Did you ever watch the show “Super Nanny?” When my children were small I remember my wife and I watching that show trying to soak in all of the tips on how NOT to raise a brat.  We watched one episode where a 6-year old child is yelling at her dad to "Give me my toy back!" and the frustrated father yells back, "Give me my life back!" I remember laughing but I also remember feeling bad for each. (On a side note, I'm so glad all of my parenting moments have not been on camera.)                                                                

                   I tend to believe that the measurement of your parenting can only be made when your children are in their upper teens, early 20's. When I see this age group doing well, being respectful, well-mannered and reliable, I immediately think of what a great job the parent(s) did. This is the timeframe where it all comes to fruition, where all of the discipline they enforced and the love they shared becomes evident. This is where they can exhale (just a bit). *For the record, this is not always the case. Some great parents have had some really difficult kids. It's not the end all.

                    I talk to people all the time about parenting. No parent of the 1970's can teach all there is to know to the parents of the 20(teens). It's very different. Parents in the 70's were concerned with very different things than this generation of parenting is. Although when we hear of kids in the front seat, candy cigarettes, no sun screen, parts (see below), drinking from a hose and no seat belts, maybe we really shouldn't be listening to them anyway.

                  Today, for me as a parent, I'm most concerned with this media exposure. I'm sure most of you are as well. I feel as though we really will not know the damage all of these will create in our children until it's too late. I see kids all the time with free unlimited access to different media outlets (Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, etc.) They look up things on Google (sometimes not good things). Some of them see images we didn't see until we were in our 20's (or ever!). Each image is shaping them. Some are images that create a desire for more images, and so on and so on. I remember a while back when my daughter was into gymnastics. She was looking at videos on YouTube of some of these and I saw from over her shoulder on the right of the screen some "recommended videos". One was titled something along the lines of 'gymnastics gone wrong' where someone either breaks a leg or gets hurt in some capacity. Thankfully I was there and she didn't see an image that would've taken a while (maybe never) to erase from her brain. 

EPHESIAN 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.

                 I really don't know how I'm doing as a parent right now. I do see a lot of weaknesses but one of them is not the passivity of media use. We have strict rules at home in regards to this. It doesn't mean they haven't seen things they shouldn't have with other friends or in other atmospheres. We do our best but I can't be with them at school functions, sporting or recreational events, friend's houses for parties or on the bus. (This is where they have shared with me some of the stuff others are looking at) I can't control everything but I do know one way in which all of you as parents of younger kids can help: Set up some real strict guidelines on access to these media outlets! Try doing this, you will help my wife and I, along with many other parents! Instead of hearing how "my friend 'so and so' gets to bring her iPhone everywhere and has Snapchat and Instagram", I'd love to hear, "Yes, my friend doesn't have an iPhone either and is not allowed to have an account" It would be a lot easier for us to parent without the comparisons and the "it's not fair" conversations.

                 I know this is not easy. In fact, some of you will say it's 'too late in the game'. Your kids have an Instagram account that they will tell you they can't close because their friend (who they see every day) will wonder what they're up to. The friends are eagerly awaiting the next filtered selfie. They won't be able to talk to you until tomorrow! 

                I don't think it's too late. I think it's a great time to start. It comes with a conversation. A conversation clearly communicating that this decision is because you love them not because you love hearing, "I'm bored." 

Any advice here? I would love to hear it. Comment below or email me Rich@fellowshipchurchct.com

| Stepping on Legos |

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Have you ever walked around your house in the dark?  Even in familiar surroundings, it's a little nerve-wracking. You worry, “Am going to walk into a wall or run into a chair or worse,

step

        on a

               LEGO?!”

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     Next steps can be frightening especially when shrouded with uncertainty. Whether you’re exploring your faith, a recent follower of Christ or a long time believer in Him; you’re on a faith journey, and God is always leading us toward a next step.

     Everyone’s next step is different. It may be to begin reading the Bible. Maybe it’s to schedule time to read the Bible and pray at a specific time and place each day. Other “next steps” include choosing to forgive someone, being more generous with your time, words and resources or maybe choosing honesty over exaggeration?

     When you invite Christ into your heart and life, everything changes. He always meets you where you are and then takes you to places you’ve never been.  Here at Fellowship Church we describe this using the phrase, “moving up and to the right”.  Salvation requires faith, but the difference maker trusts and believes that God has their best intention at heart, and makes decisions to build on that faith.  

     Sure there’ll be distractions and we’ll not be perfect along this journey. Don’t be discouraged; rather, take courage. If you commit to God and make it a habit of saying “yes” to Him, He will do more in and through you than you would ever imagine. 

