I’ve Moved

I have moved my blog to www.chrisemmitt.com

John Valenzuela Interview

Have Patience

Waiting is not fun is it? I mean who really enjoys waiting? But it seems like we can spend a lot of our time waiting. We wait in traffic, we wait for a table at a restaurant, we even wait for our NetFlix to arrive in the mail. Since we do so much waiting in our lives, why is it so hard for us to do?

There is an old children’s song that goes:

Have patience, have patience, don’t be in such a hurry, when you get in patient you only start to worry… (Imagine a cute song to accompany the words)

Psalm 27:14 – Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!

It takes boldness and confidence to wait in our lives. We want things now and worry when we don’t get them. Like any great hitter in baseball, we need to wait on the right pitch. Don’t swing too early. Wait on it, trust in the Lord, and He will show you when to swing.

CBC@1 Notes for 7/5/09

Philippians 1:1-11

No How

We all get email forwards, but when we get a personal letter it really means something. Philippians is a direct letter to the church at Phillipi from the Apostle Paul.

1)      Who – God. Ch. 1:6

1. Paul says “I am certain that God” – are you certain that it’s God in your life?
2. Paul was forgotten about in prison and was certain.
3. If we forget who is working, trouble happens
4. Paul is still certain of what Christ did for us on the cross.

2)      What – God began, will continue, and will complete His work in us Ch. 1:6

1. Beginning is fun, completing is work.
2. God is not finished in your lives
3. I don’t care where you are at, if you are alive and a Christian then God is molding and shaping you.

3)      When – When Christ Jesus Returns Ch. 1:6

1. Don’t get complacent
2. You are not finished until you are shaking the hand of Jesus
3. He is the potter and we are the clay: if we get rigid God will break us, He is not finished until He says so.

4)      No How – There is no how in this verse. God is working in each of us differently, He is not a machine. This is a relationship not a religion. So what is our responsibility?

1. Ch. 1:9-11
2. Grow in knowledge and live out in your life.
3. Don’t get so full of knowledge that you become full of yourself
4. Balance education with service

Close:  Paul tells us who, what, when, but no how. God is moving in each of us differently. Our job is to grow in knowledge and to live it our in our daily lives.

Blowin’ it up

While this weekend you are blowin’ it up at your house with fireworks, Community Bible Church will be blowin’ it up all weekend with 6 services! That’s right, 6 services, 3 preachers, your choice.

Check out Robert Emmitt on Saturday at 5pm, Sunday at 9:15am, or Sunday at 11am.

Check out John Valenzuela on Sunday at 9:15am, or Sunday at 11am.

Check out Chris Emmitt (me writing in the 3rd person) on Sunday at 1pm.

Three different preachers, three different sermons, three different worship styles.

The one thing we will all have in common is that we will be teaching the Bible in a practical way and worshipping God through powerful music. Come this weekend and check out one, three, or all six!

Learn it and Live it

Philippians 1:9-11 ⁹ I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. ¹⁰ For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. ¹¹ May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ — for this will bring much glory and praise to God. 

Paul tells us to grow in knowledge and understanding and to live it out in our daily lives. A lot of times we can find ourselves constantly filling ourselves with knowledge, but not living it out. Grow in knowledge yes – but live it out in the world you work and play in.

Let me encourage you not to get so full of knowledge, that you become full of yourself! I hope that the people around you will be blessed by your character and the life you live for Jesus Christ.

Choose the Photo

The Lord gave me this thought this morning:

Given the choice to go down as a hero in the history books or as a hero in the family photo books…….

Choose the photo books.

Play the Game

I was talking with my friend John Valenzuela at lunch today and he said something that stuck in my head. He said the thing that impresses him the most about the boys he coaches is that they play the game no matter what. They work, practice, and sweat to play a game that they might lose. Regardless of the odds they give it all they got.

Then he said that sometimes when God asks us to play the game, we ask: “What are the chances of us winning? Is there a chance we might get hurt? How hard is this going to be?” Instead, we ought to say: “Great coach, put me in!”

Ecclesiastes 9:10 says: Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.

God is not guaranteeing a win, nor does He guarantee you won’t get hurt. All He asks is that you play the game with all you got.

No How

Philippians 1:6 says: And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

In this verse there is a Who, a What, and a When.

The Who; is God. The What; is that He began and will continue His work in you and me. The When; is that He will finish His work when Jesus comes back. Here is the interesting thing, there is no How. God is working in each of our lives differently. He knows our individual situations and circumstance, and works according to our needs. He reveals himself to us in different ways that minister to our lives individually. God is not some machine stamping out cookie cutter miracles. He is personally involved in each of our lives, and He cares for us individually.

Be encouraged that no matter what circumstance or situation you find yourself in, God is still working on you. Paul starts off this verse by writing “And I am certain…” He didn’t begin by stating that possibly God is working, or I think God might be doing this, Paul says that he is certain and you and I should be too.

Block Party

I just got finished going to my first neighborhood block party. It was a lot of fun! I highly recommend getting to know your neighbors. I am usually the guy that the pulls in and out of the garage without saying two words to my neighbors, but that is gonna change. I was able to meet a lot of them tonight and they are all really great people. I even found out that our HOA (which usually puts a bad taste in my mouth) kept us from being annexed by the city for another 25 years! That is a huge savings in taxes.

Anyway, I just want to suggest to try to get out and meet your neighbors, I know it is old fashioned, but maybe it is time that we bring back the Mayberry feeling!