Nov
02
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Effective Marriages, November 2, 2008 Pastor Marshall
We believe that God is desperate for a relationship with His creation. He relentlessly pursues us, and once we submit to Him, He gives us the power of His Holy Spirit. Subsequently, living a life that pleases God involves allowing the Holy Spirit the freedom to direct our words and actions for His benefit, and to live out God's plan through us to accomplish the miraculous. It involves each believer individually responding to the Holy Spirit and finding fulfillment in the work that He calls them to.
We recognize that our society is dynamic. Cultural influences continually change, and in order to successfully impact the community of today we will begin by discovering the questions people are asking. We will tangibly meet the needs of those doing the asking, and we will provide the ultimate answer; the answer that is found in a relationship with the unchanging God.
We believe that God created us to be relational. He has called us to love one another and, in doing so, to create a social environment that cares for the individual. Our love for each other should be evident as we treat each other with care and respect, recognizing that we are all a part of God's family. We believe in lending a hand to those who are in need, feeding those who are hungry and in love restoring those who have lost their way. We are welcoming to all people by extending grace and compassion with impartiality. We are Jesus' hands tangibly extended.
We acknowledge that God has made us multi-dimensional beings and that He cares about our whole person - spiritually, physically, socially and emotionally. When we become a follower of Jesus a journey of discovery begins; a journey of development that will last our lifetime. God has unique plans for our journey so that we might reach our ultimate eternal destiny with him. To assist in this journey, we endeavor to provide the tools required to develop the whole person, to inspire passion for the journey, and to bring as many with us as possible.
God designed and created each of us distinctly, individually and perfectly according to His plan, and He has granted each one unique gifts and talents. These talents were given to bring honor and glory to God. We will only find fulfillment when we use them for His purpose. Giving glory to God requires the active use of our heart, mind and soul and we believe that when doing so we should give God our best, for He deserves nothing less.
We believe that Jesus is God in human form. His life, death and resurrection removed all doubt and today Jesus calls us to follow Him. Following Jesus means to live a life that consistently displays His characteristics. When we live a life of love, service and submission, we will begin to look like Jesus...and God will be pleased.
Living in truth is to live in freedom, without the kind of masks that we wear in order to appear as someone that we are not. God is not fooled and he desires a genuine, authentic relationship with us, one that is free from pretenses and pride. This kind of relationship is only possible when we know the truth of God's Word, when we deal with others openly and honestly, and when our lives increasingly match our beliefs.
