The Lord at Work this Summer

Sunday, September 5 @ 6:30 pm

ChristChurch Sanctuary

Join us for music led by the SundayNite band, testimonies, fellowship & coffee.

Study guides for each chapter of the book are provided below.

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The Pursuit of God Study Guide for the Preface

The Word:

The Lord of hosts, him shall you regard as holy.  Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.  Isaiah 8:9

Tozer Insight:

The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, and that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.  (p. 9)

Meditation:

Is God holy to you, fulfilling in you who He says He is and being to you who He says He is?  Or is God the fulfillment of your own imagination and your wishes for who He could be to you and what He could make of you?  Do you have any sense of fear and dread of God?  At the same time, do you delight in His Presence, tasting and seeing in your inner being that He is good?

Application:

If the Bible is not an end in itself, then certainly ChristChurch as a body of believers and our plans for a new facility are not ends in themselves.  If not ends, then only means; but means to what?  What is the point of us identifying ourselves as a part of the Body of Christ?  What is the point of us seeking to raise and spend large sums of money to buy and build a large new facility?  Our fellowship and our buildings are to no worthwhile end, unless they are to the ends that God has ordained for us so that we and others may know Him and make Him known.  Let each of us continue (or begin) the process of preparing our lives to hear His voice so that we can obey His Word.  Then we will know what His call is for each of us as individuals, and what His call is for us as a community.

The Pursuit of God Study Guide for Chapter 1, Following Hard after God

The Word:

Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.  For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.  Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fail.  For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  2 Pet. 1:5-11.

Tozer Insight:

1.  We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit.  (p. 11)

2.  To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love, scorned indeed by the too easily satisfied religionist, but justified in happy experience by the children of the burning heart.  (p. 15)

3.  The evil habit of seeking God-and effectively prevents us from finding God in the full revelation.  (p. 18)

Meditation:

1.  Does Peter really mean it when he says “make every effort?”  Think about the goals for your life, and the “things” you want for which you do “make every effort.”

2.  Do you see yourself as a person who is desperately in need of Jesus, in awe of God, delighting in Him, seeking His face for who He is, and encouraging others to do the same?  What would it look like for you to make every effort to follow hard after God?

Application:

As individuals God calls us to “make every effort” to live faithful lives pursuing His holiness and bringing Him glory.  In this Body of Christ known as ChristChurch Presbyterian, we are to do the same on the corporate level.  So take the time, the effort, and the risk to meet others in this fellowship, to pursue His holiness for this church, and to bring Him glory through our corporate mission.  In doing so, trust God to give you a renewed sense of your personal mission and how He will use your gifts and your mission in this Body as He calls His plans and purposes into being.

The Pursuit of God Study Guide for Chapter 2, The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing

The Word:

1.  And do you seek great things for yourself?  Seek them not.  Jer. 45:4

2.  But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan!  You are a hindrance to me.  For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.’  Matt. 16:23

3.  What is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.  Luke 16:15

Tozer Insight:

1.  Things were made for man’s use, but they were meant always to be external to the man and subservient to him.  In the deep heart of the man was a shrine where none but God was worthy to come.  (p. 21)

2.  There is within the human heart a tough, fibrous root of fallen life whose nature is to possess, always to possess. …God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by this monstrous substitution.  (p. 22)

3.  The blessed ones who possess the kingdom are they who have repudiated every external thing and have rooted from their hearts all sense of possessing.  (p. 23)

Meditation:

1.  Tozer discusses that Abraham had to learn through the test with Isaac what it meant to cleans the temple of his heart so God could reign there unchallenged.  He calls this the “school of renunciation” in which “things” became external to him and his inner heart was free from them.  Thus, Abraham had everything, but possessed nothing.

2.  Reflect on what of God’s gifts, the “things” you have in this world, that you have allowed to become internal, but which properly should be restored to their proper place as externals.  Don’t be surprised if you are brought to the testing place.  And just like Abraham, you might not recognize it at the time.

