comments (1)
Sunday, September 12th, 2010

Today was the conclusion of Parents Weekend. We encouraged parents of college students to come… and they did! It was so great to see that many adults come and worship with us this Sunday. I’m humbled and grateful that they came. Here are some of my reflections from this morning.

-I absolutely LOVE seeing parents worship with their children!
-I’m also super thankful for our volunteer base… they do SO MUCH!! You don’t even know!!!
-There is going to be a girl’s ‘Zumba’ night… I don’t really know what to say about that, other than AWESOME.
-I felt so encouraged by the parents of many of our students – their thankfulness and sense of support for us… It helps me see the full picture of what Abigail and I are doing here at First Woodway.
-How you live your life reveals what matters to you.
-The more I read Ps. 78, the more I love that passage!
-Reverse the verse (vs.8)
-Oh God let us be, a generation that seeks the face of God! It’s amazing that even THIS generation wants the same thing my generation wants.
-Someone thought I was 34… do I look 34?
-Elliot and the band sounded GREAT and I thought the song selection was perfect… thankful for their service to us.
-We have some great adult volunteers… one was asking when we were going to move to the gym!
-The Holy Spirit has been moving in our students and I know that He moves everywhere, but it’s just neat to see Him among us, and also for our students to see Him move in their lives too.
-I’m learning (and I think this will be constant) but my conversations with students matter… and this week, they were all over the map – but edifying.
-LOVE our media team! They work SO hard!!
-It’s an amazing gift to be supported by my Pastor, Mike Toby.
-Have a Stoplight party with the Bible this week… may it be green.

This year has really only begun, and Abigail and I were discussing it, but what happens in October is vital. So, we’re praying passionately that students would not become lax or lazy in their pursuit of Jesus Christ. I’m thankful for God’s grace in our lives and in our ministry… my hope though is that in all these things, we might find ourselves closer to Jesus than the day before.

love and live the gospel.

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Sunday Morning Reflections 8.29.2010

By michaelcriner · Comments (1)
Sunday, August 29th, 2010

This week was simply another greet morning in our ministry and at our church. More and more, Abigail and I are thankful to be in a church that empowers us and allows us to serve… it really is a joy. Here are some of my reflections from our time together this morning:

-We sang “Chosen Generation” to kick things off… and it is so powerful to think about the impact this group will make and is making.
-All things are secondary to a saving relationship in Jesus… yet when we understand this priority, the secondary things become redeemed.
-Did you see the art this Sunday??? Awesome.
-We are justified… I need to hear that over and over…
-We are being sanctified… God isn’t done with us yet!!
-Sin is like a sneeze… I’ll just leave it to that. ;-)
-Being ‘elect’ is not a four letter word, it’s a five letter word! And it’s a wonderful description of us.
-When I’m sinned against, in my response, I’ll sin! Is this true for you? It sure is for me!!
-Satan will us the ‘Roman Road’ to accuse us, he’ll just leave out the rest of the verse…
-It’s God who justifies. Hello again!
-Religious people always think they can earn and even prove their justification to God. This is big… You can never be more justified before God than you are RIGHT NOW.
-What Christ is doing in you is still incomplete (sanctification). But what Jesus Christ has done for you there is not a single tiny crack that the satanic arrows can penetrate (justification).
-Do you like us singing more at the end of the talk? I tell you, I’m loving it!
-My sin o the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
I’ve been thinking about this the entire afternoon. God’s grace has been strong in me with that verse of ‘It is Well’.
-We had a HUGE crowd AGAIN this week!! BUT, we still have more room! Bring a friend!
-Our leadership and volunteers are amazing. I mean that. They work so hard and do such a great job. I’m so humbled that they’re part of what God is doing at FWCM.

If you want to see what God did during our time together, head over to skippingchurch.com and you can see!!

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Unresolved Conflict

By michaelcriner · Comments (0)
Sunday, September 13th, 2009

Today we talked about how unresolved conflict breaks trust; breeds division; & does NOT build up the church.

I then shared some things Jesus specifically says in regards to unresolved conflict between relationships along with the need for them to be resolved. All of this is in order that there might be unity within the church, and therefore bring Him glory:

  • If you have unresolved conflict – Jesus says that you should treat others, as you want to be treated. (Matt. 7:12)
  • If you have unresolved conflict – Jesus says that you are to take initiative in resolving that relationship. (Matt. 5:9)
  • If you have unresolved conflict – Jesus says that you should forgive, for Christ has forgiven you. (Matt. 6:12-15)
  • If you have unresolved conflict – Jesus says that you should forgive your friends 70×7 times. (Matt. 18:20-21)
  • If you have unresolved conflict – Jesus says that you’re to love one another as Christ has loved you. (John 13:34)
  • If you have unresolved conflict – Jesus says that the world will know that you’re my disciples if you love one another. (John 13:35)
  • If you have unresolved conflict – Jesus says that you should rebuke, then forgive your friend no matter what. (Lk. 17:1-4)
  • If you have unresolved conflict – Jesus says that you should look at the log in your own eye bore you pull the speck out of your friends eye. (Matt. 7:1-6)
  • If you have unresolved conflict – Jesus says that you better practice what you preach. (Mt. 23:3)
  • If you have unresolved conflict – Jesus says that you are to lay your life down for your friends. (Jn. 15:13)
  • If you have unresolved conflict – then you are diametrically opposed to Jesus’ prayer that we would be unified. (John 17:11)
  • If you have unresolved conflict – then you are not a lover of the cross.

enjoy.

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