Since, we learn well with images and because I NEVER WANT US TO ABANDON THE SYMBOLS OF OUR HISTORY AND GOD'S FAITHFULNESS, here are the 3 physical locations that Capital Christian Fellowship (formerly Cottage City Mennonite) has met at from 1927-2008...WOW...80 YEARS!!!
Cottage City Mennonite Church, Cottage City, MD (1927-1995)
Capitol College Auditorium, Laurel, MD (1995-2004)
Capital Christian Fellowship, Lanham, MD (2004-Present)
Are you a member or attendee of CCF? If so, I have a question for you. It was buried in my post on worship yesterday, but I am learning that most of you DO NOT READ LONG POSTS, so if it is important, I have to extract it to a shorter post. So, here is the question. In light of our diverse congregation (experientially, culturally, generationally)...
What do you think about CCF having a traditional (but not WAY traditional) 9:30am service and a contemporary (but not WAY contemporary) 11:00am service? (new times start in September)
Comment, email, talk to any staff member when you see us. Just wanting to solicit some feedback on this one.
--Noah
Very excited about some of the things that we discussed and dreamed about for Small Groups this fall at CCF! It was a great onsite offsite. A highlight for me was standing in the front parking lot with joined hands as a team and pleading with God to bring us the people that he has destined for us to care for...and to send us to GO get them!
There are loads of books out there on worship. Ones about authentic worship, spirit filled worship, high-tech worship, contemplative worship, etc. I think that someone should write a book called awkward worship. Bear with me. I think that there is awkward worship going on all the time in churches. Awkward of participants. Awkward for leaders. Reasons for awkward worship could include:
I am really thinking about worship a lot this week. I think that it is actually one of the opportunities/challenges on the horizon for us as a church and we need to talk candidly about it. I think that a lot of this dialogue is about personal experience and preference and not about worship. Let's call it what it is. The Bible says to worship in the midst of trial. Paul and Silas were worshiping at midnight in jail!! Hello!! A song style that we don't like certainly better not be a trial big enough to interrupt our worship to God for who He is! If so, we are really in trouble when REAL TRIALS strike. God doesn't stand a chance.
Before I start preaching...I think we need to explore questions like:
This is getting long and I have lots more to say. Let me stop. More later. Any thoughts?
--Pastor Noah
Every few months I bring our staff away from the church offices and we spend a workday together dreaming and planning. If we don't regularly get into new places for longer periods of time, I don't think that we will be getting many new revelations of what God wants to do among us.
Today, is an off site all day staff meeting. However, it will be on-site here at the church for several reasons. Pray for us today if you read this. Will be spending intentional time hearing from God and then we will be talking about Small Group improvement and changes to come this fall! We are really seeking the Lord today for new ways to get people into groups and to get groups into people. More on that later.
--Peace!
I never thought of using the parable of the Good Samaritan (click here to read it) as a message about Stewardship until last week....but, watch this...
(this was my sermon yesterday) There were 3 attitudes displayed in this story:
Stewardship is about the ATTITUDE behind WHY I give!! It is less about what I give, how much I give, or what I do.
Think about it. Read Luke 10:25-37 today!
--Noah
There are few things in life that I have greater love for than elderly people. They are so precious and special to me. Today, I met a 98 year old lady, her daughter and her daughter's daughter. 3 Generations! I asked them if I could take a picture of them. Here it is....a tad blurry, but you get the point. Man, is this cool! Life is so precious. When you see someone that has lived so many year, they represent so many stories, so many memories and so much wisdom. How beautiful.
Today must have been my day, because if seeing this beautiful 98 year old lady wasn't enough, I met and talked to another lady at the table next to us at lunch who was there celebrating her 95th birthday with her family! Amazing! Inspiring!
