What did you think about the baptism service this Sunday? Send me your comments and /or questions.
Updates and news from the staff at Clearview Foursquare Church in Snohomish, WA
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Ismael: Connecting the dots
by Ismael Ochoa
One of my kids’ assignments in pre-school and first grade is to draw pictures connecting dots. When I was helping with one of them, I realized at the beginning they did not have a clue what was going to come out of it but they did it because was their homework. As they started connecting the dots, a picture began emerging and as they got closer to finishing connecting the dots, I could see in their faces the “aha!!” moment emerge. They would say: “a helicopter” “an elephant” “a house”. It was fun to see them try to guess and see their reactions at the end. As I was pondering this I realized it’s a great picture of how God wants us to work. He’s the master planner and the only one who knows how the picture is going to turn out at the end. After all He’s the original designer! But, He wants us to participate in what He’s doing, allowing us to connect the dots! All over the place there are ministries that are established and others that are being born, but the Lord is the one who is birthing them inside our hearts, then encouraging us to run with them. I can picture our Heavenly Father giving us a starter kit to build something and then saying: “here, let’s see how far we can go!” Did you catch the key word..? “WE” God has placed all kinds of gifts, talents, abilities, etc. in us: His creation, why? because God has given us an assignment. The Bible says in Mark 16:15 “And He said to them: Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” We have a task to accomplish and in Acts 1:8 we read that He gave us the tools to do this work. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. Then you will be my witnesses in all Judea, and Samaria. And you will be my witnesses from one end of the earth to the other.” We have work to do and we know He’s giving us what we need to accomplish it. How are we going to do it? Let me offer you a suggestion if I may: Let’s connect the dots! We may not know the end result now but we can be certain that if we follow the number sequence we will find out. How do we know the number sequence? Let’s ask God! He’s the one who knows how this thing works..! I believe that if we look around and see the dots we can connect with we start putting things in motion. As things start moving we will get closer to more dots we can connect with and so on. All it takes is for someone to say: Ok, What is God calling me to do and who can I connect with today..?
I recently came back from a week long mission trip where I could see this principle being applied. We went to an English speaking church in Mexico. An English speaking church in Mexico..!? Yes, this church was established to serve tourists and temporary residents who spend a few months or weeks out of the year down there with a typical church service in English. When you go there, church is no different than most in the US. You may ask: How did you know about them? What are they doing? Why did you decided to go there? Well… It all started when a couple from our church decided to connect the dots with the church’s pastor. They began to pray and ask God if He would want them to partner with this ministry. The answer was yes and now they are living down there following God’s leading and enrolled in their next assignment. When I began to learn about this church I asked many questions but two questions in particular were in my mind. Why have an English speaking church in Mexico and, what about the locals..? As I learned more I began to get answers. I realized that this church was a place to make connections. First and foremost, it’s a place to connect people with God and His word, and secondly to connect people with people.
In a place like Cabo San Lucas you’ll find people from all over the world but, Americans represent a large number. They even have a popular local newspaper called “the gringo gazette”, written in English and edited to inform this particular sector. As you probably know, places like Cabo are full of not so godly influences that are literally thrown at you when you go for a walk at the marina, the beaches or the downtown area. The same influences you would find at a high profile touristic area like Florida or California; Plenty of money going around, time and always someone eager to help you spend it in ways that are not family friendly. Here in the midst of all this Cabo English church is taking a stand to bring God’s light into that darkness. But that’s not all. From the very beginning, Cabo English Church decided to partner with local ministries and individuals in an organized effort to work together and bless the locals and beyond. Their desire is to connect with those in who God has placed a desire to serve and find a way to support what they are doing. Here’s what they have to say about this: “The DNA of Cabo English Church is looking outside the box as we partner with ongoing and established individuals and organizations. Partnerships were begun from day one, working hand in hand with a Mexican pastor sharing a tent in Cabo San Lucas. Today partnerships are reaching beyond Cabo San Lucas as we CONNECT with neighboring communities, up Baja California, into the United States, Canada and around the planet.”
