No Longer Controlled, But Free

First, this will be Sunday you don't want to miss, so be there!

Have you ever felt, well... Stuck?

Have you ever felt like you are controlled and you can't do anything about it?  Let me guess, at some point or another you have thought, "I want to be a Christian, but I'm not good enough!"  Or maybe, "If I could break these addictions, then I could be a Christian, but there is no way, so I won't even try."

You have a sense of defeat.  Like you won't go anywhere... Ever.

Or maybe, speaking to those who are Christians, you feel like you want to live better, but you can't.  

We all feel stuck -- at some point or another.  We are stuck in a rut that we either don't know how to get out of or feel like we can't get out of, and we are defeated.

I have news: this isn't what God intended.  Do you want to know what God intends to do?  To set you free.  God wants to set you free from a life of control and put you into a house of freedom -- His own house.  He wants to... Well, he wants to adopt you.  

But what is this freedom stuff?  Aren't Christians supposed to do good things?  They can't cuss can they?  Well then how are they free?

Here's the thing: the story of the Bible is not a story about you, or me, chasing God.  Rather, it is about Gods pursuit of you.  He has chosen that even though we messed up, I messed up, you messed up, and chose to please ourselves rather than Him, that He would still pursue us.  Relentlessly.

But here's what happens.  As soon as you recognize what God has done for you, you will recognize the freedom you have, not to serve yourself, but to serve Him and to serve others.  After all, He served you by paying a hefty price on the cross.  That was no small price, and He did it because He was pursuing you.

You are being pursued by your Creator.  He made you.  He formed you.  He loves you.  And most of all, He wants you to love Him back.  That is why He is pursuing you.  He pursues you, and He pursues me so that we will love Him, just like He created us to.  And when we fulfill what we were created to do, we are set free.  

Now here is the challenge:  don't go back.  In the book of Exodus, in the Old Testament, God freed His people.  They began the journey to the land that God had promised to them, but then, when it got difficult, they wanted to go back.  They didn't think it was worth it.  They had been set free!  But they wanted to go back to a bunch of angry Egyptians who would enslave them once again.

Don't return to the slavery.  Don't serve yourself.  Don't serve the world.  Do what you were created to do.  Worship God.  After all, you don't want to return to the constrictions of this world, constrictions from which Jesus the Messiah rescued you.

Galatians 4:1-11

Five reasons you should come (and invite people) to Friday Night Fires, THIS WEEK.

First, I would like to say, this Friday Night Fires is unique!  We will have candy bags for the kids.  As always, it will be a family friendly environment.  It is specifically being done for the kids to have a safe environment for Halloween!

Here at English Mountain we believe that in order for people to believe in God, we must believe in Him first, and in order for people to see God, we have to show them who He is.  This pushes us to think differently.  Right now we often think of showing others who we are, but not about showing them who God is.

But, if we believe, others will believe.  And if we show them who God is, a God who lays down his life for His people, a God that gives up everything for His creation, by the way we live, then they will see who He truly is.

This is why I fully believe that these five things will enable us to build a healthy community that reaches people for God.

1.) Community

We believe that it is essential for you to be plugged in.  It is our vision to see you emerge as someone who is completely devoted to Jesus, to empower other people in the church to do Gods work, and to expand by reaching new people for Christ.  We believe that this happens through community.  After all, we exist to Engage God and Engage People so that all will be TRANSFORMED!  And we believe that there is no better way for you to be transformed than by getting involved in community and growing.

2.) Devotional

Every Friday Night we have a short devotional.  It is an environment where people feel comfortable to share and we have very good discussion.  By sharing with one another, we believe that we will all be challenged, we will all be encouraged, and we will all be drawn closer to one another in love.

3.) Impact

By inviting people, you can make a direct impact on the community.  When people come and experience the love of God that we show them, it makes an impact.  When they see that we believe, they will believe.  When we show them our own self sacrifice, they will ask why we love them so much.  And we will directly impact their lives by being able to say, "we love because He first loved us."

4.) Serve

There is no better way to continue your walk with God than by serving.  I heard it said once, "you are only as deep as the last person you served."  That statement is very true.  Christ said he came not to be served, but to serve.  We should follow His example.  We have many opportunities for serving.  We need food, tables set up, chairs set up, firewood to burn, etc.  You can also serve by offering to give your testimony.  If you would like to do so, please contact us with the info provided to the right.

5.) There will be FREE FOOD!

Who doesn't like free food?  "Free food is the best food."  We hope that by offering this and serving people, we will show people who God is.  We hope that we will make a direct impact on their lives.  If they do or do not return, we are glad we had the opportunity to serve them.

We hope to see you THIS FRIDAY!