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December 2013

Pawns for the KING

Pawns for the KING 300 225 admin

King vs Pawn

I hope you all had a great Christmas with your family and friends. What an honor to reflect our hearts towards the fact that God sent His Son to this earth to get messy so that we could have a relationship with Him. The lyrics to O Holy Night captures it beautifully…

Long lay the world in sin and error pining
‘Til HE appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope…
Let all within us praise His holy name!

We had an incredible day on Sunday as many people were here to be challenged by the reality of Christ’s birth. It is based in history and requires little faith. The faith comes in when we realize the significance of WHY Jesus came – to rescue us from the penalty of our sins. (If you missed the message, you can listen to it here.)

We mentioned that since Jesus is King, then we must be the pawns that are there to serve the King. This is clearly seen when God decided to entrust the lowly shepherds with the message of hope that He was sending to the world. Through the unmatched (Jesus), God invites the unexpected (shepherds…me…you) to experience the undeserved.

These shepherds were often looked down on in their society. They could not keep ceremonial laws, they moved often, and they weren’t allowed to testify in a court of law.

Two points stick out about the shepherds involvement in the account of the birth of Jesus.

These unexpected shepherds who experienced the undeserved were…

1. Genuinely changed by seeing Jesus (Luke 2:17-18)

Something happened in them that caused people to take notice. Before seeing Jesus, no one believes them about anything. After seeing Jesus and telling people all about it, people are amazed at what they are saying. God used the people no one would believe to be the 1st human witnesses to invite the unreached to believe that the long awaited Savior had come.

Now that’s pretty impressive! This is the power that God has to change a life. As pawns for the King, it is our job to get people in environments where they can see Jesus. Once this happens consistently, it is impossible for them to stay the same. Jesus changes lives!

2. Changed people that went back to same environment (Luke 2:20)

These shepherds returned to tending sheep. But they were different! Many people assume that when they are changed by God that all of their troubles and frustrations will automatically change as well. Instead what we see in the lives of the shepherds is that they “returned” – they went back to their same old job. However, there was a significant change. The change was in THEM not in their surroundings.

When we are made new by God, we still have the same family, job, relationships, struggles, etc. The difference is that we are different. We go back to our same old jobs, but as a brand new person. We go back to our same old families, but as a brand new person. We still have the same old struggles in life, but we approach them as a brand new person.

As we wrap up Christmas week and enjoy the fresh start that a new year brings, may we be mindful of the role that God has called us to play in His plan to reach the world with His love, grace, peace, and forgiveness. May we (like the shepherds) tell others about the hope that is found only in a relationship with God.

We are the unexpected that have experienced the undeserved and we have been forever changed by it. As a result, let all within us praise His holy name!

We are pawns for the King!

24 HOURS

24 HOURS 300 225 admin

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Hey Northline!

I don’t want to keep bugging you, but I don’t want this opportunity to pass by you.

You have 24 hours until our Christmas service. I hope that you have that as a “must experience” event on your calendar. We are concluding our series The Thrill of Hope and it will be a day that you will not soon forget.

I’m asking for your help in a couple of ways and you have 24 hours to complete this mission.

Get somebody here with you…
There is no greater gift that you could give someone this Christmas than an invitation to meet the Savior who changed the world. So whatever you have to do – call, email, text, Facebook message, all of the above – try to bring someone with you tomorrow.

Pray like crazy…
There is no way that we want to have a service that has been carefully planned and thought through but lacks the power of God. Will you please pray that God will move in a way that will increase our faith for the next time that we pray? That we will be so blown away by the way that He answered our prayers for the next 24 hours that all we can do is talk about how great He is.

This is your mission should you choose to accept it. You have 24 hours.

Let’s go!

Ryan

Christmas at Northline

Christmas at Northline 300 225 admin

 

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Hey everyone! I hope that you are not losing your mind with final arrangements as Christmas is quickly approaching.

With all of the stress that surrounds this holiday, we need some time to re-focus our hearts and minds to what really matters. THIS SUNDAY, December 22 at 10:30 AM, we will be having our Christmas service at Northline. We are wrapping up (unintended Christmas pun) our series called The Thrill of Hope. In this series, we have seen God’s plan to bring hope to us through the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ.

I hope that you will make every effort to join us for this special day. I would challenge everyone to also invite someone to be here with you. We have several things planned that will make for an unforgettable day.

We hope to see you at Northline on Sunday at 10:30 AM! (earlier if you want some coffee and donuts)

Merry Christmas!

Ryan
Lead Pastor
Northline – a church where people matter
www.northlinechurch.com

P.S.
We will not be holding our Tuesday prayer meeting time or Midweek Motivation on Wednesday for the next 2 weeks (December 24/25 and December 31/January 1). Take this time to live and share your faith out with family and friends. It also presents a great opportunity to invest into those relationships and then invite them to Northline.

The Thrill of Hope – Your Story

The Thrill of Hope – Your Story 323 242 admin

Jason and Mei

..’til He appeared and the soul felt its worth

God sent His Son so that you could become His child.
God sent a sinless baby to pave the way to adopt a sinful adult.
A Child was born so that you could be born again.

But what does “born again” mean? It sounds churchy and…weird. But it really is a beautiful concept.

Born again describes what happens to those who say YES to Jesus Christ as the way provided for us to be made right with God. We were born once into our biological family and we are now “born again” into the family of God like the picture of adoption. The adoption process is accompanied with layers of formalities, legal issues that must be observed, and transactional paperwork that must be completed. But at the heart of adoption is a relationship that forms between a parent and child.

I want to give us a few questions to think through in relation to last week’s message. If you missed it, you can listen to the December 15th message here.

Consider these questions…

People from ancient Roman cultures would wait to see how a person turned out before they adopted someone. Would you consider adopting a child if you knew that child would eventually grow up to disown you?

What does it mean to you that God desires to adopt you as a child of His?

Read Galatians 4:4-7. The term “Abba” is a very relational term that means dad or daddy. What other names do you use to address God in your prayers?

Do you struggle with self-worth? Do others around you struggle with self-worth? Does it make a difference now that you know how God views you? Would it make a difference if others knew how God views them?

We are no longer to look at God through the lens of what we’ve done, but who we are…a child of God. If you get a chance, read this story and watch the video at the bottom…

If you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior, that’s your story.
If you have not, it could be.
Because your adoption papers were signed the day Jesus died for your sins to redeem you from the consequences of being a lawbreaker. Now you have been invited to be His child. Your part is simply to say “YES.”

“YES, I believe that when Christ died for me, He paid for my sins. YES, I want to be adopted into the family of God. YES, I want to live for Jesus every day of my life.”

I hope this Christmas we will experience The Thrill of Hope that comes along with knowing that we are loved enough (failures and all) to be adopted by God through the sacrifice of His Son.

Join us for our Christmas service THIS SUNDAY, December 22 at 10:30 AM as we wrap up The Thrill of Hope Christmas series. Make sure to do everything you can to get some people here with you. It’s amazing what could happen if we would just extend an invitation.

See you soon…
Ryan

22140 Champaign Street, Taylor, MI 48180

734-287-3544