Application:

As we all come to the challenge of what a new building and church facility might mean to us individually and corporately, let us consider Abraham’s lesson in the “school of renunciation.”  We should seek God’s direction two ways.  For yourself, consider what of your personal possessions are you holding so tightly that you cannot fully hear God’s call for how they might be used for His glory in our proposed new facility.  And as a Body, we must always keep in perspective that the facility where we gather is only a tool that He allows us to use for His glory and to further His Kingdom…only a tool and not a monument.  Let us all remember that always, as His children, we have everything and possess nothing.

The Pursuit of God Study Guide for Chapter 3, Removing the Veil

The Word:

Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.  Rev. 4:11

Tozer Insight:

1.  God made us for himself—this is the only explanation that satisfies the heart of a thinking man, whatever his wild reason may say.  (p. 31)

2.  He meant us to see Him and live with Him and draw our life from His smile.  But we have been guilty of that foul revolt….  (p. 32)

3.  Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us.  It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction.  (p. 43)

4.  Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life, hoping ourselves to rend the veil.  God must do everything for us.  Our part is to yield and trust.  We must confess, forsake, repudiate the self-life, and then reckon it crucified.  (p. 44)

Meditation:

Tozer observes that the whole work of God in redemption is to undo the tragic effects of our revolt and to bring us back into right and eternal relationship with Himself (p. 33).  While that is God’s work, we must focus on our part.  We are not to be satisfied with a lazy “acceptance” of God’s work of grace in Jesus.  Rather we are to insist that the real work of God be done in our lives.  It is through this spiritual experience that self, the “opaque veil that hides the face of God from us,” can be removed.

Application:

We all know that whatever new church facility we build, actually will be one of the “all things” that God has created for His pleasure (Rev.4:11).  Prayerfully consider what of your self is an opaque veil that hinders your full participation in the life of this Body and its future.

The Pursuit of God Study Guide for Chapter 4, Apprehending God

The Word:

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!  Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!  Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!  (Ps. 34:8)

Tozer Insight:

1.  What can all this mean except that we have in our hearts organs by means of which we can know God as certainly as we know material things through our familiar five senses?  We apprehend the physical world by exercising the faculties given us for that purpose, and we possess spiritual faculties by means of which we can know God and the spiritual world if we will obey the Spirit’s urge and begin to use them.  (p. 49)

2.  But why do the very ransomed children of God themselves know so little of that habitual, conscious communion with God which Scripture offers?  The answer is because of our chronic unbelief.  (pp. 49-50)

3.  Faith creates nothing; it simply reckons upon that which is already there.  (p. 53)

4.  But we must avoid the common fault of pushing the “other world” into the future.  It is not future, but present.  (p. 55)

5.  The soul has eyes with which to see and ears with which to hear.  Feeble they may be from long disuse, but by the life-giving touch of Christ they are now alive and capable of sharpest sight and most sensitive hearing.  (p. 56)

Meditation:

1.  What is your “chronic unbelief” that is robbing you of that “habitual, conscious communication with God which Scripture offers?”  Have you in the past experienced the spiritual apprehension of which Tozer speaks…are you experiencing it now?

2.  Are all your senses being occupied by the busy things of the world?  Are you engaging now in any regular spiritual practices that build up your spiritual senses to taste God, to see Him, and to hear Him?

Application:

1.  If you are not apprehending God in your present circumstances, and in our present physical location, then what difference will it make to you to change locations?

2.  If you are presently experiencing the reality of God’s spiritual nature, then how can that be enhanced by trusting Him for the material resources we need to buy and build new facilities?

