Campbell Community Church

Becoming This ChurchYouTube: https://youtu.be/ykcCr-04f3M

Step 12:   Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others and practice these principles in all our affairs.Having had some success, we are called to help others to know the hope we have in Christ.  The important message here is that we don’t wait till we have it perfect (we never will), but that we get started helping others as soon as it is healthy to do so.YouTube: https://youtu.be/jHXPJKqDnGg

Step 11:   We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us, and power to carry that out.We are called to meditate on God’s word and to keep it ever present in our life.  We must remain connected to the source of our hope and power in order to keep growing and stay spiritually, emotionally, and mentally healthy.YouTube: https://youtu.be/Hxm0DZRpyeo

Step 10:  We continue to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.Healing is not a one time situation and growth is not a straight path.  In fact, the journey is going to be full of ups and downs, mistakes and victories.  Health and healing come from being vigilant and continuing to work on our improvement.  God will keep working on us for as long as we live.YouTube: https://youtu.be/oUgcDCk_6Tg

Steps 6-7: We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. AND We humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings. A big step is coming to the point of being ready for God to work in us and then asking for that help.  This is a step of faith in God, trusting Him to have our best interests in mind.  YouTube: https://youtu.be/2017GUTtqmM

Step 5: We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Here comes the hard stuff.  To be honest with ourselves and others take a lot of courage.  But, we weren’t meant to travel this path alone.  This is where discipleship and accountability begin.  These two words (discipleship and accountability) are loaded.  The church has gotten this wrong a lot and there have been abuses.  However, for us to change and grow, we need to find those we can trust. AND, those of us who are a little further down the path MUST be trustworthy and not abuse this trust. YouTube: https://youtu.be/q-xMCgJTRMc

Step 4:   We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Here is where the work begins.  We must look at our own lives and begin figuring out the source of our troubles.  Every one of us has trauma caused by family, by ex-spouses, by our parents, by others, and by our culture.  It’s important to recognize these things and address them.  However, if we are to heal, we also have to get to the heart of the problem and that always involves our own choices and actions. YouTube: https://youtu.be/u5tXvBn8Cyo

Step 3:   We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God. God involves us in our own sanctification and transformation.  But we have to trust him.  We trust in Him and he will make our paths straight, but that doesn’t mean it will be without work.  We still have to travel the path. YouTube: https://youtu.be/4Ob7oMF1vPA

Step 2:   We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. It takes God to clean us and begin the work of changing us.  Without him, we are unable to do anything. YouTube: https://youtu.be/GN7nCm8IZ2o

Step 1:   We admit we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable. The key to Christianity is recognizing our brokenness and need for God.  Just as an alcoholic who has been sober for decades still begins the meeting, saying, “Hello, my name is John and I am an alcoholic,” the important thing to remember is that we are always a broken sinner in need of the grace of God and the redemption of Christ.  This helps us move out of the seat of judgment and into the seat of the sponsor: someone who has been there and continues to struggle but helps the newcomer to begin their walk. YouTube: https://youtu.be/zoWAOYx01JA

A vision for a church that lives out welcoming grace, uncommon generosity, unrestrained joy, and embodying Christ’s Gospel invitation to come as you are.  Christ promises that though there will be some difficulty, his yoke is easy and his burden is light.  John 11:28-30 YouTube: https://youtu.be/QuWF2I4sdGg

The Teacher was a scientist. He faced the hard question of life and so he began observing the world for answers. Vs. 3 asks the big question: "What does it profit a man to work all his life if he is just going to die?" His observations come to a point in Vs 14: "Much of what we do is pointless."

When Jesus “broke” the law, He did things like heal people on the Sabbath, touch the unclean leper with compassion, and eat with sinners who were ‘undesirable’ to the religious elite. He said in Matthew 5:17 that He came to fulfill the law, not abolish it, but throughout His teachings, He demonstrates that “fulfilling” meant breaking the old ways or rule-keeping and expanding the law in ways we humans never considered, with compassion, grace, and mercy. Without the coming of Jesus, we would still be under the old law.

God sent prophets who foretold of an anointed one, the Messiah in Hebrew or the Christ in Greek. These promises were fulfilled in Jesus when God came, incarnate, the creator of the universe, emptying Himself and coming to save us.

Recognize the ascending steps of the beatitudes, each one building on the previous. The culmination is persecution. Darkness cannot stand the light. By our very existence, we shine an uncomfortable light into the lives of those who do evil. This invites trouble. How do we face this persecution?

Shalom – peace, wholeness, health, welfare, safety, wellness: These are the things the Gospel brings, and these are the things God calls us to bring to those around us.

Much of the rest of the Sermon on the Mount is about the issue of purity in our hearts. Jesus says over and over, you have heard it said…, but I say to you… God’s level of purity is far beyond what we think. Since we cannot do it ourselves, we desperately need Him to create a clean heart in us, even as we work towards such purity.

In the Lord’s prayer, found later in this same Sermon on the Mount where we find the beatitudes, Jesus ties God’s forgiveness of our sins with our own forgiveness of others. But, mercy is so much more than forgiveness of the one who owes us: it’s an outward act of generosity to those hurting and in need, even to those who haven’t hurt us.

The beatitudes change at this point. Up till now, they have been almost passive traits, but from here on, it becomes a choice. A person who recognizes their need for God begins to hunger and thirst for Him.

Meekness is a humble grace of the soul. Christ is described as meek and gentle in 2 Cor 10:1. The idea is not one of weakness, but of great power that is under control. Psalm 45:4 describes the King in militaristic terms, riding out in truth, meekness, and justice.

The place of grief to call us to God, to recognize our dependence on him, and to allow us to empathize with those who grieve as well as a God who suffered and grieved to reach us.

Hitting rock bottom – recognizing your need and your place in God’s plan, because God uses broken people to reach broken people.

That Christ would pour out His Spirit on His people who would be a light to the whole world.

That Christ would be born on a miraculous day and in miraculous ways that would change the whole world for all time.

That Christ would lead a ministry of signs and wonders, pointing to His deity.

That Christ would be a man of wisdom, teaching in parables.

That Christ would die a horrible, suffering death.

That Christ would rise, conquering death and sin for all time.

God & Government – Should Christians be involved in government, politics, or the military? How should we view these things and how do we interact with them?