Parents, as always, we will have our own study, separate from the kids.  We will continue to look at issues of parenting.

The meeting will take place 6:30 – 8:30 at the Johnsons’ House – 8615 Sea Ash Circle, Round Rock, TX 78681

We’ll be studying and discussing the book of James, so read chapter 1 before you come. Bring a Bible and paper to record thoughts and prayer requests. Please contact Kristine Stewart (814-5747 or kristine@immutable.org) for more information!

“The man being held in a jail in Kent, England, goes by the title of the Earl of Buckingham but he is really an Orlando native named Charles Stopford, his father, Charles, and sister Rebecca Davis say in a documentary to be broadcast Sunday on Sky One television.

“The relatives said they saw photos of the fake lord on the Internet along with a story in The Times this week and concluded he is Stopford.”*

Nobody likes a phony.  In fact, one of the biggest problems that non-Christians in America have with Christians is hypocrisy, claiming to be the children of a loving God, but showing no compassion for people caught in sin and claiming to follow Christ but looking nothing like him in his care of the sick, the lonely, and the poor because they’re too busy with their church politics and buildings.  Like Gandhi said, “I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians.  Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

I think of all the times when I have so poorly represented Christ, when I put on my “church face” for Sunday, but then was a tyrant to my family on Monday or showed no compassion for that lost person next door because I saw him as an enemy of my faith rather than a victim of Satan.  It’s an issue of integrity.  Integrity is what you do when no one else is watching, when the “church” isn’t watching but non-Christians or close family members still are.  God, show us your mercy for our hypocrisy.

Thankfully, Jesus entered our existence and lived a perfect life without one shred of hypocrisy.  And through his death, his perfect life was credited to us.  Our hypocrisy was placed on Jesus who endured the public shame so that God would look favorably on us as though we had lived the righteous life.  It’s an unbelievable exchange.

And it moves us to be whom we have been called to be:  the loving and serving people of God.

*By DANIEL WOOLLS, Associated Press Writer Sat May 6, 2006 10:30 PM ET

Some people content themselves with a church that is monochrome.  They want a place where everyone is like them and everything is familiar.  It feels safe and comfortable.  And as much as they know the church should reach out and grow, they secretly hope that it doesn’t happen because they are afraid it just won’t feel the same.

God’s vision for the church has always been a beautiful diversity of every color, social standing, gender, or education.  Some might say, “But what about the Old Testament?  Didn’t God pick out one nation for himself?  That doesn’t sound very diverse.”  True, but God’s intention was always that those people would be a light of hope to the nations around them so that those nations would be drawn into the family of God.  The very first use of the word “congregation” or “church” is found in Genesis 28:3 when the Patriarch Isaac blessed his son Jacob by saying, “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples.”  “Community” is literally, “congregation” or “church.”  Then, two decades later, God said the same thing to Jacob.  Genesis 35:11, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you…”  Once again, “community.”

Why is this so important?  Simple.  It was only because the early Christians believed this with all their hearts that gospel message went to Asia, Africa, and Europe like a wildfire.  It is only because faithful men and women sacrificed everything, even their lives, to make sure that this message got out that we know it today.  It was because they wanted the church to become a community of nations that we know the hope, forgiveness, peace, and purpose of Jesus today.

And now, God has put us in city where 68 languages are spoken in the school district, in a county where less than 16% of people are in a worship Gathering every weekend, in one of the most diverse states in the country, in this grand mosaic experiment called America, in a world that has become global in every sense of the word.  He has set us up to reach nations merely by walking out our front door.  Forget monochrome!  Join in the adventure!

Start today by praying for God’s work among us, that he would push us out of our comfort zone and help us make an impact for his glory!

There is no cost for this event, although a $5 – $10 donation per person would help defray some costs.

This event is open to the community, so please feel free to invite friends and neighbors.

To register, text or call 512-470-2133.

As a result, it’s not my personal goal to make CTR itself as large as possible so that we have what some people call a “mega church,” but to fill it with an overflowing joy through the gospel so that it overflows into our community in the forms of mercy, and sharing our faith, and a willingness to plant other churches down the road—God-willing.

For that to happen, it is critical for God’s people at CTR to continue to grow in the grace of Christ and in their understanding that they are truly God’s priests, chosen by him to be his masks in the world and to speak his message of hope to their friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors.

