Hope Fellowship Community Church

Below is the complete training video from our introduction meeting.  I have broken it up into sections to make it easier to view or review as needed.

Part 1 - The Foundation:
 

Worship/Tech Arts Intro (part 1 of 5) from gohfcc on Vimeo.

Part 2 - Available Positions:

Worship/Tech Arts Intro (part 2 of 5) from gohfcc on Vimeo.

Part 3 - 5 Commitments:

Worship/Tech Arts Intro part 3 of 5 from gohfcc on Vimeo.

Part 4 - 7 Habits:

Worship/Tech Arts Intro part 4 of 5 from gohfcc on Vimeo.

Part 5 - Training:

Worship/Tech Arts Intro part 5 of 5 from gohfcc on Vimeo.

Reading is very dangerous for me. The last few books I have read have really challenged me in how I view life and our culture.
My family recently drove 1200 miles to Indiana and then back to Florida. Crazy, right?! One of the things I did to stay awake was to listen to the book, Crazy Love, by Francis Chan. Another was to have Bev read to me. We started reading The Hole In Our Gospel and you want to talk about eye opening.

I am discovering just how unimportant "things" are in my life and how really important people should be. Bev and I have really been challenged in the way we think, the way we talk, the way we act, and the way we spend our money. We have committed to making some major changes in our lives to be able to do what it is that we feel Jesus is calling us to do.

What did Jesus say about how we should live our lives? Love God, Love people, right? He constantly modeled his love for people by doing, helping, and getting involved in peoples' lives. He was all about the business of God. He was so consumed that he couldn't help but follow through with God's purposes.

What consumes you? TV, Facebook, Work, Alcohol, Sex, Money, Knowledge, Being Good, living a good life?

We need to be consumed by nothing but God. It is a daily thing. Saying everyday, every minute, God I am yours…and then allowing him to lead us. Always looking for someway to show his love, to help someone, to share what he has given to us with someone else.

Here is a story about a man named Jimmy who was sponsored as a child. Jimmy starts sharing at 3:45.
http://vimeo.com/7072300

How many lives can you change? How many lives could you save? How much are they worth to you? How much are they worth to God? I read recently that people wonder where God is in all the sickness and disease going on, but do you ever think that God wonders where we are?

We are supposed to be his hands and feet in spreading his love and his truth.

Our church is doing something called Advent Conspiracy again this year. Putting Christ back into Christmas and really going against the mindset of consumerism and the "iNeed" mentality. Find out more about it at www.adventconspiracy.org.

Seeking God is not only about knowledge. It is not only about what we believe. It’s what we do with it once we know it. It is about the saving love of Jesus Christ.

What are you doing with what you have heard once you hear it? Once you believe it?

Wow!!!! I just attended a conference that was life-changing. Exponential Conference... http://www.exponentialconference.org/

I don't even know where to begin and I don't know that I have enough time or space to put everything that I learned from there so I will put down the biggest thing I received from the conference.

If we don't have God in our church, we might as well pack it up. If we are not Spirit-filled and Spirit-led, we are worshipping nothing. God should be the center and only focus of what we do. Also, if we only express our faith in the context of the church, we are limiting Christianity. If we do not show Jesus to people everyday, in everything we do, we are hindering his work. When we are Spirit-filled we show the fruits of the Spirit- LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, SELF-CONTROL.
Are there one or two or three of these that you struggle with? Are you accurately representing Jesus in your words and your actions? Do you lose your temper easily? Are you rude to people? Are you kind and gentle to other people?
If we are filled with the Spirit and are led by the Spirit, these fruits should be evident in our lives. If not, we need to evaluate where we are, get off the couch and into the game. Pray, read the bible and seek God all the time. Allow God to fill you so that you can spill his love to other people.

It is all about God. Get it right with him and then work out the other stuff.

Our church recently put in a new patio area for people to sit and eat and talk. It came as such a blessing because a crew of guys came down and did all the work for FREE! I just wanted to give a special thanks out to Ed, Homer, Gene, Phil, Ken, and Bryan for all the work that they put into planning and construction of this new patio. This is a great group of guys that are doing great things for people. They are doing things in the way the God has called us to help each other.

I have put in some before and after pictures of the patio area. Click on the images to see a bigger picture. While the area is still recognizable, it is definitely a new and improved look.

Just like when God starts working on us. I may still look a little like the old me. I may even sound a little like the old me. But things have changed, inside and out. God has challenged me and molded me in such a way that I am a new person. I no longer want to look and act like the old me but I want only to seek God and please Him as best I can. I may have to sweep off the stones everyday and make sure that I keep the area clean but if I do not have Him there, I am just like the Pharisees and teachers of the Law in Matthew 23:25-28; nice and clean on the outside but dead on the inside.

God has called us to a higher commitment level. He is not calling us to just get by and do the minimum.

Over the past eight years, the love I have for my wife, Bev, has been developing and growing. There are times of hurting, times of joy, and times of not so much of either. The love that my wife has for me is amazing. She has put up with my stubbornness, my grouchiness, and all the other "nesses" that no one else really sees. But I know that she loves me. I know that she will stand beside me no matter what. I know that she will be there with me because we have made that commitment to always work things out and never even mention the "d" word. Whatever it takes, whatever we have to do, we will be together. We will always strive to grow and be happy together.

I think about God and that is how I view his love for me. I know that through all my "nesses", he will be there and he will love me for who I am. Psalm 36 says, "Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies."

Does my love for God look like this? When things don't go my way, do I threaten divorce? Do I give him the silent treatment because I am mad and don't feel like talking it out? Do his "nesses" collide with my own and cause even more confusion and disruption in my life? His greatness and faithfulness overshadow anything that my humanity could wrap itself around. I do not understand his love and how he could love me, even though he knows me completely.

My wife and one of her friends have observed many people's "nesses" and have concluded that everyone has different ones and they don't always match up with everyone else's "nesses." We each have our different "nesses" and are unique in our own way. However, don't let your "ness" be an excuse for your sin. If your "ness" is grouchiness, and you know that it is, don't let it be a crutch to be grouchy...do something about it. Find your "ness" and if it is something that does not please God, change it. Let your commitment to him be an incentive to grow into a loving and obedient relationship with him.