Tim Chambers – an uprising of the soul

A lot has happened  in the life of Shore Fellowship over the past for months. If you have been around you’ve experienced it all. We have seen some ups and some downs, some wins and some losses. But at the end of the day what I see is opportunity. I heard someone say, “with every crisis there is an opportunity”.

This Sunday we have the opportunity to have Tony Morgan with us. Tony is a church leader with an incredible passion for helping churches determine what is needed to take steps that will increase the impact they can have in their communities. He will spend time in all of our environment and get a chance to experience worship at Shore. We look forward to learning more about our Church by allowing some outside eyes to give us an honest evaluation of where we’ve been, where we are, and where we are headed.

In spite of all the success that God has allowed Shore to have in this community, we are only at the beginning of what God has called us to do. Will you join me in prayer this weekend that Tony’s time with us will be profitable and that it will open our eyes to greater ministry as we move forward. I’ve never been more excited to be a part of Shore Fellowship. Let’s take this community for Christ.

As a church, the members of Shore Fellowship excel at giving when a need arises.  Even in the midst of very tough economic times, we always rise to the occasion.  I believe our generosity to the poor and those in need is a quality that Almighty God holds very dear to His heart.

As part of our connection with Manna Worldwide, Pastor Tim and I recently took a trip to visit a feeding center located in Sumpango, Guatemalathat another church was no longer able to support financially.  The villagers of Sumpango are extremely poor.  An average family of six lives in a one room cinderblock building.  There are no doors or windows, only openings.  Typically there is no electricity, gas or indoor plumbing.  Their water supply comes from a local well or the river. They try to grow what they eat, but usually it’s not enough.  And what little money they have goes to purchase a few items they can’t grow.

Upon arriving at the feeding center we were greeted by 55 beautiful children ranging in age from four to eleven. Some had warm inviting smiles, while others were unsure of who we were or why we were there.  It was meal time.  The missionary explained they could only feed these kids three meals per week. They no longer had chicken with their meals, but had to eat a soy product as a substitute. To make matters worse, for most of those kids it was the only meal they would have that day.

Overall the building was in good condition.  However, there was one huge concern; the building lacked a railing system around the entire second story balcony.  It also lacked stair rails leading to the second floor. As these children played, they constantly ran up the stairs and along the second story balcony.  It’s a twelve foot drop from the balcony to the ground.  I couldn’t imagine our five & six year olds having access to such a dangerous area.  It is only a matter of time before a child is seriously injured or even killed.

Now is the time for us to shine!  We would like to see those 55 beautiful children fed every day, not three days a week.  Also, Shore Fellowship has made a commitment to put up the railing system. You can see the cost below. If you would like to donate to the project or begin supporting a child to be fed click here to open an account and then look for Manna/Guatemala Project or simply give to the Feeding Center to help a child. These situations can be corrected.  In spite of the economy, let’s rise to the occasion, champion their cause and shine like stars..  With your help, we can increase the value of these children’s lives. Thank You for all your help!!

Amounts we need to raise:

New railing system: (one time amount) $3,000.00

Weekly cost of Feeding Center – $800.00/month (5 days of meals)

PROVERBS 19:17 He who lends to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward him for what he has done.

So I leave you with this……….If these children were in our neighborhood, would we turn a blind eye?  ……………Oh yea, I forgot……. according to Jesus Christ, these kids are our neighbors!

It has always been the struggle of every great movement of God to keep from turning Inward. As a Pastor I’m always striving to keep the church externally focused. One thing I have noticed is that if you make the choice as a church to reach the unreached you will be attacked by the Me-vangelists out there. They were there in the days of Jesus (Pharisees). They constantantly berated Jesus for his desire to reach those far from Him. Even though Jesus “clearly” declared His mission to seek and to save those who were lost very few churches succeed at accomplishing His “clearly” stated mission. He also said that He came to help the sick not the healthy.

I fear that in todays church, Christians have made themselves the focus and priority. In turn we have a lot of ME- vangelists running around. People who say the church is for just the believer. They attack anyone who has a passion for the lost. I am a firm believer that the church is for everyone. I believe you can design a service that reaches the reached and the unreached. My son Jordan said last night during our 1st Wednesday, (which included a spontaneous conga line, jump on that one critics) that he has come to the conclusion that if you want to get people to respond just tell them the truth. (can’t wait to see the ME-vangelist comment on that) Jesus taught that it is the truth that will set you free.