Speaking at the Lanham Christian School Graduation this morning was an absolute blessing on many levels. So cool to see these young people celebrate such an accomplishment and so humbling to share a message that I know made a difference. Many, many people requested my notes this morning. I committed that I would mail these notes out to the graduates sometime in the future when they least expect it. I feel like the principles I shared today were from the Lord and too important to fall through the cracks of a busy day. Since, I made that offer, lots of people handed me their address to be added to the list. Instead...I sent them here to my blog. So, here goes. This will be a long post, but it is worth reading:
10 Life Lessons in 10 Years.....(I graduated from LCS 10 years ago today):
--Noah
Something has been on my mind recently that I want to start processing. As we seek to walk in the plans that the Lord intends for us as a church we have to find a way to understand and balance our part with God's part!
Our part: Excellence! Skilled ministry. Irresistible and welcoming environments. Creativity and relevance that creates buzz and draws people. Great worship, compelling church services, programming, creating meaningful places for people to connect, ensuring spaces for people to be discipled! We have OUR PART that we must do. Clean the building, pay the bills, advertise, study, train, pray, plan, anticipate, practice, make it visual, make it sound right, make it appealing....shall I continue? We have our part to do! From defective Old Testament sacrifices to New Testament encouragements that whatsoever we do, do it excellently as unto the Lord...we our called to do our part and do it well! Luke 14:23 says that we ought to go out on the streets and roads and compel them to come in! In context, once they did this...Jesus taught in the most creative and memorable way anyone had ever seen. He knew that the greatest message deserved the great packaging. We cannot minimize our responsibility to bring excellence everywhere we can!
Now, here is the challenge. FINDING BALANCE! Balance between our part and God's part! In my opinion, one without the other will not be effective or sustainable.
God's part: The book of Acts and the start of the early church leaves me with a really clear conclusion. We will receive power to be witnesses and many will be added to our number when the holy spirit comes on us!!! So, the move, power and presence of the Holy Spirit is the answer to church growth. We need to be seeking the Lord in fervent prayer. We must seek the presence, power and gifts of the Holy Spirit of God! The greatest church services, small groups, messages and music in the world without the touch of Almighty God are just another business venture. Might make it a while, but will likely fail.
Now....dream a radical dream with me for just a moment. WHAT IF every church in the world decided that the balance of our part and God's part was important enough to take seriously. Imagine what would happen if churches and church leaders spent 50% of their time on their part and 50% of their time seeking the Lord as He does his part? What would happen if we actually got this right? If you think that churches are spending anywhere near 50% of their time and energy calling down the presence of God, seeking Him in prayer and listening to His voice, you are cordially invited to crawl out from the rock that you are under. We spend the huge majority of our time and energy operating in our own strength (and pleasing the reached). I wonder how many lost people would flood our doors if we made this one change with how we spend our time.
I welcome your thoughts on this one. I will likely write on this more one day. Maybe in a book.
--Noah
One word would best describe our church van....embarrassing. The thing had leprosy! We were not sure if we would keep it much longer, so we were hesitant to spend any money on it.
Well, due to a recent gracious gift to make the van look better, we went ahead and fixed the peeling paint. I just picked it up from the body shop this afternoon.
It looks good now....good enough to put our name on the side! Yippee! I am sharing a picture.
--Noah
OK, I am really excited about the speaking opportunity that I have Saturday morning. I will be giving the commencement address for Lanham Christian School. God has trickled this message into my heart over the last 2 weeks. A little here, a little there, write this in my PDA, write that...
Well, yesterday I attended Nicole Lindo's graduation ceremony (GO NICOLE!!) and I was inspired with even more ideas.
Today it all came together. It was 10 years ago Saturday that I graduated from Lanham Christian School. I am really excited about sharing 10 life lessons that I have learned in the last 10 years. I want to post them now, but I can't let all the cats out of the bag. Here is a preview...here are 3 of the 10 lessons that I will share.
I will post the rest after Saturday...I hit on everything from marriage to the internet to children to the way you carry yourself. This is going to be fun!
--Noah
Spent 5 hours with Michelle Ferrando today finalizing the June Capital! New design, new look, great edition this month. We're currently well on our way to a full scale branding. So far, new letterhead, business cards and The Capital all match! Good stuff!