The Pursuit of God Study Guide for Chapter 5, The Universal Presence

The Word:

Where shall I go from your Spirit?  Or where shall I flee from your presence?  Ps. 139:7

Tozer Insight:

1.  God dwells in His creation and is everywhere indivisibly present in all His works…but for some reason it has not sunk into the average Christian’s heart so as to become a part of his believing self.  (p. 57)

2.  [David] knew that God’s being and God’s seeing are the same.  (p. 59)

3.  Our pursuit of God is successful just because He is forever seeking to manifest Himself to us. …The approach of God to the soul or of the soul to God is not to be thought of in spatial terms at all.  There is no idea of physical distance involved in the concept.  It is not a matter of miles but of experience.  (p.61)

4.  [Those we think of as saints] differed from the average person in that when they felt the inward longing they did something about it. They acquired the lifelong habit of spiritual response.  They were not disobedient to the heavenly vision.  (p. 63)

5.  Receptivity…is a gift of God, indeed, but one which must be recognized and cultivated as any other gift if we are to realize the purpose for which it was given.  (p. 64)

Meditation:

1.  Are you aware of God’s Presence?  Has His reality sunk into your heart so as to become a part of your believing self?  Do you identify with David’s understanding that God’s being and His seeing are the same?

2.  Are you living as one fully alive?  The “saints” are said to have acquired the “lifelong habit of spiritual response.”  Do you recognize this in yourself; are you cultivating it as one of God’s gifts?

Application:

1.  When you are only a half-hearted participant in the life of this Body of faith are you in effect living out an internal urge to avoid God’s Spirit and be distant from His Presence?  2.  How can you encourage your brother or sister to be fully alive in this Body, developing receptivity to God’s call?

3.  What about the unchurched community around us?  Do you see people ignoring God’s Spirit—fleeing from His Presence?  Think of how our proposed new facilities will enhance your personal outreach to them.  In fact, if you come up with some good ideas, don’t wait on some new physical structure, start right now!

The Pursuit of God Study Guide for Chapter 6, The Speaking Voice

The Word:

1.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  John 1:1

2.  The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.  Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.  Ps. 19:1-2

Tozer Insight:

1.  …self-expression is inherent in the Godhead, that God is forever seeking to speak Himself out to His creation.  The whole Bible supports this idea.  God is speaking.  Not God spoke, but God is speaking.  He is, by His nature, continuously articulate.  He fills the world with His speaking voice.  (p. 69)

2.  It is spiritual responses for which this Wisdom of God is pleading, a response which she has always sought and is but rarely able to secure.  The tragedy is that our eternal welfare depends upon our hearing and we have trained our ears not to hear.  (p. 73)

3.  I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not only a book which was once spoken, but a book which is now speaking…in the continuous present.  (p. 77)

4.  If you would follow on to know the Lord, come at once to the open Bible expecting it to speak to you….it is a voice, a word, the very Word of the living God.  (p.78)

Meditation:

Meditate on Tozer’s prayer reprinted here from the end of this chapter on page 78:  Lord, teach me to listen.  The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them.  Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to You, ‘Speak Lord, for your servant hears.’  Let me hear You speaking in my heart.  Let me get used to the sound of Your voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Your speaking voice.  Amen.

Application:

1.  Join with your brothers and sisters at ChristChurch to know, hear, love, and follow God’s speaking Voice of Wisdom in the continuous present.  Be encouragers in this so that we stir up one another to love and good deeds.

2.  Let us each examine ourselves about how we can be God’s voice to those who do not know Him.  Consider how we as a congregation can take the reality of God’s speaking Voice to our neighbors.  Come before our Lord to hear His Voice as His Body about His plans for our physical location and space and how that may magnify His Voice to the world.

The Pursuit of God Study Guide for Chapter 7, The Gaze of the Soul

The Word:

1.  Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.  Heb. 12:2

2.  And now, little children, abide in him, as that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.  If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.  1 John 2:28-29

Tozer Insight:

1.  In Scripture there is practically no effort made to define faith. …Even there [in Heb. 11:1] faith is defined functionally, not philosophically; that is, it is a statement of what faith is in operation, not what it is in essence.  It assumes the presence of faith and shows what it results in, rather than what it is.  (p. 81)

2.  “Looking” on the Old Testament serpent is identical with “believing” on the New Testament Christ.  That is, the looking and the believing are the same thing.  And he would understand that, while Israel looked with their external eyes, believing is done with the heart.  I think he would conclude that faith is the gaze of a soul upon a saving God. (p. 83)

