Number 9:17-23 (NLT): Whenever the cloud lifted from over the sacred tent, the people of Israel would break camp and follow it. And wherever the cloud settled, the people of Israel would set up camp. In this way, they traveled and camped at the Lord’s command wherever he told them to go. Then they remained in their camp as long as the cloud stayed over the Tabernacle. If the cloud remained over the Tabernacle for a long time, the Israelites stayed and performed their duty to the Lord. Sometimes the cloud would stay over the Tabernacle for only a few days, so the people would stay for only a few days, as the Lord commanded. Then at the Lord’s command they would break camp and move on. Sometimes the cloud stayed only overnight and lifted the next morning. But day or night, when the cloud lifted, the people broke camp and moved on. Whether the cloud stayed above the Tabernacle for two days, a month, or a year, the people of Israel stayed in camp and did not move on. But as soon as it lifted, they broke camp and moved on. So they camped or traveled at the Lord’s command, and they did whatever the Lord told them through Moses.

The cloud is the presence of God, but God was also using Moses, the man, to lead His people. It is a continually evolving pattern where the people moved when the Tabernacle, the Cloud, and Moses moved. They kept it as the hub of their lives. They knew its importance. Today, we need to continue moving forward as believers in the House of God. We need to understand that God;s message has not changed from the times of Moses to today.

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 Ps. Jill - 12/7/08: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Ephesians 4: 11-12 (NLT): Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.

“Their” is the pastor. A pastor’s job is the equip the people of God to do his work; it is not the pastor’s job to do everything. He can’t. He physically, emotionally, and spiritually cannot do everything. When a congregation grows beyond 50 people, the pastor cannot keep up. A misinterpretation of the Bible puts too much pressure on one man to do everything. This disastrous method is man’s way. Then, there is God’s way.

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 Ps. Dean - 12/07/08: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Mark 1: 9-11 (NLT): One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”

This moment in history is very significant in the plans God has for the earth. Jesus has come to the earth. This is the beginning of the formation of the New Covenant. God made the first covenant–the Old Covenant–with the people of Israel, binding them to Him and placing upon them the Law. The presence of God was limited to the Tabernacle. Within the Holy of Hollies, God’s presence resided. Only the High Priest could enter. None had access. In this time, Jesus comes.

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 Ps. Dean - Communion Sunday 11/23/08: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Acts 13: 1-2 (MESSAGE): The congregation in Antioch was blessed with a number of prophet-preachers and teachers: Barnabas, Simon, nicknamed Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, an advisor to the ruler Herod, Saul. One day as they were worshiping God—they were also fasting as they waited for guidance—the Holy Spirit spoke: “Take Barnabas and Saul and commission them for the work I have called them to do.”

The Holy Spirit speaks through the prophetic. These men were worshiping God, and the Holy Spirit began to speak through the people there. This is how He speaks today. Apart from us knowing and hearing God’s voice ourselves, He will speak to us through the people He was put around us. When you are joined with other people, there is a high probability of hearing from God through these people.

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 Ps. Dean - 11/16/08: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hebrews 11: 3 (NLT): By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

By faith, we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command. He spoke, and there it was. What we see now was born from something we can’t see. When the earth was a chaotic mass, the Spirit was brooding and moving over it all, creating an atmosphere and an environment for God to move.

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 Ps. Dean - Nov. 9th, 2008: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

John 16: 12-15 (NLT): “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’

The Holy Spirit, first and foremost, is a person. He is not a feeling. He is not mist. He is not goosebumps on your arms. He is a person with thoughts and feelings. The Holy Spirit manifests in whatever way He feels like–a dove, wind, fire–, and you may feel His near when the atmosphere is charged, but He is a person. He is always here because He is welcome. We create an atmosphere through worship and the reading of the Word, but before we even come to the meeting, He is here, walking around the room, connecting with us. The Holy Spirit does not go anywhere that He is not welcome or invited. He goes where He is welcome; He is the presence of God on the earth from the Book of Acts until now. We love the presence of God in this church. The Holy Spirit is welcome here at C3.

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 Ps. Dean - Nov. 2nd, 2008: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Matthew 8:5-13 (NLT): When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.”

Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”

But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

Faith is the ability to trust what you can’t see and haven’t experienced. Faith is trust. Faith is believing in something your five senses can’t experience but you know is there. Human nature urges us not to believe until we see. Thomas, a disciple, would not believe Jesus rose from the dead until he saw him. That is human nature. When we make connection with God, He is trying to get us out of relying on our human nature and going beyond, into a realm where we can believe what God says. What God says trumps what all the rest of the world is saying. When we understand that God is the final authority, our ability to trust God with any area of our lives will begin to grow.

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 Ps. Dean - : Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Luke 7:36-50 (NLT): One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”

Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”

“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.

Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”

Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”

“That’s right,” Jesus said. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”

And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
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 Ps. Dean - 10/12/08: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Luke 14:25-30 (NLT): A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

It is easy to follow Jesus. He was an awesome guy: healing and teaching and being kind to everyone he met. Following him is easy! You pray, you go to church, you tithe, and life is easy, right? What happens when Jesus turns around and says something to you? When He does that, things begin to change. (Read on …)

 

 October REACH Sunday - Ps. Dean - 10/05/08: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hebrews 4: 14-16 (NLT): So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Communion is the representation of the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples the night before he was crucified. It was the beginning of the establishment of the new covenant. The old covenant did not allow for us to receive all that God had intended for us, thus, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we were given full access to God and all He had in store for His children. Jesus was the final sacrifice that fulfilled the duties of the old covenant. God’s yearning to communicate with His creation was so strong that Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect life–thanks to the God in Him–where he healed and ministered to hundreds of people. Eventually, the religious leaders turned on him. He was handed over to the Romans, where he was crucified. There was much happening in the natural, but so much more was happening in the supernatural. There was a tremor through Heaven. As Jesus breathes his last and gives his spirit, he descends into the depths of the earth and pays the price. He defeats death; we no longer have to fear death. He defeats the devil. Then, he ascends up to his disciples for a short period of time before he returns to Heaven, where he presents his blood, the final sacrifice for humanity, and God accepts it. And every single human being from that point on has access to God.

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 Ps. Dean - 09/14/08 Communion Sunday: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download