     So, what’s your next step?  What is God prompting you to do? I know this; it’s unique to you and it’s for your best and the best of those around you. So why not take it?

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

 - Proverbs 3:5-6

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Let this be our prayer today...

     Thank you God for meeting me where I am, but loving me enough to not allow me to stay there.  If I’m honest, faith is sometimes scary.  Please instill me with your power and courage.  Give me insight to understand your will for my life.  Thank you for the hope of Easter!  Help me to live in such a way that will always bring honor and joy to You. In Jesus’ name.

- Amen -

| Would Anyone Notice? |

“If your church ceased to exist today would anyone in your local community notice?” 

That question set us on a quest to engage more fully with the needs of our city and the surrounding communities. Part of being a follower of Jesus is imitating Him. Jesus set the example for us when he took notice and served those in greatest need around Him.

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“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others

and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:45

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     Fellowship has always had a heart for those who are not here yet, but in recent years we have prayed for and pursued opportunities and partnerships within our local community with greater purpose to make a tangible difference.  God is answering those prayers and lives are being changed as hope is dispensed through volunteer hours and loads of generosity.

Maybe we can’t fix everyone, but we can love them by meeting some basic needs. 

Through love, attention and care we can provide light in a dark place.

      Through this journey, we’re learning that we’re all broken and in need of God’s grace in one way or another.  Some forms of brokenness look different than others. As we enjoy and are committed to, making a difference through many local partners in our community, God is teaching us that meeting the needs of people who are right in front of us is a sacred privilege.  It seems that’s what serving does – it opens our eyes to notice people we’ve not seen before and enlarges our hearts to care.

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“For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.”

2 Corinthians 4:6

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     As we ponder our blessings this Easter and the hope that comes from the resurrection of Jesus, let’s ask ourselves, “Who is that one person in my life who would benefit from extra care, support and love?”

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Let this be our prayer today…

Thank you God for giving me the ability to help those within our community who are in need.  Help me to share the Good News of Jesus as I serve others.  May my care and actions be a light in an otherwise dark situation.  Expand my heart to serve and love others as Jesus did.  Show me how I can make a difference to those around me starting today.  Thank you for the example of your Son, Jesus. 

- Amen -

It's So Easy to Feel Stressed

Marcel Farrington

     Getting ready for Easter at the workplace can be stressful, especially if we find ourselves in conflict with customers, colleagues or the boss. God gave us things like exercise, healthy food and vacations to help us manage everyday stress, but there is more that we can do to actually begin feeling that peace that Jesus wants for us and not just at Easter.

Faith is your best tool for defeating stress and from being or getting stuck. 

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“Work hard and cheerfully at whatever we do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” -Colossians 3:23

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     Easter is a great reminder of Jesus power over death by resurrecting from the dead on the third day. He died a horrific death and paid the ultimate sacrifice with His life so that we could have the hope of eternal life with Him. His victory is our victory! It’s important that we remember that our lives are not our own but the Lords. This can be hard to remember at times when we’re working.

Here’s a couple of things that have helped me:

Tool #1

| Prayer |

     We develop a relationship with anyone by talking to them; Jesus is no different. Prayer helps you build your relationship with God. Bring Him your worries, concerns and stresses in daily prayer. God doesn’t want us to stress out, and we get a lot of advice to that effect in Scripture.

“Do not be anxious about anything.”

- Philippians 4:6 says,

“Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?

- Matthew 6:27 asks

      And who can forget the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:41), where Jesus tells Martha to slow down? “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. . .

 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

- Philippians 4:6-7

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Tool #2

| Gratitude |

      Stress is often caused by worrying over something you want. It’s fine to want things, but make sure to Take time to thank God for the things that you do have like your family, health, friends, work, home, clean water, Church, clothing, car, flowers, sunshine, fresh air and more. As you cultivate the virtue of gratitude, you may find yourself wanting less, and therefore stressing out less. Maybe even try smiling a little more too.. I like to call it cheesing.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

- Romans 12:1

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Tool #3

| Whistling |

      What? Yes, whistling. Years ago when I worked in a machine shop on occasion I would be whistling one of my favorite spiritual songs and sometimes was asked why I was so happy. It was because Jesus changed everything for me. Who knows this might be your opening to share your hope in Jesus.

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Take a Moment to Pray

“ Father in Heaven I praise You for Your goodness and mercy that you have shown me through Your Son Jesus. Help me to continually be filled with Hope and Joy as I serve You, my Family, the work place and in my Community each and every day. May you help me to be bold in inviting people to an Easter service and to always share the hope that you have given me.”