3.  From all this we learn that faith is not a once-done act, but a continuous gaze of the heart at the Triune God.  (p. 84)

4.  I would emphasize this one committal, this one great volitional act which establishes the heart’s intention to gaze forever upon Jesus.  (p. 84)

5.  When the eyes of the soul looking out meet the eyes of God looking in, heaven has begun right here on this earth.  (p. 86)

6.  Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified.  The body becomes stronger as its members become healthier.  (p. 90)

Meditation:

Meditate on Tozer’s observation on page 90:  Someone may fear that we are magnifying private religion out of all proportion, that the “us” of the New Testament is being displaced by a selfish “I.”  Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other?  They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which one must individually bow.

Application:

1.  The spiritually prepared and attuned heart of faith will do the God-honoring thing.

2.  The spiritually immature heart will be conflicted over what Dallas Willard describes as “a dreary list of security, reputation, wealth, power, sensual indulgence, or mere distraction and numbness,” to which the spiritually immature heart gives its allegiance.

The Pursuit of God Study Guide for Chapter 8, Restoring the Creator-Creature Relation

The Word:

1.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!  Let your glory be over all the earth.  Ps. 57:5

2.  I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me, for who would dare of himself to approach me? declares the Lord.  Jer. 30:21

3.  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  2 Cor. 5:18-19

Tozer Insight:

1.  Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly.  We insist upon trying to modify Him and to bring Him nearer to our own image. …We can get a right start only by accepting God as He is and learning to love Him for what He is.  (p. 95)

2.  We owe Him every honor that is in our power to give Him.  Our everlasting grief lies in giving Him anything less.  The pursuit of God will embrace the labor of bringing our total personality into conformity to His.  And this not judicially, but actually.  (p. 96)

3.  While we take to ourselves the place that is his, the whole course of our lives is out of joint.  Nothing will or can restore order till our hearts make the great decision: God shall be exalted above.  (p. 98)

4.  …His desire is…particularly toward those sons of men who will make the once-for-all decision to exalt Him over all.  Such as these are precious to God above all treasures of earth or sea.  In them God finds a theater where He can display His exceeding kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  With them God can walk unhindered; toward them He can act like the God He is.  (p. 100-01)

5.  God wants the whole person and He will not rest till He gets us in entirety.  (p.101)

Meditation:

1.  Do you believe that your relationship with God is one that inherently is in disorder and in need of repair?  Beyond believing, do you feel it?

2.  Have you made “the great decision: God shall be exalted above?”

3.  Until you have made and implemented this decision, do you realize that in one form or another you are living out the pernicious lie that “it is all about me,” and that in one way or another you are “trying to modify God to bring Him nearer to your own image.”

4.  Have you experienced Tozer’s observation that your failure to give God anything less than every honor leads to your “everlasting grief?”

5.  Are you engaged in any intentional and meaningful spiritual practices that would qualify as the “labor of bringing your total personality into conformity to His?”

Application:

1.  God does not need your money for a new property and building; God does not need your performance; God does not need your perfectionism; God does not need your good ideas about His plans and purposes or how you can serve Him.

2.  “God wants the whole person and He will not rest till He gets us in entirety.”

The Pursuit of God Study Guide for Chapter 9, Meekness and Rest

The Word:

1.  Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.  Mt. 5:5

2.  Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.  Mt. 11:28-30

Tozer Insight:

1.  His words are the essence of truth.  He is not offering an opinion; Jesus never uttered opinions.  (p.104)

2.  Rest is simply release from that burden.  It is no something we do; it is what comes to us when we cease to do.  His own meekness, that is the rest.  (p. 105)

3.  Let us examine our burden. It is altogether an interior one.  (p. 105)

4.  Pride:  The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. …He knows well that the world will never see him as God sees him and he has stopped caring.  He rests perfectly content to allow God to place His own values. (p. 106-07)

5.  Pretense:  …the common human desire to put the best foot forward and hide from the world our real inward poverty.  (p. 107)

6.  Artificiality:  Artificiality is one curse that will drop away the moment we kneel at Jesus’ feet and surrender ourselves to His meekness.  Then we will not care what people think of us so long as God is pleased.  (p. 109)

Meditation:

1.  You believe that the words of Jesus are the essence of truth and not opinions or good suggestions.  Does your life demonstrate your belief?