And this is just what is happening.  I was so proud to hear how busy God was among you while I was gone.  I heard the Worship Gathering went really well and that God’s people came together to grow in the Word and minister to each other.  I heard that the Party People met for a second time and that they have some great plans for us.  People are signing up for Fellowship Groups and getting ready to grow, encourage, and serve the community together.  People are making meals for a family in need and calling each other for encouragement.  May God’s name be praised!  This is what God has prepared and equipped us to do!

I look forward to another season of growth and service among God’s people together with you and seeing God’s gospel go out all over the Central Texas area!

Numbers 11:4-6

4 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost — also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”  

NIV84

People often say, “If I only saw a miracle, I would believe…”  I don’t know how many more miracles the people in the desert could have had.  God send food from heaven and water
from rocks.  He traveled before them in a pillar of cloud and fire, which was there day and night.  If you doubted the existence, power, or love of God, all you needed to do was open your tent flap to see the burning pillar standing guard over the camp.  Not to mention that God had sent ten devastating plagues on their enemies and opened up an entire sea so that the Israelites could walk through it on dry ground.  How much proof did they need to trust God?

The reality is that people can see miracles every day and still deny the existence, power, or love of God.  If you’re looking for miracles to bolster your faith, for empirical evidence to assure you that God is really there and really loves you, you will probably never find what you are looking for.  There’s always another explanation, another interpretation of the events.  We can see so much and still not see.

Instead, we turn to the promises of God for confidence.  God promised to send a Savior for us.  Promise kept.  He promised to punish his own Son in our place and raise him from the dead.  Promise kept.  He promised to freely save you of his own grace and mercy in a world where every other religious system demands you to earn His love through your own good deeds and personal sacrifices.  Promise kept.  God is faithful.

Find your peace in that.

If that’s true, then surely the church should look a lot more diverse than it does, especially
in urban centers and suburban areas such as ours.  If God wants to fill heaven with all people, then why do churches often look so monochrome?  Sometimes, it’s almost one class, one color, one style of dress, one musical taste, or one education level.
In a few cases it’s because of the demographics of a particular area.  No one would expect a thriving kids ministry in Sun City.  But more often, it’s just fragmentation.

Tyle Wigg-Stevenson, author of “Brand Jesus,” a book about the dangers of marketing
Jesus, recently wrote, “The key to successful marketing is niche segmentation:  dividing a population into identifiable groups who behave in predictable ways based on consumer
preferences…It has allowed us to live lives that are increasingly tailor-made to our personal preferences.  We live in neighborhoods of single-family homes populated by people like us, go to church with people like us, consume media targeted at people like us, and shop with people like us.  All of this makes us more reluctant to inhabit a world with people who are not like us.”  Hear that?  Consumerism in our country has made us uncomfortable with people unlike us to a certain extent, at least in close quarters.

At Christ the Rock, we are out to change that.  We live in an unbelievably diverse area.  The world is coming to Central Texas because of the medical, technological, and educational opportunities—to name just a few.  There are now over 60 languages represented in the Round Rock Independent School District.  This area is filled with the complex and beautiful mosaic that God loves.

And He’s given us the marvelous task to work with Him in weaving it all into the tapestry of heaven.  Let’s make this a year to reach out to all people, the people of the world, the people of central Texas!

“THANK YOU for letting us know that help was needed to adopt families for Christmas.  Our eyes were opened to the needs of people in our area.  When I went to adopt a family I was given two FULL three-ring binders of families who needed help for Christmas.  It felt like an overwhelming task to pick one.  After I chose a family I asked, “What happens to all the others?”  I was told that, “Hopefully they too will get adopted.”  I got help contacting the family since they didn’t know much English.  When I was told what they wanted I felt my eyes well up with tears.  Clothes, shoes (since two of the children needed shoes and they couldn’t afford them), diapers, and help paying bills~that’s what they wanted for Christmas.  I would call those
things needs.  We took our list and went shopping.  It was awesome to shop for people with such simple needs.

“The delivery of the gifts was humbling to us.  We were welcomed by the family, offered a Coke, and asked to sit down in a spotless mobile home.  The dad has not been able to work, so Andy (through a daughter’s translation) was able to talk about his time of no work.

“We were thanked over and over by the parents and children.  Our hearts were filled with joy being able to put some gifts under their tree.  As we left I could see the appreciation in the eyes of the parents.

“Andy and I were struck once again with how God has blessed us, AND that we were in a position to be the helper to others in need of help.

“Ephesians 5:2  ‘Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.’

“Peace in Jesus!

“Anne”

May God continue to bless us all with this attitude in 2012!