Celebration Station launched the beginning of its journey at Christ Community on July 21st. “What is Celebration Station?” you ask. It is simple…a recovery program for children whose families attend Celebrate Recovery. If parents are attending Celebrate Recovery to heal from hurts, habits, and hang-ups…it only makes sense that a ministry should be in place to serve

the children. We, as leaders of this vital ministry, receive the blessing of building trusting relationships with these kids. We teach them methods of expressing their anger, frustration, and fears. God’s Word becomes real as the message is shared in various techniques. More importantly, these kids realize they are

not alone as they listen to each other’s stories. They come to realize that Jesus is their Best Friend. He is the Rock of their foundation. He will never fail them.

Matthew 19:14 reads, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Kids matter to Jesus…and they matter to us. If you felt a bubbling inside as you were reading this article, I encourage you to pray, asking God if He would like you to serve in this ministry. You are welcome aboard! I guarantee it is a train ride you will never forget!

Cailey DumlerChildren’s Ministrycailey@ccclive.org

Kids matter to Jesus…

and they matter to us.

The Map of Life: Who Is Your Navigator?

Everyone knew the 2011 Free Methodist General Conference would be an historic gathering. After all, we would be celebrating the 150th birthday of the denomination in the city where it all began, Rochester, New York. With representatives from every conference and many regions of the world, the stage was set for a grand celebration of our rich and storied past. As I reflect now, some three weeks after the gathering, I am convinced this conference will indeed be viewed as a historic gathering, but not for the way we celebrated our past, as much as we boldly pursued God for an even more vibrant future.

Twenty-five years ago, our bishops began putting forth the call and leading us down a sometimes winding, but always courageous path to returning to our roots as a God-inspired movement. With full understanding of the near-inevitable life cycle of all movements (birth – maturation – institutionalization – death), our bishops refused to accept that course, and instead began to cultivate the necessary environment and leadership culture that would at least allow the possibility of breaking free from institutionalization and reclaiming the dynamics of a true movement of God.

Standing squarely on the shoulders of those who preceded them, our current bishops (David Kendall, David Roller and Matt Thomas) sought to accelerate that process by changing the very nature of General Conference. Instead of coming prepared to debate and weigh dozens of resolutions, they put out the call to come expecting to hear a fresh word from the Lord for our church. They backed up the call with a radical restructuring of the conference that allowed us the opportunity to actually get in His presence and listen. Furthermore, they worked with the Board of Administration to dramatically reduce the number of resolutions from the usual 100’s to less than a dozen. Finally, they brought in acclaimed leaders like Richard Stearns (President of World Vision and author of The Hole in our Gospel) and Bob Roberts (Founding Pastor of Northwood Church in Dallas, Texas) to bring the kind of messages

that would stir and challenge anyone who had ears to hear. The fact that these men are not of our tradition only demonstrates the degree to which our bishops have been willing to go to align us with where God is moving right now.

The result was not dramatic. We did not have another Pentecost. We did not see revival of epic proportions. But there were moments when signs of stubbornly clinging institutionalism were blatantly obvious. Still, I believe this was a gathering of historic implications. Awkward as it was at times, hundreds of Free Methodists from around the world heeded our bishops call, resisted the constant urge to “get down to business,” and devoted significant time to coming into His presence and boldly listening for a fresh word from the Lord. And in the end, I believe God spoke.

As the various groups brought their reports (the fruit of listening prayer) to the whole conference, a number of consistent themes began to emerge. Obviously, my experience was somewhat subjective. Others would have picked up on different themes, but here is my list:

• God iscallingonus to renounceourfear of losing control and our fearof the unknown and unfamiliar inorder to return to a place of radicaldependenceontheHolySpirit.

• God is calling His church to “leavethebuilding”andentertheworldwithboldandcreativewaysofproclaimingand demonstrating the gospel ofJesusChrist.

• God is leading us to renew ourcommitment to reaching those atthemargins of society (the poor, theoppressed,therejected).

On a personal level, I was both affirmed and deeply challenged. Much of what we have been teaching and pursuing at Christ Community is firmly in line with where God is leading our church. At the same time, I sensed God saying gently, but firmly, “I have so much more. If you will only give yourselves unreservedly to me, I want to take you so much deeper and I want to use you so much more profoundly than you can imagine.” May we at Christ Community, like our bishops, refuse the “inevitable” drift toward institutionalism and fearlessly surrender to the sometimes terrifying, but always life-giving movement of our awesome and mighty God.

Reflections on General Conference by Dr. Keith Cowart

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I recently read some of John Piper’s teaching on worship. He has a lot of thoughts in print and on the internet, so they are really easy to find. He takes the time to break down the “why’s” and “how’s” of worship. His thoughts on corporate worship are what I found simple and profound. Piper offers his philosophy, and I now use it in my praise team guidelines, as well as in my Discovery 2 class. Since a lot of you are not on the praise team, and/or have already graduated from Discovery, I want to share this with everyone. If we can all get on this proverbial piece of sheet music, God will get the glory, and we will get the blessing.

