Do you remember the first time you heard the Christmas story?
Where were you?
Church?
At home in front of the fire?
Did you first hear the story told in song or a movie?
What about on Facebook?
Yes, really. Facebook. Our methods of communication are changing. God has always gifted His people to tell His story in new ways.
Enjoy these presentations - one is considered 'old,' the other brand new. The message is timeless.
May God bless you and yours this Christmas.
1950 - Peanuts
2010 - Facebook
Friday, December 24, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Why Your Church Matters
Special thanks to Jay Pullins, Lead Pastor at ChangePoint, for allowing us to re-post this blog.
Visit the ChangePoint Pastor's Blog
If your pastor, church, or ministry has a great blog - please let us know! info@churchesofanchorage.com
Enjoy!
Why Your Church Matters - Part 2
Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Are those people going somewhere?
Why have I never cared?
These were the first words astronaut Terry Virts heard when he woke up after his first night’s sleep in outer space. As the only first-timer on his space shuttle Endeavour crew, the first morning’s wake-up call was for him. “Give me Your Eyes” by Terry’s good friend, Brandon Heath, was the song his wife, Stacey, had picked out for NASA to play in Terry’s honor. The song had personal significance for Terry on several levels. In a couple of days, after docking with the International Space Station, his crew would install the International Space Station’s first window.
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
It had become known as the “Cupola,” the space stations first “window on the world.” Until then, operation of the robotic arm, space walks, and observations of the earth below had to be monitored from the space station’s external cameras. Now, for the first time, astronauts on the station would be able to look down on the earth with their own eyes, something the whole Endeavour crew, as well as the International Space Station crew, were extremely excited about.
I’ve sometimes wondered how much our view of God, life, the world, other people, and the church are distorted by our culture, the busyness and worries of life, and the millions of other distractions we’re faced with every day- like viewing the world through a camera lens rather than with real eyes, as if we’re somehow removed from the reality of it. Paul said to the church in Corinth, “Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” What if we were able to see the world around us as God sees it? How would it look different?
Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what’s underneath
There’s a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
To ashamed to tell his wife
He’s out of work
He’s buying time
Are those people going somewhere?
Why have I never cared?
I’ve heard it said that a vision statement should answer the question, “What breaks Your Heart?” If we could look around Alaska with God’s eyes, I have no doubt what we’d see would break our hearts. If we read the newspaper or watched television with God’s eyes, what we’d see would break our hearts. Let me ask you, when you hear the statistics about domestic violence in Alaska, about suicide, substance abuse, sexual assault, incest, homelessness…does it break your heart?
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the once forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
I used to think that those statistics only applied in “remote” Alaska, not here in my city of Anchorage. But I know now that’s simply not true. The heartbreak and depression are all around us. Just ask God to let you drive the Seward Highway through town and see with His eyes. Just ask God to let you stand around in the lobby of our church on a Sunday and see with His eyes. If we could see what He sees, there would be plenty to break our hearts.
I’ve been there a million times
A couple of million eyes
Just moving past me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
Why does your church matter? It matters because people- all of them- matter to God. And God has only created one institution to reach the people he sent his Son to die for with the Truth. We’re it. There is no Plan B. If we don’t see our neighbors with His eyes, no one else will. If we don’t care about the lost and hurting people in our city and state, and beyond, no one else will. If we don’t reject distractions, slow down, and take the time to share our salvation story with them, no one else will. Sure, there are other noble causes out there, but not one of them offers eternal salvation. We, the church, the body of Christ, the Pearl of Great Price, matter because we are the only hope of the world. If we are not heartbroken by the thought of life in Christ for every Alaskan and the world beyond not happening, who will be?
Well I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way you see the people all alone
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
God, please help us to see the people around us as you see them. Cause what breaks your heart to break ours. Fill our hearts with passion to share the salvation you’ve so freely given to us, that some might come to know your love and mercy as we do. Help us to remove distractions and remind us to slow down, look around at the people you’ve brought across our paths, and remember how desperately they need you, for your glory and our joy. Amen.
- Jay Pullins
Lead Pastor, ChangePoint
Visit the ChangePoint Pastor's Blog
If your pastor, church, or ministry has a great blog - please let us know! info@churchesofanchorage.com
Enjoy!
Why Your Church Matters - Part 2
Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Are those people going somewhere?
Why have I never cared?
These were the first words astronaut Terry Virts heard when he woke up after his first night’s sleep in outer space. As the only first-timer on his space shuttle Endeavour crew, the first morning’s wake-up call was for him. “Give me Your Eyes” by Terry’s good friend, Brandon Heath, was the song his wife, Stacey, had picked out for NASA to play in Terry’s honor. The song had personal significance for Terry on several levels. In a couple of days, after docking with the International Space Station, his crew would install the International Space Station’s first window.
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
It had become known as the “Cupola,” the space stations first “window on the world.” Until then, operation of the robotic arm, space walks, and observations of the earth below had to be monitored from the space station’s external cameras. Now, for the first time, astronauts on the station would be able to look down on the earth with their own eyes, something the whole Endeavour crew, as well as the International Space Station crew, were extremely excited about.
I’ve sometimes wondered how much our view of God, life, the world, other people, and the church are distorted by our culture, the busyness and worries of life, and the millions of other distractions we’re faced with every day- like viewing the world through a camera lens rather than with real eyes, as if we’re somehow removed from the reality of it. Paul said to the church in Corinth, “Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” What if we were able to see the world around us as God sees it? How would it look different?
Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what’s underneath
There’s a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
To ashamed to tell his wife
He’s out of work
He’s buying time
Are those people going somewhere?
Why have I never cared?
I’ve heard it said that a vision statement should answer the question, “What breaks Your Heart?” If we could look around Alaska with God’s eyes, I have no doubt what we’d see would break our hearts. If we read the newspaper or watched television with God’s eyes, what we’d see would break our hearts. Let me ask you, when you hear the statistics about domestic violence in Alaska, about suicide, substance abuse, sexual assault, incest, homelessness…does it break your heart?
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the once forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
I used to think that those statistics only applied in “remote” Alaska, not here in my city of Anchorage. But I know now that’s simply not true. The heartbreak and depression are all around us. Just ask God to let you drive the Seward Highway through town and see with His eyes. Just ask God to let you stand around in the lobby of our church on a Sunday and see with His eyes. If we could see what He sees, there would be plenty to break our hearts.
I’ve been there a million times
A couple of million eyes
Just moving past me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
Why does your church matter? It matters because people- all of them- matter to God. And God has only created one institution to reach the people he sent his Son to die for with the Truth. We’re it. There is no Plan B. If we don’t see our neighbors with His eyes, no one else will. If we don’t care about the lost and hurting people in our city and state, and beyond, no one else will. If we don’t reject distractions, slow down, and take the time to share our salvation story with them, no one else will. Sure, there are other noble causes out there, but not one of them offers eternal salvation. We, the church, the body of Christ, the Pearl of Great Price, matter because we are the only hope of the world. If we are not heartbroken by the thought of life in Christ for every Alaskan and the world beyond not happening, who will be?
Well I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way you see the people all alone
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
God, please help us to see the people around us as you see them. Cause what breaks your heart to break ours. Fill our hearts with passion to share the salvation you’ve so freely given to us, that some might come to know your love and mercy as we do. Help us to remove distractions and remind us to slow down, look around at the people you’ve brought across our paths, and remember how desperately they need you, for your glory and our joy. Amen.
- Jay Pullins
Lead Pastor, ChangePoint
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