THE CALL OF JESUS

"When Jesus calls you to follow him, he isn't asking you to become a nice person, or to do your best at helping others.

He didn't die so you could feel good about the things you've screwed-up, or so you could carry a sentimental hope of being re-united beyond the grave with the people you love who have died.

His call is a command for you to comprehensively and absolutely walk away from the way you do life now so you can follow him down an exclusive path through the narrow gate that leads to the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 7:13-14). – Jon Walker, Costly Grace: A Contemporary View of Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship (Leafwood, 2010)

Jesus calls us to make a radical change in our lives. To be transformed into new people, a new creation. As we read in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

Christianity isn't about becoming religious, it is about becoming a whole new person, living in a personal relationship with the living God who is actively involved in our lives day in and day out, no matter what we are doing. The call of Christ is to be changed!

Romans 12:1-2 says, "Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing and perfect will."

Be CHANGED! Be TRANSFORMED! Give up the old way of living and begin living a new LIFE, and abundant life in Jesus Christ.

Love you all,
Roger

New Service Times

This Sunday, September 12, 2010 we will be starting our new services at the Myrtle Point Christian Church.

The First Service will be our
TRADITIONAL SERVICE, which will start at
9:00 a.m.

The Second Service will be what we call our
CONTEMPORARY SERVICE, which will start at
10:30 a.m.

The Traditional Service is designed to appeal to those who are familiar with church and enjoy singing lots of the old songs that have come down through the ages; hymns and older choruses.

The Contemporary Service is designed to appeal to a new generation of people seeking God who enjoy a more lively style of music, with drums and a more upbeat feel (some people might call it Rock 'n Roll). It will be lively, it will have a youthful appeal, but at the same time it will honor God and bring glory to His name.

If you have often thought of yourself as a Christian, but have found it hard to go to church this service might be for you. If you have felt that the church was old fashioned, out of touch and boring, you definitely need to come and try out our new Contemporary Service.

Hope to see you there this Sunday
Love and Blessings
Roger

Grace Changes People

He'll never change. She's a lost cause. She's obsessed with success and power. He only wants his way - he doesn't even care for God or others. Perhaps you've heard these or similar sentiments about the people who impact your life. Maybe you even silently agreed.

Many years ago a man "made it big" before the age of 20. Arrogance and ruthlessness characterized his leadership. He mocked the values he learned as a child. People assumed he was a lost cause. Yet one day he woke up in prison - old, alone, humiliated, desperate. He must have prayed, "Lord, I'm powerless to undo the mess I've made ... help me!" - for God heard and the grace of God filled his life.

Grace changes people ... and even entire countries. King Manasseh renounced his anti-God attitudes and broke the cycle of bitterness (2 Chronicles 33:1-2, 7-13). His story reminds us all that God's grace is available to everyone who will genuinely call on Him.

Although you can't make decisions for someone else, accept God's grace in your own life today and extend it to others. Then pray for our country's leaders that they, too, will experience the grace of God - and take this nation in God's direction, and not their own.

May the Grace of God be with you all this day and always
Roger

This article adapted from the Presidential Prayer Teams "Vantage Point Devotional" Mon, September 6, 2010

The Nature of Christian JOY

In a world that wrings its hands over economic recessions, global warming, warring nations and starving children, joy can get buried by the onslaught of pessimism. Yet Paul tells you that joy will be the sweet outgrowth of abiding in the Spirit just as naturally as fruit appears on a vine. It is an expression of mutual delight of the Spirit working in the believer and the believer dwelling in the Spirit. In the words of Eugene Peterson, "Joy is not a requirement of Christian discipleship, it is a consequence ... a product of abundance, an overflow of vitality."

The fruit of the Spirit is ... joy. Galatians 5:22

Paul not only told the church that they would naturally be joyful, but he also demonstrated it throughout his life. While in prison he found reason to sing. In the midst of a shipwreck he encouraged the crew. Under house arrest he wrote letters to young churches and their leaders that continue to instruct Christians today.

How does your life bear the fruit of joy in the midst of your challenges? Pray that you recognize the Spirit's delight in you, even as you grow in your delight of His work within you, as you intercede for the nation and its leaders.