Philosophy of Corporate Worship

1. God-centeredness: A high priority of the vertical focus.2. Expecting the powerful presence of God: James 4:8. We believe that in worship God draws near to us in power, and makes himself known and felt for our good and for the salvation of unbelievers in the midst.3. Bible-based and Bible-saturated: The content of our singing and praying and welcoming and preaching and expression will always conform to the truth of Scripture.4. Head and heart: Worship that aims at kindling and carrying deep, strong, real emotions toward God, but does not fail to appeal to clear thinking about spiritual things.

5. Humility and intensity: Avoiding a trite, flippant, superficial, frivolous atmosphere, but instead setting an example of reverence and passion and wonder.6. Un-distracting excellence: We will try to sing and play and pray and preach in such a way that people’s attention will not be diverted. Natural, un-distracting excellence will let the truth and beauty of God shine through.7. The mingling of historic and contemporary music: Recognizing equal value in ancient and modern, we will focus on music from all generations that pleases God.

See you Sunday!

Jae LesleyWORSHIP Ministryjay@ccclive.org

Derrick ShieldsLIVE Ministry

derrick@ccclive.org

Outreach-Why?It’s impossible to look around at the changes at Christ Community and not glorify God. Outreach ministries, both within the community and outside of it, are growing by leaps and bounds. Workers for the harvest are being added daily, and many lives are being transformed right before our eyes.

Each Sunday’s Breakpoint testimony brings new light to the work God is doing in the lives of our

brothers and sisters in Christ. It gives us strength and encouragement to persevere in our own circumstances, as well as compassion and understanding for others. Likewise, Celebrate Recovery brings a believer’s testimony every other week. Yet I would imagine that any of us, at any time, could stand and testify to the powerful work God has done in our lives. And the great thing is … He’s not finished.

As Christians, we’re all called

to the ministry of outreach. And it’s easy to see why. Look around at this hurting world and you won’t have to look far … down the road, across the street, maybe only as far as a bedroom down the hall. People are desperate for the message and the hope of Christ. While it’s true that all won’t receive it, we don’t get to determine who gets to hear God’s plan of redemption. And praise God that there was at least one person who did not determine beforehand that I would not be interested in hearing the Gospel. There was at least one person who was not ashamed or afraid to deliver the Good News of Jesus Christ to each of us.

Certainly outreach is more than words. Often it is our actions that stir up a hunger in others to know what’s different about us. But at some point, the word has to be spoken, for “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” (Romans 10:17) So wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, remember that outreach and Christian are synonymous. You don’t need a title or a stage to testify.

One of my favorite things about my role at CCC is the time I spend with people. People energize me, strengthen me, encourage me, and inspire me. Especially when they pour their hearts out on my pink couch. (sorry, guys!) I love when my brothers and sisters tell me their life stories. Their stories are full of triumph, tragedy, adventure, loss, and heartache. When they dig down deep and share about impacting moments stretching from childhood to the present, they are often moved to tears by their own stories. I am incredibly blessed to hear those stories because I am able to witness the presence, purpose, and power of God in that person’s life. If they are not already aware, I point out that God’s hand is visible throughout their stories.

God has given each of us a life story. He wants to use our life story to inspire, strengthen, encourage, and minister to others. We must be willing to share and testify to His goodness and grace in our lives!

Judges 2: 6 – 10 tells what happens after Joshua led the Israelites to the Promised Land.

After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance.

The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel. Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten. And they buried him in the land of his inheritance. After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.

Why was there a generation that grew up that knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel? Because there was a generation that did not share their stories of God’s presence, purpose, and power in their lives. So, share your story! I, for one, would love to hear it.

I’ll meet you on the pink couch! Kelli WommackSERVE Ministry

kelli@ccclive.org

So, What’s Your Story?

We are continually in spiritual formation: the lifelong process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others . . . within and without the body of Christ. Corporate and social spirituality are inseparable elements of our faith journey. Genuine spiritual life is not only rooted in a vital, growing relationship with God at the heart of our being (intimacy); it is also incarnated

(as love) in the social, economic, and political context in which we live (mission). John Wesley repeatedly stressed that there is no personal holiness without social holiness.

“O God of peoples, nations, and history; you who became incarnate in the midst of economic, social, and political injustice; you who call us to incarnate your kingdom in the midst of the world’s destructive values, structures, and dynamics. We confess that

we would rather limit our relationship with you to the comfortable confines of our own insulated world. We are prone to withdraw and create islands of security in which we can live in some degree of peace and comfort without having to see the pain and anguish of the world outside. We are tempted to limit our spirituality to the narrow boundaries of our self-circumscribed world. O God of justice and mercy, help us see that to be conformed to the image of Christ is to be thrust into the world as agents of your redeeming, healing, liberating, transforming grace. Help us to see that our growth towards wholeness in Christ cannot move toward its fruition apart from our life in the world.”

- M. Robert Mulholland, Jr.

“Jesus, we want to be like you. We sincerely pray that you will give us eyes to see, courage to engage, and compassion to care for our neighbors all around us. Lord, flow through us ‘to awaken ordinary people to (your) extraordinary life’!”

- Billy, for all of us

Social Spirituality

Billy GrossCONNECT Ministrybilly@ccclive.org

(From Invitation to a Journey-M. Robert Mulholland, Jr.)