2.  When you think about needing rest, do you understand that rest for your body is a byproduct of rest for your soul, and not the reverse?

3.  Do you agree with Tozer that our burdens are “altogether interior” and are represented by pride, pretense, and artificiality?

4.  Have you experienced the release from pride, pretense, and artificiality that Tozer states is the result of kneeling at the feet of Jesus and surrendering to His meekness?

Application:

1.  The culture promotes the “reverse Beatitudes” as normal for life (p. 104).  How are you living your life so others see that the “reverse Beatitudes” are not God’s plan for us as His creatures?

2.  How are we as a Body living this before our neighbors?

3.  How will having a new physical location for CCP allow us as individuals and as a Body to live out the “essence of truth” of the Beatitudes?

The Pursuit of God Study Guide for Chapter 10, The Sacrament of Living

The Word:

1.  So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Cor.10:31.

2.  What is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.  Lk. 16:15b

3.  There is nothing on earth I desire besides you.  Ps. 73:25b

Tozer Insight:

1.  This is the old sacred-secular antithesis.  Most Christians are caught in its trap.  They cannot get a satisfactory adjustment between the claims of the two worlds.  They try to walk the tightrope between two kingdoms and they find no peace in either.  Their strength is reduced, their outlook confused and their joy taken from them….but the dilemma is not real.  (p.113)

2.  The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is our perfect example, and He knew no divided life. (p. 113)

3.  …it is rather to lift every act up into a living kingdom and turn the whole life into a sacrament… [in the sense of] an external expression of an inward grace.  (p. 115)

4.  Let us practice the fine art of making every work a priestly ministration.  Let us believe that God is in all our simple deeds and learn to find Him there.  (p. 117)

Meditation:

1.  Stop and think about how compartmentalized you life is.  It’s worse than just sacred and secular isn’t it?  It is work, school, family, church, hobbies, technology, ownership and maintenance of things, etc.

2.  Do you honestly desire for yourself the “restful unity of life” Tozer upholds? (p. 116)

3.  What do you believe is God’s will for you about living a coherent life?

4.  What are you doing to bring yourself into alignment with God’s will?

Application:

1.  G. K. Chesterton observed that “Christianity has not so much been tried and found wanting, as it has been found difficult and left untried.”

2.  Richard Foster said that “All of creation watches expectantly for the springing up of a disciplined, freely gathered, martyr people who know in this life the life and power of the kingdom of God.  It has happened before.  It can happen again.”

3.  Pastor Paul Gardner said in his Commentary on Revelation (pp. 79 & 87) that God’s whole plan of salvation and judgment for earth reveals the continuation of and climax of creation itself, which is the driving towards a people who are to serve God and live with Him forever, as his treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.

4.  As we come to the end of our study of The Pursuit of God, where do you fit between finding Christianity difficult and not exerting much effort, and having a deep desire to be God’s instrument and participate in the climax of creation to bring Him glory by serving Him and others?

5.  Do you have the deep sense of how God’s work in the world is through His Body of believers assembled as a church?  Do you have a deeper appreciation of how you, with your unique gifts, are a vital, even indispensible, part of this Body?

• Christianity Explored begins (Tuesday, 7:30 pm)
• SundayNite – “Shared Stories: The Lord at Work this Summer” (Sunday, 6:30 pm)

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This Week’s Schedule

Monday, August 30

-Children’s Membership Class (Session 4), 5:30 pm in the Education Bldg.

Tuesday, August 31

-Christianity Explored course begins, 7:30 pm (Sanctuary Foyer). It’s not too late to sign up! RSVP to christyy@ccpnet.org.