— In Jesus Name, Amen

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Here is a link to a song. I hope you find as meaningful as I do about God’s love for us.

BEING THE CHURCH

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Only one investment will last from today until eternity and that’s the church.

     No system of government, business, or para-church organization has ever lasted as long as the church. After all, Jesus is the one who founded it and said in Matthew 16:18 that “all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”

When the local church is working right, there is nothing more powerful and breathtaking in the world.

Ultimately, the church is the people - the church is the hands and feet of Jesus. 

     It’s the place where lost people are found, where people grow to love Jesus more, where addicts are set free, where the excluded are included, where the hopeless find hope, where marriages are restored, where forgiveness is extended and where God gets the glory for it all.  However, all of this only happens when the people of the church choose to remain faithful to it. 

Yes, God is in charge. 

But we have to understand that God works through people who work, through action. There is no doubt that Fellowship Church is a church that is working right. However, it is only possible through faithful leaders and members who serve committed. 

Though the church as a whole will never be conquered, there is constantly spiritual warfare taking place within the lives of the individuals who make up the church.

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For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

- Ephesians 6:12

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Easter is often called the Super Bowl of Christianity.

We always anticipate God showing up and lives being saved. It’s an opportunity where those who aren’t “church-goers” to be open to attend. Consequently, this time can be a time where we sense more spiritual warfare as a church. Not only for individuals in the church, but for the whole process of before, during, and after our Easter services. 

     All the prayers we read in the New Testament are specially focused on the church. After all, most of the New Testament consists of letters written to specific churches. Within each of these letters it seems that the Apostle Paul never forgets to mention that he is praying for their church.

““Prayer is where the action is.””

— John Wesley

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We can never underestimate the

power of praying for our church. 

     As we prepare ourselves for Easter this week, may today be the day where we pray for our church. More specifically may we pray for those serving in the Easter services, our church leaders and staff, and our guests who will be joining us. 

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So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do.

-2 Thessalonians 1:11

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- some things to pray about -

 

• Pray for each service held at our church. 

• Pray there will be a record number of visitors.

• Pray that our guests feel welcomed and comfortable. 

• Pray lives will be saved, rededicated, and changed.

• Pray marriages will be saved and families will be restored.

• Pray for Pastor Andy as he prepares and communicates God’s Word.

• Pray for Marcel and the worship team as they prepare the worship.

• Pray for volunteers who will be serving as greeters at the doors,

in the  parking lot, and behind the coffee bar

.

• Pray for those serving in the children’s ministry,

that they would clearly  communicate the message of Easter to our kids.

• Pray for the health of those who you know are sick in our church

and that  their sickness will not hinder them from joining us this Easter. 

• Pray for the technology and those controlling it.

• Pray for unity within our church.

• Pray for an effective follow-up the days and weeks after Easter.

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For further study, Click Here to read an article about how the Apostle Paul prayed for churches and discover how we can pray for our church like he did.  

Also, take a look at this spoken word video of what the Church is and isn’t. 

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SHARING OUR HOPE

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     When you go to a great movie, what do you do? Rave to everybody you know.. 

                 "You've got to see this movie!"

You buy something cool, and you submit a five-star rating on Amazon. And if you’ve ever gone to Joey Garlic’s, you're like -

"You've got to try their eggplant fries; they’ll change your life!"

   When we taste and experience something amazing, we publicize, use lots of exclamation points, and talk endlessly about it. But what about the hope within us? For those of us who are Christ-followers, we have complete forgiveness, freedom from sin, new life in Christ, and we claim it's the best thing that's ever happened to us. And yet, we're tempted to keep that part of our life private.

     Here's where many of us get hung-up. Before we share about the difference Jesus has made in out lives, we feel like we have to have all the answers, that we have to memorize some convincing verses and provide a powerful explanation of the gospel that will instantaneously sway them into faith.

     But have you ever thought to take the approach like you would with a great movie or a amazing eggplant fries? "Just go and check it out." Simple as that. No drawn-out explanation. No dissertation on prophecy, evolution, and the end times. Nothing time-consuming or in-depth. Just straightforward uncomplicated, and definitely not pushy. Just come with me to church and experience Jesus on your own. Then, you can decide for yourself if he's the One you should trust.

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Let's change our idea of what sharing our hope should look like, and just be real in our invitation. When we do, God will use our effort and do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.

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LET THIS BE OUR PRAYER TODAY:

Thank you, God, for never giving up on me and for the truth that your love will always find me no matter what life brings. Don't let what You’ve done in my life stop with me.  I want to be a conduit of Your love so that others may experience true joy and peace that only comes from you.  Lord, use me to reach _________. They matter to You and therefore, they matter to me.

