Will You Consider Joining Us at CityLife This Weekend?

Hey everyone!

What an incredible week this is as we honor and celebrate all that Jesus has done for us!  This singular moment in history, this reality of the death and resurrection of Jesus, is the one event that has changed the course of the world and eternity.

I love it how Paul, a follower of Jesus states it.  In a letter to the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 15:12-20) he states,

^“12 But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. ¹⁵ And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. ¹⁶ And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. ¹⁸ In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! ¹⁹ And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. ²⁰ But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.”

Jesus died and Jesus rose!

In this we place our hope!

So, would you consider joining CityLife this weekend?  And, if you are a part of CityLife would you consider being a part of all that we have going on as we get ready to invite our guests this weekend?  Read on and check out what’s happening at CityLife!

(A side note: ALL events are happening at East Valley High School.  5525 Vineland Ave, North Hollywood, CA 91601)

GOOD FRIDAY (tonight!!!)

We will have an intimate time in worship, communion, Bible reading and more!  Come and join us as we talk about “I Am Barabbas”.  God took the place of the worst of sinners.  What amazing love and grace!  Join us TONIGHT at 6:30pm for English and 7:45pm for Spanish.

HOLY SATURDAY

We have a lot going on!  Join us at these times:

10:30am and 2:00pm PRAYER.  We will have two times of prayer on Saturday as we get ready for Easter Sunday, asking God to open people’s hearts to the life that He has for them!

10-4pm RECYCLING EVENT.  Donations go to help our community outreach and to help East Valley High School.  At this event, we will be inviting our community to join us on Easter Sunday.

EASTER SUNDAY

We all have doors in our lives.  A door is an entryway, an access point to something beyond it.  Some doors are hard to get through.  Some doors seem designed to keep us out.  Jesus is the one with the master key to open up the door of life.  If we choose to walk through it, we can experience all that he has for us!

This will be a Sunday filled with a kid’s Easter Egg Hunt (during the service), a service filled with spoken word, drama, music and more!  And above all, we will celebrate all that Jesus did for us!  Baptisms will follow!

Join us at 9am for English and 11am for Spanish.  It will be a great day!!!

 

Reading Paul’s Letters

Have you ever read the letters that Paul wrote to the early churches?

Most of them were a bunch of screwed up people! In fact, if you were to randomly pick a point in one of his letters, you will most likely find Paul dealing with a lack of many things. He dealt with wrong theology, fractured relationships, pride and envy, a general lack of love, legalism, and so much more.

So, I’ve got a question.

Why did Paul feel comfortable leaving them when he did, and in many cases leaving at a point in time when they still had so much to learn?

You would think that Paul felt it was necessary to stay until they had learned everything!

Might I suggest that this is the exact reason why so many leaders fail? We try to hold on, teach longer, train longer, as if WE are the reason for someone’s success.

Here’s why I think Paul decided to leave…some have verses, while others do not. If you disagree (or agree), let me know.

1. There are some things people can only learn “on their own”. As long as the original leader is in the picture, most people will tend to defer to their leadership, instead of jumping out and learning to swim in the deep end. I believe Paul understood this.

2. There were still too many places to reach. Paul couldn’t afford to stay too long in one place, therefore limiting the impact of the Gospel.

3. Paul understood that the HOLY SPIRIT is the true teacher, not him. As a result, he could entrust people into God’s hands, because God cared for them long before Paul ever did.
1 John 2:27 “But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.”

4. If God entrusted broken humanity with so many responsibilities (having babies, growing food, running businesses, caring for the earth, etc), then surely He can entrust us with His church. Many people believe that people need to be controlled because they are “dumb” and can’t do things on their own. Apparently God doesn’t think so, and neither did Paul. Take a look at a verse that many have memorized.
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

Who do you need to release into their full “Christ-potential” today?