Wednesday, September 1

-Women’s AM & PM Studies and Growth Groups (childcare provided for AM studies):

• AM Study/Growth Groups: 9:30-11:30 am. Join us as we work and pray through “Grace to Stand Firm, Grace to Grow,” based on 1 & 2 Peter. We will explore various hands-on ways of discipleship and fitting our gifts into the church.
• AM Inductive Study: 9:30-11:30 am. A study of Jeremiah and the call of his message to heed God’s word.
• PM Study/Growth Groups: 7-9 pm. Discussion-based Bible study on Acts (first hour) alternates with prayer meetings. We will also explore OT and other NT scriptures to bring the story of the early church’s growth to life. Growth groups follow the Bible study hour where we seek to connect with other women and apply Biblical truths to our lives.

Sunday, September 5

Communion Sunday
Sermon: “The Gospel & Other Gods” (Deut. 6:1-15; 1 Cor. 10:14-22)

9:15 am:

• Worship Service in the Sanctuary
• Children’s Church for 4 year old “Ponies” – 3rd graders, after dismissal during the 9:15 service
• Nursery care for infants–3 year olds
• Adult Sunday School: Studies on “The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer / College Connections

11:00 am:

• Worship Service in the Sanctuary
• Children’s Sunday School for 2 year old “Lambs” – 5th graders
• Nursery care for infants and toddlers (younger than 2 years old on 9/1/10)
• New Adult Sunday School Classes Start: Studies on “The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer / Studies in the Book of Nehemiah
• Youth Sunday School class (Hangar)

-Soup’s On, 12:30 pm (Education Bldg)

-SundayNite, 6:30 pm, “Shared Stories: The Lord at Work this Summer” – Join us for worship, testimonies, coffee and refreshments.

• Women’s AM & PM Bible studies begin (Wednesday)
• ChristChurch Annual Dinner (Friday, 6:30 pm)
• Young Adults Kickoff Dinner and Trivia Night (Saturday, 6:30 pm)
• Child Protection Training (Sunday, 10:30 am & 12:30 pm)
• Newcomers’ Lunch / Soup’s On (Sunday, 12:30 pm)
• Sundaes on Sunday (Sunday, 2:30 pm)
• 50+ Adults Game Night (Sunday, 5:30 pm)

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This Week’s Schedule

Tuesday, August 24

-Children’s Membership Class (Session 3), 5:30 pm in the Education Bldg.

Wednesday, August 25

-Women’s AM & PM Studies and Growth Groups begin. Childcare provided for AM studies.

• AM Study/Growth Groups: 9:30-11:30 am. Join us as we work and pray through “Grace to Stand Firm, Grace to Grow,” based on 1 & 2 Peter. We will explore various hands-on ways of discipleship and fitting our gifts into the church.
• AM Inductive Study: 9:30-11:30 am. A study of Jeremiah and the call of his message to heed God’s word.
• PM Study/Growth Groups: 7-9 pm. Discussion-based Bible study on Acts (first hour) alternates with prayer meetings. We will also explore OT and other NT scriptures to bring the story of the early church’s growth to life. Growth groups follow the Bible study hour where we seek to connect with other women and apply Biblical truths to our lives.

Friday, August 27

-ChristChurch Annual Dinner, 6:30 pm (Sanctuary) – Join us as we celebrate what the Lord is doing among us! Cost is $5 per adult and childcare is provided from infants through 5th grade. RSVPs accepted until 5 pm Tuesday to christyy@ccpnet.org for dinner AND for childcare.

Saturday, August 28

-Young Adults Kickoff Dinner and Trivia Night, 6:30 pm. Join us at ChristChurch for dinner and trivia. Bring a dessert to enter in a contest…best dessert wins a prize!

