April 12th, 2009
Hey everyone, been thinking about today for a long time. Wondering if all the effort to make one special day happen in people’s minds is having any effect. There used to be a not so nice code name for folks who only attended church services at Christmas and Easter times… CEO’S short for Christmas and Easter Only’s. As if somehow, those who attend more regularly have some kind of special dispensation. Preached “Invest & Invite the previous three weeks. Even made a deal with our folks that if they would take time to invest in relationships with people and then invite them, I would make sure that they heard the gospel when they came. Well in the middle of the series I had to make a trip to the local Home Depot. After what GOD reminded me of during that trip I can assure you that I don’t have any special dispensation! I was in a hurry, wanting to pay and get out and on with whatever it was I had planned when it hit me that GOD died for those folks in my way as much as He did for me. The Book of James tells us that anyone who sins, even just once, is as guilty as if they had committed them all. That makes me just as guilty as Mussolini, Stalin, Idi Amin, Adolf Hitler and anybody else you’d care to name. I keep great company, don’t I? Well you could argue that I haven’t murdered anyone, etc… but Jesus might have something to say about that. Maybe we can get into that another time… Point is – GOD the Father cares just as deeply for CEO’S as He does for everyone. In Eternity past He came up with a plan to redeem us all. Thank GOD for Jesus! And thank GOD for the resurrection – without we’d have no hope. But because Jesus was the Christ and IS GOD we do have hope and so do all the CEO’S and Non-CEO’S of the world. Remember there but for the grace of GOD go you and me…
Serving Him with you,
James
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April 7th, 2009
Had a great time of celebrating our Heavenly Father this past weekend! 5 guests were in attendance as well as the usual crowd of suspects. :-> (look at that sideways in case you don’t know what that is). Everyone’s still excited and working hard. We’re all learning what GOD really expects of us in terms of how Jesus modeled His relationships, especially with respect to those who didn’t know Him yet! Amazingly, not only were people drawn to Him, but He made time, significant time at that, for those most of us would say aren’t worth ANY time. He “INVESTED” His life in them and then “INVITED” them to experience eternal life through a wonderful relationship with GOD. Over these last three weeks we’ve learned that there’s a party in Heaven every time someone comes to faith and that GOD doesn’t want us being guilted into sharing our faith with others. Rather, we ought to respond out of grateful hearts for all He has done for us and invest in those around us.
We’re praying for opportunities to get to know folks better and invite them to hear the gospel. We’re excited about this coming Sunday – Easter! Please join with us in asking GOD to allow us to be a part of changed lives in the Metro Richmond area as He calls people to Himself.
Until next time, I’m serving Him with you,
James
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April 4th, 2009
I am so excited about Easter this year! Real Life Fellowship has launched and I am anticipating GOD doing incredible things to bring Himself glory in and then through us @ RLF. Next Sunday, April 12th we have something really cool planned and you won’t want to miss it. One of our core values is to be culturally relevant. To do this we need to use language and communication methods that are current to this generation. Next week we take another step in this direction with “Mission Possible.” Why not check us out @ 9:30am and then hang out for “Real Kids” our worship venue especially for elementary aged children. Its all good! Hope to see you here.
Until then,I’m Serving Him with you,
Pastor James
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April 3rd, 2009
For the past couple of weeks we’ve been discussing the three short stories found in Luke 15. In them we have discovered just how passionate our GOD is regarding restoring a right relationship with His lost creation – us! We’re also learning that because of His great love towards us and the lengths He has gone to restore our relationship with Him, we should be willing to tell others what is available for them. That’s where Invest & Invite comes in. As a staff , Real Life Fellowship, has promised to do what some are uncomfortable doing – sharing the gospel, if you will promise to do what we as a staff cannot do – meet and build relationships with multitudes of people. That’s our strategy. Simple and Straightforward. Make friends and then invite them to hear about Jesus.
To ensure that individuals have enough time to engage those around them, RLF has determined NOT to over-program itself. People need time to develop friendships, to get to know neighbors, to coach a little league team, etc… Fostering those relationships and ensuring families have the time they need together will result in changed lives: some saved from eternal separation from GOD in hell and others discipled to a deeper level of spiritual maturity.
Why not join us this Sunday morning @ 9:30? Casual, relaxed, culturally relevant, and Biblically based.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Pastor James
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March 11th, 2009
Welcome to the blog of the Real Life Fellowship in Richmond, VA.
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