Month: January 2016

Sample sermon notes

Posted on by administrator

“Faith Overhaul: #4- Purity”

Psalm 101:1-6

Key Text: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt. 5:8)

Key Thought: Because our sinful habits grieve God and strain our relationship with Him, we should strive for purity in our lives.

  1. Intro & Context
  2. Our identity and relational strain with God
    1. Holy and blameless in Christ (cf. Rom. 8:1; Eph. 1:4) “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation” (Col. 1:22)
    2. The effect of continuing in habitual sin (cf. Rom. 6:21-23; Heb. 10:26-31; 2 Pt. 2:20-22) “What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!” (Rom. 6:21)
  3. Striving for Purity
    1. Of heart (cf. Ps. 24:3-4; Mt. 5:8; 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:22) “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Ps. 51:10)
    2. Of mind (cf. Ps. 139:23; Jer. 4:14; Titus 1:15) “… But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16)
    3. Of eyes (cf. Ps. 101:3; Isa. 33:15; Mt. 6:22-23) “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light” (Mt. 6:22)
    4. In relationships (cf. Ps. 101:3-4; 1 Cor. 5:11; 2 Cor. 6:14-15) “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers” (Ps. 1:1)
  4. Conclusion

Questions for Reflection:

  • What would improve in my life if I were to strive for purity? What would suffer?
  • What do I value more? My sinful habit, or my relationship w/ God? If my sin grieves God, and strains my relationship with Him, what will I do to uproot that sin?

Childcare Year-in-Review: 2015

Posted on by Rachel Cunningham

First things first, we’re saying goodbye to several childcare volunteers, and I wanted to say THANK YOU for your contribution!  They have dedicated countless Sunday mornings to caring for our kids.  Also, they (along with all our helpers) dealt patiently with me while I made changes to the structure, location, and programming of our childcare systems!

In the last year or two, we made so many changes that I’m just going to start listing…

Turned Children’s Church into a more Sunday-School-like lesson

Split Children’s Church into 2 groups

Added a 3rd worker for the nursery

Moved rooms to accommodate the 2 groups

Created a Childcare Safety Protocol

Held training for 31 volunteers

Moved the nursery room & Children’s Church rooms again

Combined Children’s Church back into 1 group

Moved rooms again!

There are probably even more that I can’t remember, but now we enter 2016!  We’re welcoming a couple first-time volunteers and always working to evolve and improve our programs.

With all the excitement that comes with a new year, please keep me, our leadership team, and Elim in your prayers!  My prayer for 2016 is that we develop kids’ programs that are fun for kids & workers that enable closer and deeper relationships with God.

THANK YOU for everything in 2015 and please partner with us in 2016 to continue pouring the love of Jesus into Elim’s kids!