Sunday, August 29

Sermon: “The Gospel: A Light to the Nations” (1 Kings 10:1-24; Acts 11:19-26)
9:15 am:

• Worship service in the Sanctuary
• Children’s Church for 4 year old “Ponies” – 3rd graders, after dismissal during the 9:15 service
• Nursery care for infants–3 year olds
• Adult Sunday School: Studies on “The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer / College Connections

11:00 am:

• Worship service in the Sanctuary
• Children’s Sunday School for 2 year old “Lambs” – 5th graders
• Nursery care for infants 0-4 (in the classes they are currently attending)
• Adult Sunday School: Studies on “The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer / Studies in the Book of Nehemiah
• Youth Sunday School class (Hangar)

-Child Protection Training, 10:30 am & 12:30 pm (Readers’ Refuge) – This short but crucial training is required for everyone serving with the children and youth of ChristChurch in any manner. Please email sbholby@aol.com to register for either the 10:30 am or 12:30 pm class.

-Newcomers’ Lunch, 12:30 pm (Education Bldg)

-Soup’s On, 12:30 pm (Education Bldg)

-Sundaes on Sunday, 2:30 pm – Join us as we serve ice cream to patients and their families at Shepherd Center, a brain and spinal hospital nearby. Meet in the Family Lounge (6th floor, Marcus Building). Contact georgejwallace@gmail.com for more info.

-50+ Adults Game Night, 5:30 pm at the home of Steve and Wanda Frey (4371 Frey’s Farm Lane, Kennesaw). Bring your favorite game or just come and take your pick…hecklers welcomed also. Call Anne Kerr with questions: 404-310-4704.

• Children’s Membership Class, 2nd session (Tuesday, 5:30 pm)
• Extended Churchwide Prayer Meeting (Wednesday, 7-9 pm)
• Men’s Annual BBQ (Friday, 6 pm)
• New Adult SS Classes Start (Sunday, 9:15 & 11 am)
• Farewell Lunch for Nathan & Nicole Parker (Sunday, 12:30 pm)

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This Week’s Schedule

Tuesday, August 17

-Children’s Membership Class (Session 2), 5:30 pm in the Education Bldg.

Wednesday, August 18

-Extended Churchwide Prayer Meeeting (Education Bldg), 7-9 pm. As we prayerfully move forward as a church, this fall we will hold additional and extended prayer meetings to lift our plans to the Lord.

Friday, August 20

-Men’s Ministry Annual BBQ, 6 pm (Education Bldg). Come find out what activities are in store for the men of CCP and give your input for things that you would like to see happen in the men’s ministry! Catered BBQ will be provided. RSVP to Jim Long at longj2005@comcast.net.

Sunday, August 22

Sermon: “The Gospel: A Tale of Two Cities” (Jer. 29:1-8; 1 Pet. 2:9-17)
9:15 am:

• Worship Service in the Sanctuary
• Children’s Church for 4 year olds—rising 6th graders, after dismissal during the 9:15 service
• Nursery care for infants–3 year olds
• New Adult Sunday School Classes Start: Studies on “The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer (Bill Hollberg, Chuck Francis, & Bill Griscom) and College Connections (Trent McEntyre)

11:00 am:

• Worship Service in the Sanctuary
• Extended Children’s Church for rising K-6th graders
• Nursery care for infants 0-4 (in the classes they are currently attending)
• New Adult Sunday School Classes Start: Studies on “The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer (Ken Culpepper) and Studies in the Book of Nehemiah (Paul Quiros)
• Youth Sunday School class (Hangar)

-Farewell Lunch for Nathan & Nicole Parker,12:30 pm – Join us for lunch after church as we celebrate Nathan and Nicole before they leave for England. Lunch will be provided in the Education Building This will kick off our Fall Soup’s On.

-Home Fellowship Groups meet – click here for a list of area groups and contact information for the leaders.

Night of Praise

Sunday, August 15 @ 6:30 pm

ChristChurch Sanctuary

Join us for music led by the SundayNite band, fellowship & coffee.

Soiree and Silent Auction

Featuring artwork, raffle drawings, live music, Counter Culture coffee, and more

Thursday, August 19 | 7-9 pm

ChristChurch Sanctuary (81 Peachtree Park Drive, NE, Atlanta, 30309)

Proceeds will benefit Alisa Finkle’s support funds for her upcoming internship with Mission to the World in Marseilles, France, serving in university ministry for the 2010-11 school year.
Alisa is a member of Atlanta Westside Church.

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