How do they know who to work with? Through prayer and relationships. As they function with what they know and put things in motion, they develop existing relationships, start new partnerships, and in the process they begin to see God’s guiding. Once they identify what God wants them to do and who to work with , they become active partners, embracing the vision as their own, allocating the resources God has given them to see the vision bear fruit. It is like a savvy investor that sees the potential of what can be and decides to invest. Working to store treasures in Heaven with high returns!
At Clearview Foursquare Church, our DNA is to see the unsaved saved and the saved serving. We were created in God’s image and therefore with certain gifts and abilities He placed within us. He has given us resources and it’s our choice how we decide to use them. Everyone has something to contribute, by finding alliances and partnerships where we can combine what God has given us and work together to accomplish what He’s placed in our hearts. God Inspired the Apostle Paul to write to the Ephesians about the body of Christ, how Christ is the head, but the church forms the body (Ephesians 4), and also to write to the Corinthians about how the body has many parts and how these parts are essential to each other to accomplish what God has called it to do (I Cor. 12). When we do not participate we are doing a disservice not only to God but to our fellow servants by not allowing them to use our gifts. Obviously God will not be stopped by us saying no to him, He’ll find another way to make it happen. But wouldn’t it be better if we jump in with both feet and contribute with what we have instead of missing out on what God is doing? If we do this, God is pleased. He’ll bless our work, bring unity and be our shield. He’ll bring us together with a strong bond that is reinforced by God’s Spirit which is impossible to be broken by any circumstance or any scheme the enemy can throw at us. If God has brought you to Clearview, I want to encourage you to look for opportunities where you can plug in and utilize what the Lord has gifted you with. Our church is growing with expanding areas of service. Look for opportunities to serve that match your spiritual gifts, natural talents and abilities. Let’s invest together in the kingdom of God and marvel at what He can do through us. Start connecting the dots around you!
One of my kids’ assignments in pre-school and first grade is to draw pictures connecting dots. When I was helping with one of them, I realized at the beginning they did not have a clue what was going to come out of it but they did it because was their homework. As they started connecting the dots, a picture began emerging and as they got closer to finishing connecting the dots, I could see in their faces the “aha!!” moment emerge. They would say: “a helicopter” “an elephant” “a house”. It was fun to see them try to guess and see their reactions at the end. As I was pondering this I realized it’s a great picture of how God wants us to work. He’s the master planner and the only one who knows how the picture is going to turn out at the end. After all He’s the original designer! But, He wants us to participate in what He’s doing, allowing us to connect the dots! All over the place there are ministries that are established and others that are being born, but the Lord is the one who is birthing them inside our hearts, then encouraging us to run with them. I can picture our Heavenly Father giving us a starter kit to build something and then saying: “here, let’s see how far we can go!” Did you catch the key word..? “WE” God has placed all kinds of gifts, talents, abilities, etc. in us: His creation, why? because God has given us an assignment. The Bible says in Mark 16:15 “And He said to them: Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” We have a task to accomplish and in Acts 1:8 we read that He gave us the tools to do this work. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. Then you will be my witnesses in all Judea, and Samaria. And you will be my witnesses from one end of the earth to the other.” We have work to do and we know He’s giving us what we need to accomplish it. How are we going to do it? Let me offer you a suggestion if I may: Let’s connect the dots! We may not know the end result now but we can be certain that if we follow the number sequence we will find out. How do we know the number sequence? Let’s ask God! He’s the one who knows how this thing works..! I believe that if we look around and see the dots we can connect with we start putting things in motion. As things start moving we will get closer to more dots we can connect with and so on. All it takes is for someone to say: Ok, What is God calling me to do and who can I connect with today..?
I recently came back from a week long mission trip where I could see this principle being applied. We went to an English speaking church in Mexico. An English speaking church in Mexico..!? Yes, this church was established to serve tourists and temporary residents who spend a few months or weeks out of the year down there with a typical church service in English. When you go there, church is no different than most in the US. You may ask: How did you know about them? What are they doing? Why did you decided to go there? Well… It all started when a couple from our church decided to connect the dots with the church’s pastor. They began to pray and ask God if He would want them to partner with this ministry. The answer was yes and now they are living down there following God’s leading and enrolled in their next assignment. When I began to learn about this church I asked many questions but two questions in particular were in my mind. Why have an English speaking church in Mexico and, what about the locals..? As I learned more I began to get answers. I realized that this church was a place to make connections. First and foremost, it’s a place to connect people with God and His word, and secondly to connect people with people.
In a place like Cabo San Lucas you’ll find people from all over the world but, Americans represent a large number. They even have a popular local newspaper called “the gringo gazette”, written in English and edited to inform this particular sector. As you probably know, places like Cabo are full of not so godly influences that are literally thrown at you when you go for a walk at the marina, the beaches or the downtown area. The same influences you would find at a high profile touristic area like Florida or California; Plenty of money going around, time and always someone eager to help you spend it in ways that are not family friendly. Here in the midst of all this Cabo English church is taking a stand to bring God’s light into that darkness. But that’s not all. From the very beginning, Cabo English Church decided to partner with local ministries and individuals in an organized effort to work together and bless the locals and beyond. Their desire is to connect with those in who God has placed a desire to serve and find a way to support what they are doing. Here’s what they have to say about this: “The DNA of Cabo English Church is looking outside the box as we partner with ongoing and established individuals and organizations. Partnerships were begun from day one, working hand in hand with a Mexican pastor sharing a tent in Cabo San Lucas. Today partnerships are reaching beyond Cabo San Lucas as we CONNECT with neighboring communities, up Baja California, into the United States, Canada and around the planet.”
How do they know who to work with? Through prayer and relationships. As they function with what they know and put things in motion, they develop existing relationships, start new partnerships, and in the process they begin to see God’s guiding. Once they identify what God wants them to do and who to work with , they become active partners, embracing the vision as their own, allocating the resources God has given them to see the vision bear fruit. It is like a savvy investor that sees the potential of what can be and decides to invest. Working to store treasures in Heaven with high returns!
At Clearview Foursquare Church, our DNA is to see the unsaved saved and the saved serving. We were created in God’s image and therefore with certain gifts and abilities He placed within us. He has given us resources and it’s our choice how we decide to use them. Everyone has something to contribute, by finding alliances and partnerships where we can combine what God has given us and work together to accomplish what He’s placed in our hearts. God Inspired the Apostle Paul to write to the Ephesians about the body of Christ, how Christ is the head, but the church forms the body (Ephesians 4), and also to write to the Corinthians about how the body has many parts and how these parts are essential to each other to accomplish what God has called it to do (I Cor. 12). When we do not participate we are doing a disservice not only to God but to our fellow servants by not allowing them to use our gifts. Obviously God will not be stopped by us saying no to him, He’ll find another way to make it happen. But wouldn’t it be better if we jump in with both feet and contribute with what we have instead of missing out on what God is doing? If we do this, God is pleased. He’ll bless our work, bring unity and be our shield. He’ll bring us together with a strong bond that is reinforced by God’s Spirit which is impossible to be broken by any circumstance or any scheme the enemy can throw at us. If God has brought you to Clearview, I want to encourage you to look for opportunities where you can plug in and utilize what the Lord has gifted you with. Our church is growing with expanding areas of service. Look for opportunities to serve that match your spiritual gifts, natural talents and abilities. Let’s invest together in the kingdom of God and marvel at what He can do through us. Start connecting the dots around you!
Paul: Dwelling with Lions
For Sunday, September 6th, Pastor Paul Benson will be asking the question:
How do you find peace in this day in age when we are "dwelling with lions?"
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