Just a reminder that this Saturday at 7 pm we are going to meet for a time of worship and prayer for the people of Southern Sudan, who are facing a potential return to civil war after a referendum for independence which will take place January 9th.  For a good overview of what this referendum is about, and why it carries the threat of violence, there is a fairly accurate Wikipedia article HERE.

The Satellite Sentinel site (which George Clooney has been promoting) provides a way that you can participate in making a difference.  Satellite Sentinel

Why do WE care, you may wonder?  Well, the answer to that should be obvious in light of Christian love, but there are other, deeper reasons that this is meaningful to us as a fellowship.  We actively support In Deed and Truth ministries, pioneered by Sabet and Suzy Kuj.  Dave Pierce, Tom Randels and I all went to work there last November, and Tom stayed behind to serve as a doctor at the medical clinic.  That means a part of our fellowship lives, moves and has his being over there.  If you’re not familiar with our trip, you can read about it here, here, here, here and here.

I made some serious commitments to pray for my brothers and sisters over there…and I hope you’ll join me.  Saturday night, 7pm at Eastgate in the big room, or if only a few show up, we’ll move to the youth room.

“Let Your kingdom come, let Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

This is Toms new office.

We’re going to take a short excursion away from Luke this Sunday.  We’re going to remind ourselves, however quickly, why we do what we do as the church.  Implicit in all of the descriptions of “church” in the New Testament is the concept of community.

We’re going to derive our understanding of the goal for Christ’s community from the prayer He made in John 17, specifically verses 20-23.

As you read these verses, what seems to be the most repeated request that Jesus makes for us?  What reasons can you discern for his request?

Hopefully this will inspire some exploration of this topic.  See you Sunday!

Hey everyone, I’m back from my brief sabbatical!  I had a really good time getting away and praying (the picture here is the view from the place where I was staying in Kentucky)…also went down to Merrit Island to a Calvary Chapel Pastor’s day…which was cool to meet up with other guys in the CC network.  I’m rested up and refreshed, and ready to hit it!  I really appreciate the guys who filled in to teach while I was gone…I got to hear them, and they all did a great job!

This Sunday we’ll be returning to our study in Luke, and we’ll be reading chapter 10:1-16.

Once again Jesus sends out an advance team to prepare the way for His coming.  He did this with the 12 apostles back at the beginning of chapter 9, but here He sends 72 (or 70, depending on which translation you read…it doesn’t really matter that much which number is right…it was obviously more than 12).  The other big difference between the sending of the 12 in ch 9 and this sending is the fact that He is sending the 72 to villages in Samaria, since that’s where He’s traveling in this part of the narrative.  It sort of gives us a picture of the future mission of the church, when Jesus sends us into “all nations”…meaning the gospel message isn’t confined to Israel alone.

As you read through Jesus’ instructions, what message do you get concerning our mission as the church.  What is our purpose as a community?  What do you suppose Jesus is meaning by asking us to “pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest”?

When Jesus starts in on the “woe” section, He starts naming names when it comes to the places who are going to be judged more severely for rejecting Jesus.  What villages does He name…and do you find anything interesting about the places He mentions considering where He is when He says this?  As you read what Hes says, do you think there’s a difference between “never hearing” Jesus and “rejecting” Jesus?

Ugh!

1 Tim 2:8-15.  I’m not even going to comment on it here….come this Sunday, and see how Rob navigates through this passage without incurring death threats from either NOW or hard line Fundies! 

Come one, come all…step right up and see the preacher squirm!

Student ministry is a funny beast.  It’s a group of people that range in age from children to adults.  So, as you would expect there is a wide range of drama that goes with working within thit ministry.  It is inevitable that someone broke up with someone else or he has a crush on her, each weekend becomes an interesting roller coast of talks that really amount to mini counseling sessions.  Students love us, then they can’t stand us.  They run in the door to give us a hug and they roll their eyes when we correct them.  Needless to say student ministry can be a challenge, and I wouldn’t change it for the world!

You may not know this, but we have some of the most amazing students in Bay county attending Eastgate.  The range of awesomeness is staggering.  We have swimmers, track stars, wrestlers, brilliant chess players, surfers, readers, guitar players, mixed martial artists, and straight A students.  We have students who wholeheartedly love Jesus and we have students who are trying to figure this whole “faith thing” out.  We have all kinds, and that is an exciting thing for me.  The fact that youth are inviting friends, reaching out to bring truth to their buddies, is a brave and wonderful thing.

Last week we had a record 46 students at Crash.  I snapped the photo above during the worship set.  As you can see we had so many people in the youth room they had to sit on top of one another!

I write this not to brag on how cool our kids are or to tout the number of students who come but to ask you, the faithful of Eastgate, to pray.  In this day and age the Devil runs on full tilt, trying to grab a hold of the youth of this world.  He is cunning, and seemingly beautiful, but in reality he is a murderer of innocence and I don’t want him to get a hold of our kids.

So, if you have a prayer list I ask, no I beg, you to write down the youth of Eastgate.  Writed them down by name if you know any of them, and if you don’t by all means, get to know them because they truly are awesome.