Eric's Blog

Sunday Night Reflections

We continued our "3:16" series today by talking about the unfailing love of God. What a great verse. This verse is full of power, hope and love. If we could really grasp the love of God, oh how it would change our lives. His love is so awesome we cannot keep it to ourselves.

We challenged everyone to:

Pray for someone they know to receive God's love this week.

Show God's love to someone in a practical way.

Invite someone to church with them next week so they could hear about God's love.

Here are a few things I have going on this week:

Coaching Seth's tee ball games - Monday night @ 6:30 and Thursday night @ 5:30.

Wednesday night - leaders meeting with the servant evangelism team.

Thursday night - Town Hall of Hope with Dave Ramsey - 8:00 PM @ the church - www.townhallofhope.com

Friday night - New Life fun event - Clemson baseball game - we are leaving the church at 5:45 PM. Meet in the church parking lot.

Have a great week.

Seth's First T-Ball Game

Tonight we had a great t-ball game out in Central.  The Jayhawks took on the Central Tigers in what proved to be a very interesting game!  Here are a few pictures...

    

 

Town Hall for Hope

We are going to be a part of a special, first of its kind, event with Dave Ramsey. It’s coming up on Thursday, April 23, and it’s called the Town Hall for Hope. The concept is a nationwide town hall where Dave Ramsey will answer questions and reassure the American people that there is hope in the midst of our struggling economy.

Here’s perhaps the best part of all: it’s FREE. Dave is working with LifeChurch.tv to make this FREE event available to as many people as possible across the country. Not only is the event free to the participants, it’s also free to any venue that wants to host it for their community and we are one of the host. So start spreading the news now!

Here are the details:
Town Hall for Hope
Thursday, April 23
8:00 PM Eastern Time
www.TownHallForHope.com

Where: In the sanctuary of New Life Church

Sunday Night Reflections

Today was a great day. I enjoyed the music and Alisha did a great job on her special. I would like to thank the following:

• Everyone who prayed and fasted for our Easter service
• Everyone who served in a ministry today
• Everyone who went out with the Servant Evangelism team on Saturday
• Everyone who works behind the scenes like those who clean the church, count the money, and enter the connection cards after service
• Everyone who gave in our sacrificial Resurrection Seed offering.

We started a new series today called "3:16." We, as a church, need to continue to pray for those in our circle of influence that don't know Christ, invest in their lives, and invite them to our Sunday services. Don't give up if they did not come to the Easter service with you. Keep working the fields and God will give a harvest. This is going to be a great series and everyone can benefit from a in-dept look at John 3:16.

Easter with the Family

We had a wonderful day today - Here are a few pictures of the kids!  Happy Easter everyone!  

Praying for those outside the faith - Part Four

There are other Scriptures that we could pray for those who don't know Christ but we are going to end with Nehemiah 1:11.

Nehemiah 1:11
11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man." NIV

Here is a prayer for this Scripture:

“Lord, let your ear be attentive to my prayer. Give me success today by granting me favor with (insert name).”

We need favor with those we are inviting to our church services and trying to reach for Christ and only God can grant that.

May God hear your prayers this week and grant you favor with those you are praying for and inviting to the Easter service.

Praying for the those outside the faith - Part Three

Acts 26:17B-18
I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' NIV

Acts 26:17-18 17 "'I'm sending you off 18 to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.' (THE MESSAGE)

Wow. The Message paraphase is awesome! Here is a prayer for the lost based off of Acts 26:17-18.

"I command (insert name of one of your three) eyes to be opened and that he/she would turn from darkness to light and from the power of satan to God, so that he/she may receive forgiveness of his/her sins and a place in the Kingdom of God.”

Praying for those outside the faith - Part Two

Ephesians 4:18 "They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts."

There is a lot that could be said about today's Scripture but let's just focus on the last part. Why are people separated from the life of God? Because their heart is hard, which darkens their understanding, which cause them to be ignorant of God's love, plan, and purpose for their lives.

Here are a couple of prayers based off of this Scripture:

“I pray for (insert name) heart to become soft and that he/she would be enlightened in his/her understanding of your (God's) love and plan for his/her life.”

“I command the fallow ground of (insert name) heart to be plowed up (softened) by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that he/she would receive the knowledge of the truth as Jesus Christ as his/her Lord and Savior.”

Book Review: 21 Questions Christian Women ask about Sex

Guest Blogger: Kelly Miller

Intimate Issues: 21 Questions Christian Women Ask About Sex
By Linda Dillow and Lorraine Pintus

From back of the book:
You want to be a godly and sensuous wife.  You also want God's best for your marriage.  But you have questions.  Lots of questions you want answered from a woman's perspective.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.  Based on something that can be a touchy and embarrassing subject for some, I believe that the authors did a wonderful job of candidly and honestly answering each of the questions that so many women have about sex and their marriage.  Whether you just got engaged, married, or you've been married for years, this is a must read.  If there is one thing I learned from reading this book, it is that we as women can no longer be afraid to talk about our struggles in our sexual relationships with our husbands...we have to ask the tough questions and we have to find out exactly what God desires for us in this area if we want to have a fulfilling, exciting, and yes, godly physical relationship with our husbands!

The book is divided into 3 parts with 7 chapters in each part.  It also has a bible study section at the end!
Part 1: Simmering Questions with chapters such as "How Can I Be Godly and Sensuous?" and "How Can I Relate When He's a Microwave and I'm a Crockpot?"
Part 2: Smoldering Questions with chapters such as "I'm Attracted to Another Man! Help?" and "What Do I Do When HE Has a Headache?"
Part 3: Sizzling Hot Questions with chapters such as "What's Not Okay in Bed?" and "How Can I Recapture the Passion?"

Favorite quotes from the book:

"Marriages are never stagnant; they are always going somewhere." -wow, my favorite!

"Ninety percent of sexual problems aren't sexual at all-they have their roots in the emotional barriers we place between ourselves and our partners.  We bring these problems into the bedroom from the dinner table, the office, from our past experiences."

 

Praying for those outside the faith - Part One

For the next several days we are going to look at Scriptures that show us how to pray for the those outside the faith. I encourage you to read and apply these Scriptures to your prayer life. The first Scripture is 2 Corinthians 4:4.

2 Cor 4:4
4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. NIV

2 Cor 4:4
4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. New Living Translation

Here is a prayer based off of this Scripture:

“I command the blinding spirits over (insert name) to release his/her mind and that the light of the Gospel of Christ would shine unto him/her.”