Well its Father's Day this Sunday. We will honor our father's this Sunday in a celebration and recognition of the role of father. As a father I have to tell you something funny about this week. I went to Chloe's (my 7 yr old) award ceremony. She got two awards for citizenship and reading. She like every other kid walked into the room looking for mom and dad, beaming at the recognition of them and knowing we were present.
I grinned as every kid that stood to receive their award. They would first upon hearing their name, stand up, then turn to audience for eye contact with their parent, smile, and then proudly walk to the stage. As I grow older, I sure appreciate the joy you see in children. I love it when the kids are happy, proud, and enjoying the moment.
I can only imagine that God our Heavenly Father loves it when we make that eye contact with Him. When we flash a smile and make our Father proud. When we work and live to show that we belong to this family and we want to make our family look good. Do you live like that? Do you live to make God smile on a daily basis? I am convinced that He loves us far more than how we love our own. His Love is what makes us Unstopppable.
This week you will see and learn about that incredible love in story of an Unstoppable Comeback. Why a comeback? Because we all need one. We all fail but as we are told in Prov 24:16 "a righteous man falls seven times and rises again." He keeps going, He gets back up.
We are Unstoppable when we really believe scripture and apply it to our life. Do not miss this Sunday at Horizons Church.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
The Unstoppable Me!
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Not that I personally am saying "I am Unstoppable." Rather that each of us could say we are unstoppable. We all could say with conviction "Unstoppable ME!"
I remember a pastor asking the audience one Sunday what is the most important thing that is said...What God says...What the devil says...or What you say? Immediately I heard people responding with "What God says!" The pastor gently corrected and said...Its what you say. Why? Because people will do what they really want. God's word what He says is right there. The measure of what God says and us doing what God says has everything to do with our belief and our action.
What God says is fact, it is truth, and it works. That doesn't mean that we are going to live by it, that is our choice. If we do believe it and live by it...apply it to our lives. Then we could be Unstoppable.
We listened to a fabulous message last week from Pastor Kev ...You're free so drop the baggage. Now if you did that...the next step is believe it and live. I can't wait this Sunday to share more on the truth that the only thing can stop you is you. The time is now...Let's be people of action and become exactly what God intended - Unstoppable.
I remember a pastor asking the audience one Sunday what is the most important thing that is said...What God says...What the devil says...or What you say? Immediately I heard people responding with "What God says!" The pastor gently corrected and said...Its what you say. Why? Because people will do what they really want. God's word what He says is right there. The measure of what God says and us doing what God says has everything to do with our belief and our action.
What God says is fact, it is truth, and it works. That doesn't mean that we are going to live by it, that is our choice. If we do believe it and live by it...apply it to our lives. Then we could be Unstoppable.
We listened to a fabulous message last week from Pastor Kev ...You're free so drop the baggage. Now if you did that...the next step is believe it and live. I can't wait this Sunday to share more on the truth that the only thing can stop you is you. The time is now...Let's be people of action and become exactly what God intended - Unstoppable.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Summer
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I know it's not officially summer yet, but for the Pennington family - we begin summer with Memorial Day. At our Memorial Day picnic we have a large badminton tournament and Paula and I won again! I look forward to the summer months - Memorial Day, my birthday, July 4th, beach trips, youth camp for the kids, the start of football, the baseball season heats up, and Labor Day. There is always alot going and summer is no different.
As you begin the summer season - I encourage you to remain faithful. We all need the break that comes with summer and even the vacation. Sometimes, we take a vacation from our Christian walk and that's not good. Sometimes, people drop out of church during summer, but my encouragement is for you to remain connected. Keep giving, keep serving, keep connected by watching our video on demand and connecting via facebook.
Talk at you soon
Pastor Rich
As you begin the summer season - I encourage you to remain faithful. We all need the break that comes with summer and even the vacation. Sometimes, we take a vacation from our Christian walk and that's not good. Sometimes, people drop out of church during summer, but my encouragement is for you to remain connected. Keep giving, keep serving, keep connected by watching our video on demand and connecting via facebook.
Talk at you soon
Pastor Rich
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Sweet Smell of Success
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I just love it when things go well - as Matt Redman sings -
blessed be Your Name
when the sun's shining down on me
when the world's all as it should be....
But how do we respond to the success in our life - Jim Collins just wrote a good book - How the Mighty Fall that deals with companies and how they fell or died after having had success. There are a lot of great parallels for Christ followers in this material as well.
This Sunday - we wrap up the Survivor series as we deal with Surviving Success and we also find out who will win Survivor Horizons.
Visit the Horizons Facebook page and let us know how you handle success or what was your recent success.
Talk at you soon
Rich
blessed be Your Name
when the sun's shining down on me
when the world's all as it should be....