In Jesus’ name, 

Amen. 

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As a bonus, you may want to take the next few days to read about the final week of Jesus’ life.  It’s recorded in Luke 19-23. There’s a short video describing the events that you may want to view first.  I hope it makes this week and your time with God meaningful.

 

It was within my first couple of months of ministry. In my 'amazing creativity' I came up with an idea for an obstacle course called "The Goliath" for our outside service called the Last Blast. It was a run through the woods with jumps, monkey bars and tires. Everyone seemed to love the idea. I was on cloud nine! I felt as though this really generated some enthusiasm and people really enjoyed it.....until sadly, someone got injured. One of our teens (at the time) fell off a monkey bar ladder obstacle (in retrospect, not very safe). Immediately the course is shut down, there's a crowd gathering and my 'amazing creative' idea was now 'a liability'. 

Earlier in the day, to start my 'cloud nine' feeling, I was blessed with this incredible memorable moment where I got to baptize my beautiful daughter, Sadie. I was so proud of her! Here she was at this young age, willing to go public with her faith in front of hundreds of people! What a moment! I was ecstatic! Fast forward 2 hours later, someone gets hurt and I'm deflated.

The ups and downs of this day taught me so much. First of all, this is life. This is life with Christ as well. Some of us feel as though once we accept Jesus into our hearts, life becomes easier. Not necessarily. Although deep down at our core I do believe it does. When we, as believers,  understand that through Christ this world is temporary and we have eternity to look forward to, it really should change our perspective. Our highs and lows in life are not forever and through them we learn so much.

Another thing I learned that day was the eternal outweighs the worldly. Yes, someone got hurt at this obstacle course and I did wonder if I'd lose my job or even if we'd face a lawsuit (the girl who fell is a sweetheart and handled things incredibly!) but the eternal perspective was that my daughter was just baptized! Although young, I truly felt and still do feel that she loves Jesus.  We all know that this is not easy today in a world that continues to push God away and wonders why this world is falling apart. 

Everyone of us should think with eternity in mind. Otherwise, life can certainly get you down.

Easter is coming! We get to celebrate a risen God....what other religion can boast this? A resurrected Savior! The Hope of the world. This Easter we also get to celebrate life change where others, like these pics show, go public with their faith and be baptized. There's reason to celebrate! 

2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

What decisions are you making today based on eternity? Is this Easter the time for you to make the best decision of your life and go public with your faith through baptism? 

GUEST BLOGGER: Ed Hickman

Recently my identity was stolen and used. I have never experienced anything like this before. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I wasn’t mad....really mad. Then there was fear. How much did they get? I was also feeling violated. How far did they go?  So I decided to write them an open letter. Here it is:

To The Person(s) Who Stole My Identity,

First and foremost I would like you to know I forgive you!

This has been nothing short of a nightmare that I wish had never happened, however it did. As the smoked cleared and the dust had settled I had time to ponder what transpired. Let's start with time. It's the one thing you got from me that I will never get back. But I still forgive you. I'm starting to ask myself how could someone bring themselves to be this evil and ruthless. The answer that I got wasn’t one most would expect. You see I started to feel sorry for you. In fact, I am currently praying for you. Understand this, this praying for you wouldn't have happened years ago.  I didn’t always love the Lord like I do now. But thankfully, someone loved me enough to be praying for me. You see, you messed with the wrong guy here because I have an army of others that will be praying for you! Things are about to change for you. Jesus commands us to love our enemy and pray for the lost.

Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”

You and I aren’t that different, we are both sinners and Jesus can forgive you too. I want to believe that your intent wasn’t to harm or hurt me. I believe it was more just to get things that aren’t yours. If I don’t forgive you and continue to carry the anger towards you it will become like an anchor and I would be enslaved to it. That's certainly not appealing to me. I also don’t want to be a hypocrite. 

Matthew 6: 14   For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

Trust me I have a lot to be forgiven for. So know this, I will probably never know what drives you, but know that you are loved and forgiven. I will probably never meet you but that’s ok too. I am praying for you to make better choices. God loves you as He loves me. One of my favorite verses is (and I am sure you see it a lot) John 3:16   For God so loved the world (that includes you) that he sent his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

So I’ll leave you with this. Don’t let yesterday keep you from doing today what can’t wait till tomorrow. 

Make better choices. Choose God and watch what happens. 

Sincerely,

One Who Understands God's Love For People

Ed Hickman