Hello once again from Community Christian Fellowship, For the past few years, my wife and I have 'grown into' the idea of our two kids becoming teenagers. Our most current saying is, "We made it through another HOUR". Don't get me wrong, we love our two teens, and overall, they are doing very well. But the emotional changes, drama, panic, and perceived crisis that they and their friends experience as they go through challenges in life with raging hormones and naive expectations makes for an hour by hour experience that is sometimes just exhausting.

Now, for those of you who've had teenagers, you're probably laughing out loud right now; thanks a lot-in a Godly way of course. In spite of the emotions and drama, Deb and I have had some humbling conversations about what it means to love unconditionally. As our teens get older, we realize that we have less and less control over what they do and think. In fact, we now wonder if thinking we had any control at all is realistic. So, "control" may be the wrong word, I'm thinking "influence" is a better word than control. So why am I talking about my home life? Because having teens has made Deb and I realize how much God has to "put up" with what we do as an adults, husbands, wives, parents, pastors, counselors, friends, or other roles we may find we may find ourselves in. But is "put up with" really the right way to think about God and the way he relates to us? I don't think so.

You see, if we believe in unconditional grace, and that Jesus really was our atoning sacrifice, then what we do really doesn't matter. It actually has no affect on how much God loves us. In fact, Paul infers in Ephesians that every aspect of failure and decay in the entire universe as we know it has been brought back to the Father through Jesus, including all of mankind, past, present and future. So, we have to ask, where do we fit in if Jesus has already "done everything" for us. Why not just eat, drink, and be merry and not care because "we're all good in Jesus". This may be how some interpret grace, and Paul had to tell the early church that this was not what they should be doing or thinking. The question is "why". I want you to remember a word I used earlier, "influence". Does God try to control us? Or is his desire based on us one day being humbled and realistic of who and what we really are and what He's done for us in spite of us.

We hope our kids will one day understand and then lean back on the "influence" and ideas that we hopefully exemplified by what we did for them, in spite of their "failures". I know trying to understand that we can't do anything to change God's plan, and then say we have to "do" Christian "things" seems confusing. But consider this, we don't do the Christian "stuff" because Christ did it, we do the Christian "stuff" because of how much his love influences our thoughts about ourselves and about others. In other words, that unconditional love is REAL!! We are supposed to believe it. How much of our lives is being lived based on THAT BELIEF? His love is the most powerful influence in the entire universe. If we begin to believe that God loves us, we don't have to keep getting caught up in all of the "junk" that life throws our way, and we can believe it's already solved through Jesus. Now, how much will that REALITY change the way we think about others and ourselves. I hope a whole bunch!!!! That's why Paul said that this "influence", once believed will "renew your mind". The Holy Spirit can change our perspective about everything if we believe in God's love. Until next time, Pastor Mark

The Women's Bible Study group will meet at 1230 PM on May 2 in Building B. The group will be discussing Part 3 of The Fulfilled Life God Intended. The final session, Part 4, will be held on May 16. You are welcome to join our group at any time.

The Men's Bible Study group will meet at 1230 PM on may 2 and May 16 in Building A. The men are discussing the book of John. Please join us!

We will celebrate Mothers Day on May 9. Please invite your mother, grandmother, any mother to join you for church on May 9. We will recognize each mother and provide a small gift. Refreshments will be served after church. Please plan to attend and make this a special day for our mothers.

It is time again for us to participate in the Houston Area Women's Pregnancy Center BABY BOTTLE BONANZA. On Mother's Day, May 9th , we will have baby bottles at church for you to pick up. Use the bottles to collect your coins (or bills or checks). Bring them back to church by Father's Day, June 20th. This is a project we have participated in for several years. In 2009 they saw 1,227 clients. They help their clients with various things concerning their pregnancies. They also had 50 clients make professions of faith, and 8 who rededicated their lives to Christ this past year! They have performed over 1200 Ultra Sound scans since adding that service back in January of 2007.

Examples of what the money is used for: $5, 1 Reality Bag filled with educational information for expectant mothers $10, 20 Fetal Development or 20 Abortion Risk and procedure Pamphlets $15, 15 Pregnancy Tests to confirm unborn life $50, 1 Ultrasound Scan for a woman to see her baby and hear the heartbeat $100, 35 Bibles for consultants to share the word of God $150, 1 Crib and Mattress for an infant to sleep in