Unhandy Andy

I'm not able to fix anything - in fact I've renamed myself "unhandy andy" when it comes to anything that needs fixed.

For example, my car has been making this noise (pretty descriptive huh) so I took it to a mechanic I've grown to trust.

He popped the hood and quickly diagnosed the problem and with a tweak and a twist my 4Runner wasn't making the noise. Cool.
I'm glad I went.

Isn't that like us? Maybe our life isn't running the way it should and we decide we need to take it to God. You know you can trust Him! And the amazing thing about placing your life in God's hands in that he can always diagnose the problem and with a few tweaks and twists have you back on the right road going the right direction.

This past week we had several first time guests at C1 and after church I was talking to one of them and they said, "I'm glad I went to church today."

Bringing your life to God so he can fix your flaws isn't a sign of weakness. It's a sign of wisdom.

I could have just let my car continue making that noise and in a few months be really paying for it.

How about you? Are you showing weakness or wisdom?

The wise meet at C1 this Sunday at 10:30 AM

Great Day

Yesterday was a great day!

My wife, Beth celebrated her birthday - thank you for the cards, gifts, cake, & to Renee & Liz for the party!

My church is growing - thank you for inviting your friends - we were almost at 200 again yesterday!

My kids are so cool - we went to a community soccer event. It was a shoot out - where you have to kick the ball through different size goals. There were about 100 kids down at the park. Gabriel won his age division and Brooklyn placed second her in age division. They each got tropheys! I think Gabriel slept with his...

I think great days are a great opportunity to remind ourselves how great God is. He takes such good care of us.

510 kids!

Got to spend the day with over 500 kids! Beth and I volunteered to help the local elementary school's year end fun day.

It was great hanging out with people and leading my 'little turtles' (that was the group I was assigned to) to victory.

What's so amazing about hanging out with people is when they find out I'm a pastor, they say things like, 'you seem so normal,' and 'you don't look like a preacher.'

I think too often the world has this view of pastors or christians and to be honest it's usually not positive.

My goal is to positively influence this community for Christ and it all starts with one relationship.

So let me ask you: Who did you influence today?

Trust

We make thousands of decisions a day. In fact it's been estimated that about every ten seconds you make a decision. Take a minute...see if that's accurate.

Do I answer the phone?
Should I buy this?
Where am I eating lunch?
This shirt or that shirt?
What's the square root of 64?
Why did they do that?

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

There are a few big decisions that will determine the quality and direction of our lives and it's during those times that we are faced with another decision.

Do I give this to God or give in to the temptation to do it on my own?

I think with each big decision comes the temptation of can God be trusted.

Can God be trusted with my finances?
Can God be trusted with my future?
Can God be trusted with my family?

I have learned that if I can trust God with small things I certainly can trust Him with the BIG things.

The issue is never the decision, the issue is do you trust God.

The decision is yours...

Thank You Teachers!

Just droppped off an end of the year gift to every teacher, staff, employee of the Conneaut School system.

It's C1s way of saying "thank you" for another great year of investing in our kids!

I believe that C1 Church is called to be a positive influence in our community and that happens best when we reach outside of our church walls and build relationships.

The value of building relationships is so important because of the investment you can have in someone's life.

Jesus took the time to hang out with the non-church crowd often and b/c of his example I want C1 Church to do the same.

How about you - are you building bridges with those God has put in your life? Your neighbors, your co-workers, the parents of your child's little league team...trust me people will notice and your impact will be long lasting!

Priorities

What's most important to you?

That's acutally the wrong question to ask...when it comes to life the right priorities will give you the right perspective.

When I was in High School one of my Final Exams was to learn how to juggle. If I learned, I got an A. If I didn't learn, I got an F.

I learned but in life I've been struggling with juggling ever since.

A lot of us are trying to juggle control our lives and call the shots and if we're honest with ourselves, we're not doing a very good job keeping everything in the air.

Trying to do it all is a formula for frustration.

We need to allow the One who created us to have access to our lives. When we decide to make God a prioritiy in our lives he'll give us focus and direction.

So if you, like me, are struggling with juggling, look at your priorities and see if you're living a "what's important to me" life or a "what's important to God" life.

I'm going to go practice my juggling!

Next Step

I met last night with our leadership team at C1. I love vision and we sat and discussed the vision and next step @ C1 for a little over three hours! Three vision packed hours! I walked away from that meeting excited and ready to trust God for the next step. When it comes to your life are you excited about where God is taking you? Are you trusting Him to take to you a place maybe you haven't been yet?

How will you know if your vision is a 'next step' one...easy...can you accomplish or can it only be accomplished through God's favor and blessing?

Coming soon to C1 - a vision that only God could accomplish! I'm excited and ready to trust!