Here is one of the downsides to sharing what I did yesterday...I never want to confuse the majority to address the minority. Here's the deal...I am excited to tell you that the MAJORITY of people at CCF do not know of what I typed. My issue as a Pastor is that I don't ever want them to!! So, I am asking God to help us get this right before it has widespread impact.
If you really need me to post about the strengths of this great church, just let me know....but I trust that if you know me a sliver, you know how dearly I love this place and how honored I am to serve it!
Full of hope,
Noah
I am ok! I thought I would make that clear to you. Regardless of the two tough posts that I just shared with you....I keep heart and know that God is at work in great ways. I did not want anyone unnecessarily alarmed so I wanted to follow up with a "all is well" post. I press on toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus!
Love you and appreciate the many friends that read in!
OK, so this is my blog and I am going to be real on it! That was the deal from the day I started this thing. Sometimes, I need to write out some frustration. Sunday was a tough day! Period. I got resistance and negativity and complaining thrown at me from several different directions before and between services. It was all that I could do to get up and preach...actually...it was God who did it. This is one of those times when I could truly say...BUT GOD! Without Him, I could not have done it!
Now, here is the cool part. God was so good that for every force of opposition that came on Sunday, there was one life change that happened (at least that I am aware of--I am sure there were more). I had 4 very difficult emotional exchanges on Sunday and then had the chance to pray with 4 people and see God doing something spectacular in them! I even got a letter from one lady whose life was uniquely touched.
So, here is my prayer: God, please help me to focus more of my energy on the 4 lives that were touched for you on Sunday, than the 4 people who are mad about changes in the church that they don't like. I know what the enemy wants. Help me to do what you want!
My heart is very heavy today. I want to be honest. But, then I get afraid of the implications of transparency and vulnerability. Many things are happening that have me feeling discouraged and tired. I share this in hopes that when you read it, you will pray with me. I sure would appreciate it. Oh, how I want to live what I preached Sunday. Oh how I want to be strong and very courageous....but it gets so hard as opposition floods in.
I have a responsibility to lead that is a heavy one. Certainly heavier than I know. I know that I know that I know that God has great and mighty things in store for HIS church at Capital Christian Fellowship. But, I am going to share something with you that is pretty transparent for a blog, but what do I have to lose with honesty? Sometimes I feel like I am at a loss as to how to handle and address negativity, complaining and gossip in the church. It is so pervasive. In so many churches. Oh, how I wish I could tell you that it was not present at CCF, but it is! If you are unaware of this as a problem at CCF, then GLORY TO GOD!! Keep pressing! If you are aware of this as an issue at CCF, hear this....I want so desperately for people in this community to learn to live Matthew 18 and for gossip to become unaccepted and out of place in this church!
Is there anything you can do to help? I am looking for people who are willing to change their own ways, confront others in love when they gossip or at minimum pray that God will root this sin out of His church! I think that too many Pastors are unwilling to admit problems and ask for help in solving them. I am asking you today! Can you help? I have been asking God and will keep asking HIM every day!
Thanks for letting me share. May God help us. His plans are for our good and He has made that so clear. May we not get in the way of it!
"There is a difference between asking your leader a question and questioning your leader!"
Think about this. Interact with it for a minute.
Happy Memorial Day. We are gonna go brave the metro and hang out in DC today. Have no idea what we will end up doing. Just going on an adventure....Hope you have a good one!
--Noah
Tricia and I had another first with Davis yesterday. Firsts are always very special to us no matter what they are. Yesterday, it was Davis's first trip to an amusement park. Tricia got us season passes to Six Flags for less than you pay to get in one time, so we jumped on it. They have a whole kids section. We went and had a blast. Davis had this awe expression on his face the whole time...as he repeated the word "wide, wide" (rid, ride) over and over again. This picture is him on the carousel.
Oh, and there was another first yesterday as well...the first time that Tricia and I have ever gone to amusement park and not ridden a single adult ride. Man, we didn't even see one! Parenting changes everything! We got huge fun watching him have fun!
L8r. Off to bed...
Lover & follower of Jesus, devoted to my wife Tricia & my kids, Davis, Lily & Graceson, serving & living in Africa as a man on mission for the Kingdom of God.