But how do we respond to the success in our life - Jim Collins just wrote a good book - How the Mighty Fall that deals with companies and how they fell or died after having had success. There are a lot of great parallels for Christ followers in this material as well.
This Sunday - we wrap up the Survivor series as we deal with Surviving Success and we also find out who will win Survivor Horizons.
Visit the Horizons Facebook page and let us know how you handle success or what was your recent success.
Talk at you soon
Rich
Thursday, May 13, 2010
How to Handle Conflict
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One of the best questions we can ever ask ourselves about any situation we are facing is - Am I responding to this situation in a way that God can bless?
First, let me say how much I love Horizons Church and it's people - that mean you :)
We are so blessed as a church by so many wonderful people who serve, pray, support, encourage and give their best for God and for their fellow friends who attend Horizons.
However, for all of us there will come a time when there will be conflict - do you know that the Bible even teaches us how to respond to conflict in a way that will honor God - join us this Sunday to discover how.
Also - go to our facebook page and join in the discussion of how you have handled conflict - you can click this link - or visit the updated Horizons family page on our website and click on the message board button.
Talk at you soon.
Rich
First, let me say how much I love Horizons Church and it's people - that mean you :)
We are so blessed as a church by so many wonderful people who serve, pray, support, encourage and give their best for God and for their fellow friends who attend Horizons.
However, for all of us there will come a time when there will be conflict - do you know that the Bible even teaches us how to respond to conflict in a way that will honor God - join us this Sunday to discover how.
Also - go to our facebook page and join in the discussion of how you have handled conflict - you can click this link - or visit the updated Horizons family page on our website and click on the message board button.
Talk at you soon.
Rich
Thursday, May 6, 2010
It's not whether you win or lose...
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...its how you play the game. In the game of life, we have to make decisions in the moment. That moment is often defined by how we have lived our past; how we have surrendered those ugly parts of ourselves to His grace and sought the power of His wisdom to learn from those experiences and to build a moral warehouse that will serve us well in that moment of decision. This Sunday, I kick off a new series that will use the TV show Survivor as a backdrop to talk a look at what the Bible teaches us about playing the game of life, dealing with conflict, disappointment, and even success.
Also, Happy Mother's Day to all of our wonderful moms. Walking through the hallway at our facility this morning, I was able to view some of our moms gathered and supporting each other during the MOPS(Mother's of pre-schoolers) meeting. I will have a special Survivor themed game for a couple of moms in each service.
Talk at you soon.
Pastor Rich
Also, Happy Mother's Day to all of our wonderful moms. Walking through the hallway at our facility this morning, I was able to view some of our moms gathered and supporting each other during the MOPS(Mother's of pre-schoolers) meeting. I will have a special Survivor themed game for a couple of moms in each service.
Talk at you soon.
Pastor Rich
Monday, May 3, 2010
New Day
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Wow! this past Sunday was truly awesome. For me personally but prayerfully for many others as they made a decision to start a new journey. It is a journey that is without absolute certainty except that God has a plan. God has a plan and purpose for each of us.
I think one of the biggest challenges we find facing the church (its people) is that they don't believe they can or that they could be a spiritual hero. We almost always think of those in the bible and the stories we hear about others as someone that we could not be. Yet upon further review we see that the heroes of bible are just human beings. There has been only one Jesus..the Son of God. Everbody else is on the same playing field.
Sunday I felt with all sincerity that God had called me to lay a challenge before the congregation to understand the call, and to answer it. My encouragement is not to give any excuses about culture, past, skills, education, career, or anything else. The simplicity is also the complexity..it is just go...Take a step. See where and what all that God will do in life.
To everyone that felt the Holy Spirit tug on their heart to start a New Day with new perspective to take on a new Journey. Get ready ..Pray that "God use me" prayer and then start to look for opportunities for they will come. God will and wants to use you to expand His Kingdom.
Be blessed and be a blessing,
Pastor Jay
I think one of the biggest challenges we find facing the church (its people) is that they don't believe they can or that they could be a spiritual hero. We almost always think of those in the bible and the stories we hear about others as someone that we could not be. Yet upon further review we see that the heroes of bible are just human beings. There has been only one Jesus..the Son of God. Everbody else is on the same playing field.
Sunday I felt with all sincerity that God had called me to lay a challenge before the congregation to understand the call, and to answer it. My encouragement is not to give any excuses about culture, past, skills, education, career, or anything else. The simplicity is also the complexity..it is just go...Take a step. See where and what all that God will do in life.
To everyone that felt the Holy Spirit tug on their heart to start a New Day with new perspective to take on a new Journey. Get ready ..Pray that "God use me" prayer and then start to look for opportunities for they will come. God will and wants to use you to expand His Kingdom.
Be blessed and be a blessing,
Pastor Jay
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