FEAR OF GOD

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" Proverbs 1:7
"But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love" Psalm 33:18
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" Ecclesiastes 12:13

Fear of the Lord is mentioned 32 time in the Bible
Fear of God - 8 times
Fear God - 10 times

To the Christian, knowing God begins with knowing that He is God and we're not; that He is holy and we are not; that He is above reproach and we are not.

1. It's necessary to recognize that God is the creator and the savior. This recognition is the basis for a healthy fear of God and is one of the important ways to give Him glory.
2. It's necessary for us to give God respect. We are not to take His name in vain or use God's name lightly. What does it mean to use God's name in vain? This means to misuse God's name in any fashion. Instead, we should honor and revere His name every time we use it.
3. It's necessary to reverence God - give Him Honor He deserves. Reverence gives us strength and wisdom to appreciate God's goodness.

Love and Sound Doctrine should always balance each other out:

Too much Sound Doctrine without the aspect of Love will result in legalism, while Love without applying Sound Doctrine will lead to tolerance of sin, lost opportunities to win people to Christ.

To become a Christian we have to know 4 things:

1) God unconditionally loves us
2) We have blown it
3) God took the initiative
4) It's your call

Psalms 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

Fireproof your marriage!

Christ's Church had the exciting opportunity of holding a free screen of the movie Fireproof. This marriage strengthening event took place Saturday, January 24, at 6 PM.

At work, inside burning buildings, Capt. Caleb Holt lives by the old firefighter's adage: Never leave your partner behind. At home, in the cooling embers of his marriage, he lives by his own rules.
Growing up, Catherine Holt always dreamed of marrying a loving, brave firefighter...just like her daddy. Now, after seven years of marriage, Catherine wonders when she stopped being "good enough" for her husband.
Regular arguments over jobs, finances, housework, and outside interests have readied them both to move on to something with more sparks.
As the couple prepares to enter divorce proceedings, Caleb's father challenges his son to commit to a 40-day experiment: "The Love Dare." Wondering if it's even worth the effort, Caleb agrees-for his father's sake more than for his marriage. When Caleb discovers the book's daily challenges are tied into his parents' new found faith, his already limited interest is further dampened.

FIREPROOF YOUR MARRIAGE BIBLE STUDY

We will be starting another 6-session "Fireproof Your Marriage" Bible study in the near future.

Eternal Loneliness vs. Eternal Fulfillment

There is a great difference between being alone and being lonely. While being alone is a good and necessary thing at times, the state of perpetual loneliness can be very painful.

There are two kinds of loneliness: spiritual and relational.

1) Spiritual loneliness - an emptiness that results from separation from God.
Everyone is born with a void that cannot be filled with other people, relationships, possessions or achievements. Only God's love and grace is capable of abolishing the spiritual loneliness.

It was because God saw our separation from Him, that He sent Jesus to take our penalty away and take away our loneliness with it.
Isa 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

Jesus faced ultimate loneliness on the cross instead of us and felt the level of loneliness that the believers will never have to experience.

2) Relational loneliness - interpersonal loneliness that results from being isolated and alone. We may feel incomplete, inadequate and even alienated from others. But if you put God first and love your neighbors, coworkers, friends, relatives or whoever it might be, your loneliness will disappear. It is important though, to cure the spiritual loneliness first. Once we are at peace with God and our spiritual void is filled, we no longer have to use other people to fill that void. Because we separated our spiritual loneliness from the relational loneliness, we become enabled to build successful interpersonal relationships with other people.

Matthew 22:37-39 "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

Lucas Nofen baby shower

This Sunday, January 11, 2009 Christ's church hosted a baby shower for a new addition to the Nofen family - baby Lucas.