Christ Church North Bay

Commitment and Creativity: The Keys to A Growing Relationship

christchurchnorthbay — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:48:07 +0000

What a priviledge it is to be before God in a special season of seeking Him through prayer and fasting at the start of another wonderful year in 2012.

I thought I would take the time to share a quick thought in pursuing Jesus at the start of this new year…. so, here it is: Relationships thrive when there is present 2 key ingredients – commitment and creativity. With commitment comes trust and with creativity comes increased passion. My hope is that during a dedicated season of fasting and prayer, that creativity will abound regarding different ways we can be in fellowship with God throughout the course of life, and that our trust in Him will increase and our passion for Him will be ignited.

Here are some helpful keys to consider in order to “break out of the rut” in your walk with God and do something new during a season of fasting and prayer. Here are some ideas:

1- Take your lunch break and spend the time with God. You might just drink liquids during your lunch and go on a walk and talk with God.

2- Find a different place to pray than you normally do. Hike one of our hills, go to a quiet room in your home, get away in your car for a while and talk to Him.

3- Buy a new worship CD and sing to God alone (sing it loud even if you don’t like your voice!). Express your heart to Him. I recommend “Great, Great God” by Gateway Worship, “Mountains Move” by Kristian Stanfill, or “Be Lifted High” by Bethel Live or “For the Honor” by Elevation Worship.

4- Start a Bible Reading Plan in 2012. We will have one available or you can go to youversion Bible on your smart phone or mobile device and read through the Bible this year! I did this last year and had an amazing time discovering more of God through daily time in the word of God.

5- Pray with your spouse and family together daily. I want to encourage you to include your kids. Seek God as a family together even if for 15 minutes in your home you read a Scripture. Sing to a worship song, or pray for one another.

6- Feel free to send other creative ideas or share what you are doing by going to our ccnb blog and posting at www.christchurchnorthbay.wordpress.com.

7- Come to our next worship and prayer gathering on Thursday, January 19^th at CCNB from 7-8pm

Seeking Him,

Isaac

Your Place

christchurchnorthbay — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 07:01:22 +0000

Our god given talents, gifts, and abilities are meant to be used for te benefit of those around us. When i am faithful to discern and function in my gift it naturally benefits those with whom i am connected. A withheld gift robs the community of the life that was intended to flow through that person’s gift. A gift releases encourages and edifies everyone connected to us. Learn to consistently function in God’s grace, gifting, and calling and you will live a fruitful effective life for thr kingdom of God.

KTLN Renew Night – Monday, May 23 – 8-10pm

christchurchnorthbay — Mon, 23 May 2011 20:53:44 +0000

Pastor Kirsten from CCNB and Pastor Rachel from New Life will be hosting a RENEW prayer and worship night on KTLN from 8-10pm. Spread the word and watch on comcast – 25 or direct – 68!

Too Many

christchurchnorthbay — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:02:55 +0000

In Judges 7:2 the Lord speaks to Gideon “you have too many warriors with you, if I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength.” … The rest of the story the Lord helps Gideon sift down the army so that he can grant them victory.

What insight does this short story give us into the nature and character of God? God had them and positioned them in a place where they needed to utterly rely on Him to do the impossible because it was there that they would acknowledge that it is only by the arm of the Lord that victory would be achieved.

God delights in bringing us to a place where we realize that His intervention is essential … That without it we are sunk… And perhaps there are times when situations in our lives get even more trying and more difficult because God is positioning us to lean heavily upon Him and to watch Him do the impossible. It’s that sort of place that He desires us to live in because it is there that He will get all the glory.

Hard Work and Prosperity

christchurchnorthbay — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:55:51 +0000

The book of Proverbs shatters the notion that our faith is relegated to a private sphere amongst many of the different areas of our lives. Instead, Proverbs delivers truth that transforms marriages, increases productivity, gives wisdom to sons and daughters, and speaks to many different areas of our life and calling.

Proverbs 13:4 tells us, “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.” Working hard is not just a nice suggestion or good moral principle. It’s the admonition of Scripture for us if we desire to prosper. Wherever we are in whatever field of industry or calling, it’s a practical, proven truth from the inspired word of God itself that working hard is a key to prosperity.

Working hard and doing our work as unto the Lord is itself an act of worship that delights God and benefits those we work to help.

Accepting Responsibility

christchurchnorthbay — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:16:05 +0000

When Dr. Sam Chand became president of Beulah Heights university in 1989, the janitor was a man named Benson Karanja. On Dr. Chand’s last day in 2003, Benson became president of the university. How could someone make this kind of leap in leadership? At every level and in every role – from janitor to library assistant to librarian to administrator to professor to director of student affairs to vice president to executive VP and finally to president – he always gladly accpeted responsibility and never deflected blame for wrong decisions on anyone else. As he assumed more leadership, he was always willing to ask the tough questions, but he asked in a way that he didn’t threaten anyone. Whenever any challenge needed to be analyzed, he said, “Dr. Chand, I’ll examine this issue and give a report at our next meeting.” Wehenver a task needed to be done, he volunteered. His humble spirit convinced people that he wasn’t jockeying for position. He was simply serving God and the university with every fiber of his being. And everyone around him felt challenged to give more, do more, and care more for God’s kingdom. The janitor inspired a university.

