Congratulations to Norvella Adkins, Chad Lipscomb & Jimmy Smith (tall guy) who was baptized in Gulf of Mexico at the celebration @ sunset service Oct. 26th.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Why Celebration Isn’t Political : by Pastor Lana
Election Day is next Tuesday and I encourage all of you to get out and vote. It’s your duty and obligation as a Christian and as a citizen. And that, folks, is the entire political message you’ll ever hear at Celebration! We do not endorse candidates, nor would we ever allow a candidate to speak from our pulpit. We even refuse to give out “voter guides.”
Jesus only gave us two commands--make disciples and baptize them. If you’ll recall, Jesus’ followers wanted to make Him a political figure but He refused to enter politics and instead told them to pray for their leaders and pay their taxes! Celebration is a place where everyone should be able to come and feel welcome—rich or poor, fat or thin, Democrats or Republicans. Politics is transient—the church is eternal. Our main function as a church is to win souls for Christ and help them find their purpose—that’s it.
This is why we will not be posting political views or allow that type of comment on the blogspot. At Celebration we need to be “one in the Spirit, one in Lord, and they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”
Jesus only gave us two commands--make disciples and baptize them. If you’ll recall, Jesus’ followers wanted to make Him a political figure but He refused to enter politics and instead told them to pray for their leaders and pay their taxes! Celebration is a place where everyone should be able to come and feel welcome—rich or poor, fat or thin, Democrats or Republicans. Politics is transient—the church is eternal. Our main function as a church is to win souls for Christ and help them find their purpose—that’s it.
This is why we will not be posting political views or allow that type of comment on the blogspot. At Celebration we need to be “one in the Spirit, one in Lord, and they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled -- John 14:1
… Your friends lost their house… The co-worker lost her job…The couple next door lost their retirementIt seems that everyone is losing their footing. This scares us. This bailout with billions. These rumblings of depression. These headlines: “Going Broke!” “Going Down!” “Going Under!” “What's Next?”
What is next? …a hedge fund manager said, This is worse than a divorce, I've lost half my net worth and I still have a wife". And now you know why the person who invests all your money is called a broker! There is a lot of fear in America right now.
So, in November, we are planning a special message series to help you out called…let not your Heart be troubled. How to cope with all the fear.
And I would like you to do something for me. Just click the comment box underneath and type in your greatest fear right now. You do not have to give a name. Just check the anonymous box.
So, in November, we are planning a special message series to help you out called…let not your Heart be troubled. How to cope with all the fear.
And I would like you to do something for me. Just click the comment box underneath and type in your greatest fear right now. You do not have to give a name. Just check the anonymous box.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Parking Woes
After a pretty much hurricane free summer (can you say Ike?), we are now getting ready for fall and our winter church family escaping from the chilling north to the balmy breezes of SW Florida. However, with the construction of a new parking garage, the closest parking is over a block away.
The Naples Women's club is wiling to rent us their parking lot for Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings. The cost would be $300 a week. So, what do you think? Do we need the extra parking closer to the park? Do we just urge people to walk and park in the parking garage off 5th? ("If your walkin' your livin'). Leave me a comment and let me know if you think it is worth the extra expense.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Communion
Why Not Communion On Sunday Morning?
Almost every time, when someone asks me what church am I pastor of, there is always a blank stare when I answer "Celebration Beach Church." And then, when I say, "It's the outdoor church." I get pretty much the same response. "Oh....'that church!" We are asked a lot of questions concerning Celebration Church. What do we do when it rains? Is that really the pastor? and this one..."Why don't you serve communion during the Sunday Morning church service?
We do believe in communion. Jesus never asked His disciples to remember His birth. But He did instruct them to remember His death and resurrection. He gave the church two visible symbols (called “ordinances”) as reminders of His death. These two ordinances are: Baptism and The Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is an object lesson that represents a great spiritual truth for believers. Jesus never said when or how often believers should observe The Lord’s Supper. He instituted it on a Thursday night. Since it is a ‘supper’, it may seem more appropriate to observe it at an evening service.
Since our Sunday morning service is designed so you can bring your non-believing friends, (if we served the cup and bread, many of them would just think that we were scrimping on the snacks!) we only take The Lord’s Supper at our "Celebration At Sunset" service at Lowdermilk Beach park. That is when the Celebration family gathers for supper (usually fried chicken) and then Pastor Lana leads us in communion and we conclude that service with baptisms in the warm gulf waters at sunset.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Congratulations!
Congratulations to Nathan and Melissa Greve who dedicated their son, Kody, at our Celebration @ Sunset service last Sunday night.
Congratulations to Lathan Hill and Shenandoah Webb who were baptized in the Gulf of Mexico last Sunday night, at our Celebration @ Sunset service.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Rainy Days and Sundays
The #1 most asked question is not "Is that really the pastor?" No. The most asked question is, "What do you do when it rains?" And my answer is "We get wet!" I know, hilarious. Like that great Canadian joke... Hi, did you have a good Summer? - Yes indeed, we had a great picnic that afternoon!!! Or this one...One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?" The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. "I can't dear," she said. "I have to sleep in Daddy's room." A long silence was broken at last by a shaken little voice saying, "The big sissy."
Over the years, Celebration has been blessed with wonderful weather that can only be found here in paradise. During those few(very few) Sundays when it does rain, we still have worship. We are able to seat around 150+ underneath the (dry) Cambier park bandshell. But, believe it or not, we have had rainy Sundays where the bandshell was packed and people sat out in the rain under their umbrellas! (I mean, we sit in the rain for ball games all the time...why not church).
We never cancel church! We have had church during tornado warnings, high wind warnings, flash flood warnings, tropical storm warnings, and, of course, hurricane warnings! In fact, one of the best attended worship services was the Sunday before hurricane Wilma hit! Imagine that. The bible reminds us that "The rain falls on the just and the unjust" (Matthew 5). So that pretty much covers all of us. See you Sunday...rain or shine!
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