Thanksgiving Newsletter

		Hello Church: We wanted to send a huge prayer for an amazing Thanksgiving to you and your family. Of all the many things I am Thankful for, one of the things I am most thankful for is you. Without you Christian City Church, Raleigh would not be possible. Thank you all for your time and support of the incredible work that was begun in Raleigh, NC We look forward to seeing everyone in church this week, I am believing this week is going to be an amazing breakthrough week as we wrap-up the series on faith. We will be setting time aside during service to pray for people this week, if you know of anyone in need of healing this is going to be a fantastic opportunity to invite them to church. I hope this helps as we push into God and seek His will and purpose for His church and our lives.
		FOOD DRIVE
		Hey Guys one quick reminder for this coming Sunday be sure to bring your cans of non-perishable food for the Eastern Carolina food bank, we are connecting with Guitar Center to help those in need.
		FREE GIVE AWAY
		We are giving away an Ipod NANO Video to a visitor from the month of November. Bring your friends and make sure to register them as first time guests and you both can win a brand new Ipod Nano Video. We will be giving away our first Nano in December.
		FREE MUSIC If you have not yet logged onto www.C3Worship.com and check out the Free Music and videos, as well as New Original Music from C3 Worship Leaders around the world
		We look forward to seeing you this Sunday at 11am Have a great week, see you in church!
		Please pass this on to friends and family that may not be on our email list yet.
		Visit www.c3ral.com for more info about C3 Church and where we are headed

Wind of Change

Revelation 22

 2 On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.

Our lives are full of seasons, some seasons are fruitful others are seasons of preparation, some seasons are dormant. Even the best seed in the most fertile soil will not grow or bare fruit in a winter season.

Winds increase between seasons signaling change is coming. The wind of heaven is a good thing, it causes a shaking in our lives. 

When the wind blows through the trees, two things fall off the tree, dead things and ripe fruit.

Dead things need to be pruned from our lives, they weigh us down and suck life from an otherwise healthy tree.

Ripe fruit needs to be released from our lives. Ripe fruit that hangs on a tree for to long becomes sour and spoiled, but when it is released in season it is sweet and blesses everyone who tastes it.

We are experiencing a season of shaking and releasing, in both the natural world and the spiritual kingdom.

This is an incredible time to see Gods hand in our lives and to trust that He is our provider. God has a plan and if we have faith we will see greater fruitfulness then we could ever have imagined.

Ecclesiastes 3:1
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven

Have an incredible week,

See you in church!

Ps. Steve

Fillings (the stuff in the middle)

I love cookies, they are just wonderful!  ( you can tell right away that this is a deep and spiritual blog.) Cookies and tea on a cool morning are such a comforting combination. Whoever thought of taking two cookies and putting a creamy filling between them was a genius. The filling in the middle makes the cookies even better!

The filling is the key. We run through life, and become very goal oriented. We plot our course and head  from one task to the next.   However,  we often miss the best opportunities to learn,  grow and gain a wealth of wisdom as we travel between our destination, thus the filling.

Jesus traveled from town to town, healing the sick, opening blind eyes, and restoring relationships of the broken hearted back to God. In His travels, he was never too distracted by the next destination to see the people right in front of Him. People are God's mission field, regardless of their location, whether they are around the block or around the world. God is in the people business.

Don't be so distracted by your drive to reach your destination that you lose your focus on God and the ability to see what is right in front of you.

John 4:4  Now He (Jesus) had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

 7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

Jesus was tired. He  just had a long trip. He could have easily ignored this woman,( a Samaritan woman) but in speaking to her,  he saw the key to connecting with an entire village. Through this one encounter, this woman and her whole village are saved and believes in Christ.

Stay connected to God and you will see that life is more then getting from one place to the next, life is about the journey.

Have a great week,

See you in Church.

Ps. Steve

Rise up!

1 Peter 1: 3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great MERCY he has given us NEW BIRTH into a LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of JESUS CHRIST FROM THE DEAD.

What an amazing God we have, nothing not even death can separate us from his incredible mercy and grace.

So many things that we face in life seem so unattainable and impossible. We struggle and fight to breakthrough barriers that hold us back from living with Joy and Promise. Our circumstances often appear to be getting the best of us BUT not even death can stop the plans of God.

Jesus raised Lazarus (John 11: 38-44) from the dead.
Lazarus wasn’t just having a rough day, he died, dead for 3 days. All hope seemed lost, Lazarus’s sisters and family were mourning their lose. Jesus arrives in the town, everyone is sad, no joy in their hearts that day, broken hearted.
Jesus loved Lazarus and calls out to God, everyone could hear him. Jesus did this so everyone there would know and understand that He was sent from God and that awesome power of God has no limits, not even Death.

Jesus calls out to Lazarus “Come Out” and he did, hopping out of his tomb, still wrapped in burial cloth.

You are never too far gone for God to reach out to you and raise you out of whatever death you are living in. Seek God and you will find Him waiting for you, ready to pour out Mercy and Restoration on your life.

Have a great weekend and a wonderful Father’s Day!

PS. STEVE

Holding On

Some things take forever.
It seems like just last week I was waiting on the birth of my first child, we were having a girl, my wife was overdue. We had gone to birthing classes together, we had the baby shower, we prepared the room, stocked up on diapers, It seemed like forever.
My oldest daughters name is Ashley and she is 21 yrs old now, it seems like just yesterday she was learning to walk and talk, her first day of school, her first school play.

Time is tangible we can feel it ticking by, sometimes slowly, sometimes fast

In each of our lives their will be moments that define us. God will call you and say GO or STAY, He may ask you to lead or follow. No matter how the question is framed, it is always the same core question. “Do you trust me”.
Is your faith in God strong enough to follow Him where ever he leads you.

The Israelites walked to within miles of their promise. Freed from captivity, crossed a river on dry land, lead by a pillar of fire. So close, out of millions only 2 men had the faith to enter the promises of God.

Believe in the promises God has shown you, never let go. God is a faithful God, He can not lie. There are dreams in your heart from God. Hang on to them, believe that you have already received them and you will see them come to pass.

Exodus 6: 6 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.' "

Have an awesome week.
See you in church!

Ps. Steve