May the joy of the Lord be with you,

Roger

This article taken from Vantage Point Devotional – August 4th, 2010, PrayerTeam@Presidential-Prayer-Team.org

SMALL GROUP MINISTRY

At Myrtle Point Christian Church, our commitment to following hard after God has led to the development of our SMALL GROUP MINISTRY. The best way to feel like you are a part of the MPCC family is to join one of our Small Groups. The purpose of the Small Group Ministry is to:

• Connect people more intimately to God

The Great Commandment says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). In a small group you can learn exactly what that means and how to do it on a day to day basis.

• Connect believers together as the church, the body of Christ.
  

In 1 Corinthians 12:27 says, "You are the Body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." For us to truly experience what it means to be a part of the "Body Life" of the church, we need to be in a small group.

• Connect the church to the mission of God in the world.

Jesus said, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:10). He also said in Matthew 28:19-20, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Within the small group we will be participating in the very mission and purpose of the church. We will also become equipped to go out into a lost world sharing the message of the gospel more effectively.

God is at work in the world miraculously transforming lives. He’s demonstrating His compassion by rescuing hopeless people and making them part of His family through the death of His Son, Jesus. He’s demonstrating His love by restoring broken relationships between people and empowering them to live in community with each other in ways that those apart from Him can only imagine and long for. And He’s demonstrating His power by using His ordinary but faithful children to provide His light of hope to a desperate world.

We were made to be part of God’s incredible plan for rescuing and restoring the world. It’s in Small Groups that we desperately seek after Him and His purposes for us. Join a small group to learn that you’re not alone in your journey of faith. You were made by God for community, community with Him and community with His people.

You’ll find out how much you need others. We already know how much we need you. We will be having sign-ups for small groups throughout the month of August.

The kick-off date for all these new small groups will be the week of September 12th. So get signed up and be ready to enter into a new and exciting spiritual journey with other believers just like you.

Love in Christ,
Roger

Sacrificial Impact

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

On New Year's Day in 1956, five missionaries - Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, and Pete Fleming - left to visit the Auca Indians of Ecuador. Four days later, at 12:30 p.m. Nate radioed his wife saying that he had seen some Auca men walking toward their beach. "Pray for us," he said. "This is the day. Will contact you at 4:30."

Well, 4:30 p.m. came. Nothing. Sundown. Still no word. A search began and a week later four bodies were found. The fifth one had been washed away.

Truly, these five men had lived for Christ, but where, you ask, is the gain? By the end of 1958, Jim Elliott's wife, Elizabeth, and Rachel Saint, Nate's sister, were living among the Aucas. The five men who murdered the missionaries had become Christians and spiritual leaders among their people. Nine years later, two of those men baptized two of Nate Saint's children.

Would you be willing to die for Christ? More important, are you willing to live for Him in a way that impacts the lives of others? You do - when you sacrificially and lovingly serve others around you and pray for them. You do when you pray for our nation and our leaders, asking God that they will turn from sin to a life of freedom in Him.

Pray for our nations leaders today, asking God's blessing, guidance and direction in their lives. Also ask that God break through the spiritual barriers some leaders put up against Him and His people, so that they will submit to God and follow His ways. Also pray for your neighbors and those throughout your community that they too might know Christ; maybe even because of your willingness to reach out to them and serve them.

1 Timothy 2:1-6, ¹I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— ²for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁵For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.

God Bless and have a great day!
Roger

Adapted from a devotional from ~ The Presidential Prayer Team™

DAILY DEVOTIONS

I don't know about you, but there are times that I struggle with my daily devotions. I want to be consistent, I want to give God all the glory in my life, and grow to know Him better each day.
But at times I get distracted, or other times it seems a little laborious. At those times I like to turn to alternative ways in which to spend time with God and worship Him. One of those ways is watching powerful worship videos people have put together on youtube or godtube.

I recently was exposed to this new video that I just can't stop watching, meditating on the power of God in creation. It's a song written and sung by Brian Doerksen called "Creation Calls."

Watch it and let me know what you think. I think it is one of the most powerful worship videos I have ever seen. I was moved deep within that God is so real, wondering how anyone can deny that all things have been created by the Master Designer.

May the Lord bless you abundantly today as you worship Him in all things.

Yours, and His, Roger