You won't want to miss the next few weeks as Pastor Nick continues on the four week study of Revolutionary Christianity. This week, Pastor spoke about the four pillars that make a Revolutionary Christian. This weeks study focused on LOVE/Service. We can be the greatest people, do amazing things for charity but if we have not love; the bible says that all those "good deeds" are as filthy rags. Love is the authentic mark of a true Christian. Over the next few weeks we will look at the other pillars, (Generousity vs. Greed, Emersion vs. Exposure, and finally Participant vs. Spectator). Come check out the amazing Rock n' Roll style worship and come find true community at The Wake Church as we walk out our faith together.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Preview Services Begin!
The Wake Church is so excited to announce that we are beginning our preview services starting on January 17, 2010. We will be gathering at Cafe Culture located at 931 W. 5th Street Chico, CA 95926 at 2pm.
The time as you may have noticed is not common for most typical church services. Well, this fits in line with most of the thinking at The Wake because we are not a "typical" church. The generation and culture of people we are striving to affect is a group who, in our experience; is not too excited to get up early on Sunday mornings and go to church. The 2pm service time will help alleviate that objection thus making it easier for you to come and experience what God has in store for the city of Chico.
If you'd like to know more about The Wake Church, please visit our website at www.WakeChurch.com or call us at 530-588-0122.
Hope to see you there!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Creating Culture
Today was a remarkably memorable day in the life of a Church Planter. It wasn't that anything spectacular happened, it was just...productive. Now, everyday is productive but I mean productive in helping build and define the Culture that is and will be The Wake Church.
Far too often churches today are constantly seeking what culture is going to do next to see how we can find new ways to reject it. I for one, am excited by culture and want to help define it here in Chico.
A few realities hit me this week...
1. Statistics show that from the ages of 21 through 25 (primary years of college) is typically the time when a person will define who they are and what they serve. Meaning, by age 25; a person has in most cases made up their mind about God, Theology and spiritual things. Majority of students in that age bracket are more likely to either find new faith or walk away from one. WOW!!!!
And who said that reaching college students for Christ was too hard because all they want to do is party! NOO!!! Studies show that they are "prime" and seeking meaning to answers and questions about life, death and God. They are what farmers and even Jesus refers to as "Good Ground."
2. While a large portion of college students are opposed to church they are NOT opposed to discovering God.
As the church we should not be accepting these numbers and statistics and rolling over on them, but rather they should fuel our passion to ask questions like...Oh, I don't know WHY?? Why are college students unreceptive to church culture but open to an experience with God?
3. Christians and the practice of Christianity has taken a huge leap into the "Spiritually Arrogant" realm.
Have you heard someone say, "I'm not perfect, I'm just forgiven." Do you want to know what I think that is? A couple things, its a lazy excuse to justify actions that you know are contradictory to your core belief. And Secondly, what that phrase actually communicates to someone outside of the church is this...."I'm not perfect, I'm just better than you." When somebody doesn't match up to our spiritual bench marks we snidely say things like, "I'll pray for you." While I believe we should always be praying for our brothers and sisters, to say it as a last-word comeback communicates that you have a God-given authority to convict people and set them straight. It does not, in most cases; display our loving concern. How do you know they want you to pray for them? What would happen if we showed some common courtesy and said, "You know, it sounds like you and I have differences of opinions. Would it be okay if I prayed for you as you pray for me that God would reveal to each of us His eternal truths.
Lastly, I just want to say that I'm excited about creating a culture where people can come to experience God in a loving non-judgemental way. The church has a famous saying..."Come as you are!" But do we really believe that? Do we really accept people in their current state? It's more like....Come as you are but be prepared to make some serious changes otherwise you won't last around here.
Do feel like God is calling you to be part of a revolution? A LOVE Revolution that would over-take the City of Chico. I believe with all my heart that if we got back to the ONE and ONLY command Jesus left us, "Love One Another" then we wouldn't need to worry about convicting our friends, neighbors and co-workers. Because love leads to discovery, discovery leads to accessing God's goodness, and Access leads to faith!
Let me know what you think..
Saturday, October 17, 2009
The 5 Love Languages
Have you ever wondered, "What happens to love and romance after the wedding?" Has the "In-Love" feeling been just a vapor and now you are wondering how this could have happened in your marriage or relationship? How you once were so in love that you woke with each other on your minds and fell asleep thinking of them?
Chances are you have not learned the distinct Love Language that your spouse is relating to. You see, the "in-love" emotion is fleeting. People tell you things like, "I know this is THE ONE because we are soo in love!" Or you it will last when you are "truly" in love. The problem with that is that it is false information. If you do not come into a relationship or marriage with realistic expectations and prepare yourself to communicate in ways you may not have in years past, chances are you will have problems later.
The 5 Love Languages is a group study that we are doing on Tuesday nights at 7pm at the home of Pastor Nick & Jaime's. During this 7 week exploration we will help discover why our significant others act or respond the way they do when we try to express love the only way we know how. This will also challenge you to become bi-lingual in the relm of Love Linguistics so that you may experience a more fulfilled and joyful marriage or relationship.
Call us at 530-588-0122 for directions and details. You won't want to miss it!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Belonging Comes Before Believing
The simple power of belonging. Its amazing what can actually be done when a person feels like they belong somewhere. So often churches are found by seekers to be exclusive, membership only clubs where outsiders are only welcome once they've addressed the rules of engagement and have met a certain standard of social-economic living. If this is true, then there is no wonder why people aren't flocking to the doors of the church on Sunday mornings.
At The Wake Church, we welcome all to our family. We believe that belonging is the first step to believing. Without belonging then we are posing un-Christ-like rules and doctrine that people must first "be like us" before belonging to us.
We know that Jesus is the answer to the worlds problems. What better way to show this than through the expression of welcoming people how they are and where they are. God will begin the work inside of them through His holy spirit. It is not our job to "fix" people.
This is the culture that we want to create at The Wake Church. If you have questions or comments, we'd love to hear them.
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