I typically list 3-7 things on my mind on Mondays, but since Monday was New Years Day and it was, well, a new year, I thought I'd take the chance to extend the list as resource for our church as the year gets started! I can't wait to see what God does in 2024 through Christ Community Church! My hope for you is that you'll jump in with both feet - don't miss out on what God has for YOU!
Crushing our Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goal sets the tone for 2024! CCC, we didn't just meet our goal of $10K we crushed it! Doing so says so much about our heart for the mission: We want to see Jesus preached. We want to see lives changed. We want his name to change not just our neighbors, but also the nations. We want to be generous to that mission. I want to be a part of a group who desires those things! So thankful I am!
Christmas Eve was the largest single gathering in CCC history. It was awesome to have the buzz of a packed room full of babies, kids, parents, and grandparents, but that wasn't even really what made it special. Sweet worship with voices singing loud, the inspiring testimony of Sanjana, and kids involved in worship - I could go on! It might have been my favorite moment in the last 10 years! Speaking of..
You got me! Katelyn and I were totally surprised by your all's gift for 10 years of service this past Sunday! That video was incredibly honoring - and so many of you have reached out personally! WOW! Katelyn and I feel incredibly loved. We could not be more thankful God called us to serve CCC!
Bold Humility - Our hope for 2024 We started to breathe just a bit of life into a vision for what God might do in us this year as we hope and pray for Bold Humility in 2024. We want to become more bold; in our witness, in our living, in our prayer and confession. While at the same time growing in humility; owning our sin and living in repentance, learning to depend on Jesus' Spirit constantly, forgetting our self as we focus on the Savior.
Subscribe to "The Backpack." This past weekend, we preached a sermon that sets the stage for our next 10 sermons. If you weren't there, it will be super helpful to give it a listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or Youtube. Subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen! It's a good way to keep up on those Sundays you're out of town or easily share those stories and sermons that impact you with others.
Get the Winter Worship Playlist in your ears so it comes out your mouth on Sundays! Listen, I'll be the first to tell you that every song we sing together on Sundays isn't my favorite. But I'll also be the first to tell you that listening to last fall's playlist throughout the week changed the way I worshipped on Sundays. God radically changed my heart last fall through songs I didn't like. And he did it as the truth of those songs went deep into my heart as I listened and learned to sing them. So save this playlist, listen to it often, and get ready for what God might do to your heart! Winter Worship Playlist
Marriage Ministry is coming! This Saturday several "Marriage Mentors" are coming together for training as we continue to step towards officially launching our marriage ministry in 2024! Pieces of this have been coming together for some time and I'm excited for how this can be helpful to CCC and greater Shelbyville. Pray for those mentors this weekend and stay tuned to loveshelbyville.com for the launch!
Finance Class starts February 1. One piece of that marriage ministry is a trio of classes taught by David and Gigi Wheeler. David and Gigi took time to learn about the most frequent causes of divorce in America and curated 3 courses to address those: 1) Poor Communication, 2) Outside Influences, and 3) Finances. Beginning Thursday nights, February 1, David and Gigi will lead a finance class. This isn't just for couples in crisis, or even just couples, it's all about helping you learn biblical principles for managing money so that you can focus on the things that matter; including your marriage! To get signed up text "money" to (866) 914-9832.
Church is always about Y'ALL. The enemy has utilized social media and the American spirit to do a really good job of convincing people they can do things all by themselves. Church is a y'all sport. We need people. And that doesn't happen effectively in big groups. It's why we do Community Groups. Twice a year our Community Groups track with the sermon series to give good on-ramps for people who need to get connected. Next week starts one of those series. If you're not in a group, text "group" to (866) 914-9832 and let us help you find a group today!
Pick up a copy of "Ten Words to Live By." It's the book that our groups are working through this spring, and we went ahead and got you a copy! If you're in a group, your leader has one for you. If not, you can swing by the connect desk and grab one. We'd love if you'd invest in your spiritual growth by giving $7.50 to compensate the cost of the book at loveshelbyville.com/give but it's not mandatory - we just want you growing, and going, to group!
Be The Church Class launches in February. We want being a member of Christ Community Church to matter. And we want it to mean something when we say at the end of our gatherings, "GO BE THE CHURCH!" So we've designed a new members class that not only gives you information about what we believe, what it means to be a member, and how Jesus saves us, but also helps you interact with leaders from our church, get meaningfully connected to groups, and find a place to serve. Even better, if you're a current member whose struggling to connect with a group, is ready to serve, or walking with someone asking questions about baptism, you can engage with these classes too! Each Sunday in February, we'll have lunch and childcare as we address different areas. If you're a new member, we'd ask you to attend all 4: 1) Salvation & Baptism, 2) Connecting to Groups, 3) Connecting to Serving, 4) What We Believe and Owning the Mission. Get signed up today OR send this to that person who's been coming to CCC with you! SIGN UP HERE or at the Connect Desk.
Confession has a lot to do with Bold Humility. We confess our sins to God seeking forgiveness. We confess our sins to one another as we seek healing. We confess what we believe to be true about God as we seek freedom. Confession is really important. And it's connected to Bold Humility in a lot of ways. Even further, it's ultra-contrary to what our world values right now. Get ready to hear more about confession in 2024.
Prayer needs to shape everything. I can remember growing up hearing older, wiser Christians talk about how much prayer mattered. I've heard older, wiser pastors talk about the importance of prayer in their ministries. They were all right. Here's to 2024 being a year where we take a step towards everything in our lives and ministry being shaped by prayer.
Need a bible reading plan for the new year? We've got those! Head to https://www.loveshelbyville.com/discipleship to print one or pick one up from the church office.
Mission Trip Interest Meeting: January 21, 8:30 am. We've got several mission trips planned for 2024 (with the potential for more!) and we'd love to send you and your family on one! Make a note to attend a general interest meeting for all the trips Sunday, January 21, at 8:30 am. The meeting will be in the next gen space.
The building is a space for you to use. After the holidays, the lobby is open again Mon-Thur 8:30a-1:30p. The space is there for you to use! Come by and work, read, meet, or learn with others. It's one more tool to help you Be the Church.
How would Shelbyville change if you wove Jesus into one conversation everyday? I'm not sure we could measure the change if we all committed to this! If you're wondering how to do this, I recently read a short book by David Platt entitled "Gospel Threads: Weaving Good News into Everyday Life." It's a quick read and really helpful! You can even access the digital version for free HERE.
Growing churches stay small when each of us take responsibility for the mission. By the grace of God, CCC is growing! Sometimes this comes with the "feel" of church changing. This is just a reminder as we start 2024 that growing churches stay small when each of us take responsibility for the mission of Joining Jesus in Going out to Make Disciples. This means as members, each of us take things personal. It's MY responsibility to invite others into my home and into a group. It's MY responsibility to care for the people in my group. It's MY responsibility to teach others the things God is teaching me. It's MY responsibility to join Jesus in his word today and live that out. Own the mission!
Want to get involved? Sign-up for a serving team. We're always in need of more people on our serving teams! If you'd like to get involved, fill out this form, and we'll be in touch!
Show our friends overseas some GLOVE. In a couple weeks, a team from CCC will be headed to Central Asia to encourage our partners there. We just learned this week that some opportunities to serve have been re-opened to them via softball and baseball! We're hoping to pack some equipment with us and we need you to bring some baseball or softball gloves. (Preferably 12.5-13.5") that we can donate to our partners.
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