King David had a Me-vangelist in his life. Her name was Michal, his wife. One day as David was returning to the city with the Ark of the Lord he broke out in celebration and danced unto the Lord. Because his wife thought this was something that kings shouldn’t do she dressed down her husband for worshipping God as a commoner. I love how David responds in 2 Samuel 6:21&22, ” I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes”.  I love that!!!

There will always be those who are critical. The only thing you can do is make sure you’re not one of them. In verse 23 of the same passage we are told that the daughter of Saul, Michal, had no children to the day of her death.

So here is an amazing truth, the critical bear no fruit!!!!

I have always believed that you never know who you’re impacting. What you may think is insignificant God can make magnificent. 19 years ago God brought a guy into my life by the name of Buddy Cremeans. Although he grew up in a christian home he was far from God. As a young Youth Pastor God laid it on my heart to reach out to him. And as they say the rest is HiStory! By that I mean God’s story.

This past Sunday I had the honor of having Pastor Buddy Cremeans speak at Shore Fellowship. He finished our One Prayer 2009 series by reminding us that God Is More. When you think you have God figured out, He Is More than you can ask our think. I am so proud of who Buddy has become. Not only does he Pastor a great Church, Northway Church, but he has an amazing family. His wife Debbie stands with him in ministry and his children, Devin and Natalie have an incredible love for God. Way to go God. I love how God can turn a life around. I could have never imagined how God is using them today. Keep up the great work, Buddy.

This past week at Shore Fellowship has been redifining. I remember as a kid going to an amusement park called, Cedarpoint. What I love about the park is their Coasters. They have some of the best coasters in the world. Never did I imagine how much those things reflect the way life can be. One minute your up in the clouds and the next you’ve been brought back to reality through the circumstances of life.

This past week we lost 2 wonderful people in our midst. One of them was George Ammon and just yesterday we Celebrated the life of Gabby Guenther. She was an energetic, artistic, fun loving 15 year old that had her whole life in front of her. But in God’s divine wisdom He allowed Gabby to come home to Him this past week. Although we are sad we have already seen the impact that has come from this tragic loss. As of today we have seen around 25 people come to Christ and scores of relationships restored.

So often in times like this people get mad. But as Pastor Steve said at the funeral yesterday, “Don’t get mad at God get mad at the one who brought death into this world. Satan. God is the Author of Life”. Because Gabby knew Christ, she will live forever. Remember to keep the family in prayer. And never forget that God is God in the the good times and the bad. As a matter of fact it is in the toughest times we see Him more clearly.

Something I noticed in my studies this past week was what happened when Jesus spoke. When He approached someone who was demon possesed the evil spirit would call Him the Son of God and Jesus would command them to “shut up”. And they would. But when Jesus would heal someone and then command them to not tell anyone, they would go out and tell everyone.

Conclusion: There is no one like our God and when He does something amazing in someones life they can not contain it. They have to tell everyone. Just my thoughts, what do you think?

In Tony Morgan’s new book, KILLING COCKROACHES, I was convicted about how often I let the urgent things in life grab me by the flippin nose and drag me around. I love the insight that he brings and the way he chose to go with quick hitting, short chapters. They are short enough I don’t find myself chasing the urgent before I finish. In a culture that desperately needs to hear a clear and compeling meesage about Christ on pg. 26&27, Tony challenges us to develop a service that bears fruit. He says that we should have 3 things;

1) A relevant topic – if you are answering questions that no one is asking you are missing it.

2) A stategic theme – How do you connect the topic to the people.

3) A biblical truth – If we don’t offer biblical truth people won’t experience Jesus.

You can pick up the book on Amazon.com . (I would give you the link but wordpress won’t allow me right now) You can also learn more about Tony morgan at tonymorganlive.com. You won’t be sorry. In this book you’ll find a wealth of wisdom.

I just wanted to direct you to a great giving opportunity that starts on March 1st. You will be challenged to only drink tap water for 40 days and add up all that you saved from not buying soda, coffee, and etc… and donate it to Blood:Water Mission to provide clean drinking water to children around the world. I am seriously thinking about taking up the challenge, but I am struggling to make the commitment. I tell you what, if ten people will comment and do it with me I think you can pull me over the edge. How about it?