How can you increase your level of service and responsibility without blaming others? This is one of the keys to being successful wherever God has assigned you to work.

His Eyes

christchurchnorthbay — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:12:28 +0000

Prov. 5:21 declares, “For the Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes.” – this one verse pierces the dividing wall that many believers in Christ have erected in their minds to help organize their lives. As an example, we can often in terms of our family life, personal life, work life, church life, as if each of those things are separate from one another… As if different rules apply to each compartment we have created. But with God and His kingdom, our entire lives are before Him. Who we are in private effects who we are in public. How we treat our coworkers has an effect on our spirituality. How we treat our spouses impacts how we parent our children. God designed our life to be integrated and our relationship with Him impacts each of these areas of our lives.

We pray over our own kids that they will lerner how to love God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength at a young age in a way that will impact how they treat their friends, how they respect their teachers, and every other area of their lives.

The Pharisees and religious folk of the day during the life of Jesus were stuck in their “categories” seeking to be noticed in their prayer … Putting on masks and rules to segment their life in seeking to please men. God never intended this for His sons and daughters. It is He that sees clearly everything we do. My prayer is that when He looks at me He will find a man whose eyes are fixed back on Him.

Charles Spurgeon Exerpt from “Morning and Evening”

christchurchnorthbay — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 04:35:36 +0000

October 8 PM

“Praying in the Holy Ghost.”
— Jude 20

Mark the grand characteristic of true prayer—”In the Holy Ghost.” The seed of acceptable devotion must come from heaven’s storehouse. Only the prayer which comes from God can go to God. We must shoot the Lord’s arrows back to Him. That desire which He writes upon our heart will move His heart and bring down a blessing, but the desires of the flesh have no power with Him.

Praying in the Holy Ghost is praying in fervency. Cold prayers ask the Lord not to hear them. Those who do not plead with fervency, plead not at all. As well speak of lukewarm fire as of lukewarm prayer—it is essential that it be red hot. It is praying perseveringly. The true suppliant gathers force as he proceeds, and grows more fervent when God delays to answer. The longer the gate is closed, the more vehemently does he use the knocker, and the longer the angel lingers the more resolved is he that he will never let him go without the blessing. Beautiful in God’s sight is tearful, agonizing, unconquerable importunity. It means praying humbly, for the Holy Spirit never puffs us up with pride. It is His office to convince of sin, and so to bow us down in contrition and brokenness of spirit. We shall never sing Gloria in excelsis except we pray to God De profundis: out of the depths must we cry, or we shall never behold glory in the highest. It is loving prayer. Prayer should be perfumed with love, saturated with love—love to our fellow saints, and love to Christ. Moreover, it must be a prayer full of faith. A man prevails only as he believes. The Holy Spirit is the author of faith, and strengthens it, so that we pray believing God’s promise. O that this blessed combination of excellent graces, priceless and sweet as the spices of the merchant, might be fragrant within us because the Holy Ghost is in our hearts! Most blessed Comforter, exert Thy mighty power within us, helping our infirmities in prayer.

A Life that Attracts God’s Favor

christchurchnorthbay — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:46:08 +0000

It’s humility that draws the attention of God and releases Divine blessing on the life of a man or a woman. Humility was produced in the great men and women of God in Scripture whose gaze was fixed on the nature of God. It’s what caused Isaiah to declare in His God-encounter that he was a man of unclean lips. Humility was found in Moses when He encountered the nature of God in the burning bush, calling him to an impossible task without the aid of God. It was there when Jacob wrestled with an angel and left with a limp as a reminder old the divine encounter.

How is humility produced? God takes us into the school of humility in worship … As the gaze of our life is directed to the infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing Creator of the universe. It’s there godly perspective is brought as we revere and stand in awe of God and think less of our own understanding, opinions, and outlook. It’s there we are freed from the shackles of self-reliance and liberated into a life of relying upon and trusting in the goodness of the God of eternity.

If your heart is desperate for a deeper place of intimacy and worship of God, expect great things – it’s in that place of wonder with our gaze upon Him that the supernatural is released in our lives. So if you feel that God has you in the school of humility, embrace it with open arms and keep your gaze fixed on our infinite God.

A Pivotal Moment in History

christchurchnorthbay — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 04:33:34 +0000

Over and over again throughout history, God’s remedy in times of moral, spiritual, and national crisis has been to gather His people in prayer, fasting, and repentance. The heart of God yearns for a people that will humble themselves and pray and seek His face that He might have mercy and intervene in the midst of the calamity around us. On September 4, 2010, in Sacramento, many believers from across the great state of California will gather for such a reason. Now upon us is a pivotal moment in history to see California and our great nation experience a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit.