Sermon Reflection::Exodus 14

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This week, Justin Turner brought the Word to us from Exodus, introducing the Advent season and reminding us of God's great redemptive power.
(Listen Online)

‎"You are stronger, you are stronger! sin is broken, you have saved me. It is written, Christ is RISEN, Jesus you are Lord of all."

Thank you God for your faithfulness in the small things like school and photography assignments; to the big things like being our propitiation and taking God's wrath for sinners upon yourself. You are good and I love you. I forget your miracles quickly and I am not faithful or obedient. Just like Israel was not faithful. We fear things more than you and we don't trust you like you deserve. Thank you Lord for sanctification, for continually changing my heart to be more like you. Thank you for your Spirit who is waging war with the sin in my flesh. Thank you for taking the penalty of my sin so that I am not enslaved to it any longer. Your yoke is easy and your burden is light and you are my God and I am your child.

--Amanda Singer - C3 member

Sermon Reflection::Ezekiel 37:1-14

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Last Sunday morning (Listen Online), David walked us through Ezekiel 37:1-14. Through the message, I continued to think about how the phrase “Stay on Message” applies to my life. On a constant basis, I struggle with becoming too caught up in MY everyday living that I lose sight of the life that HE has promised. In doing so, I tend to forget that in our existence, from birth, we deserve wrath and without the Word we remain lost. In scripture, God continually reveals Himself to his people through his Word – Abraham, Israel, Ezekiel. The spiritual life that God has laid in front of you and me comes from HIM through His word. We must “Stay on Message”. God needs NOTHING and he saved us because he wants to bring himself glory [Psalms 50:15].

Our response should be:
- Focus wholeheartedly on the Word that God has given us [scripture]
- Reflect Christ by living a life that comes from the Word of God [in response to Grace]

We attend C3 because we believe, as a united body of believers, our church is continually moving toward becoming more like Christ through our every day struggles and continual focus on the Cross. This body is unlike any I have ever been a part of – we are digging into what God has provided through [His word] and through [His leadership]. Continue to encourage and lift up your brothers and sisters and always remember the focus is Christ, without whom there is nothing else.

--Wade Boggs - C3 dad and husband

Sermon Reflection::Luke 7:36-50

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Continuing on the subject of forgiveness begun in Matthew 18:21-35, last week Pastor David shared two scripture passages (Ezekiel 16:1-22 and Luke 7:36-50) to remind us of how far God reached to redeem us who were helpless and unworthy, and what our response should be to that great act of love and forgiveness.  The Ezekiel passage paints a graphic picture of us as we wallowed in our sin, unable to help ourselves.  God enters the picture and gives us life, but we should not, as Israel did, trust in our own "chosenness" and take the Lord for granted; instead we should worship unreservedly, like the woman in the Luke passage, as people who have been forgiven much. As we prepared our hearts for the Lord's Supper, I was challenged to think about the times recently when I have insisted on my own rights and have not loved as much as I could have, especially considering my own sinfulness and how much I have been forgiven.

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--Leland Moody - C3 Deacon

Sermon Reflection::Matthew 18:21-35

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On Sunday Pastor David taught out of Matthew 18:21-35 - the parable of the unforgiving servant. Listen Online.
The parable taught us how unimaginable our debt of sin is to the Lord and how it is absolutely impossible for us to repay it back. Read Matt 18:21-35.

Through this text I was convicted of some past events that still affect me today and that I may still be carrying. I was reminded of the enormous debt of sin that is impossible to pay off and that I deserve to be in jail for the wages that I cannot earn or repay back to the King. But in His grace and mercy He has released me of that debt through Christ, as did the king to the servant in the first part of the parable. What also convicted me in my life was the second part of the parable and how the forgiven servant treated his fellow servant and his debt, and how the fellow servant pled for patience and the forgiven servant didn’t show the same mercy as the king had shown him. This really hit home when I thought about the people that have hurt me or angered me and how I still have this bitterness towards them even though it’s been a long while. Through Christ I’ve been relieved of this enormous debt and in light of this truth I should be forgiving of others. Pastor David said, “Forgiven people are forgiving people.”

With this message my response is to pray and plead with the Lord to give me a forgiving heart, to reconcile relationships that should be reconciled, and to release me from any bitterness or anger that I may still have.

--Steven Nguyen - C3 Student