Category: Uncategorized

 

Why?

• To stay connected and build relationships within our church family.
• To spread a little Christmas cheer this holiday season through photos.

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How to play!

1. Check out the photo a day list.
2. Take a photo or find a photo that relates to the item for that day….be creative!
3. Once you have taken the photo, share it with us on our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account (see below for more details).
4. Make sure to add #facphotofun so everyone can see your photo.
5. Check out everyone else’s photos.  You can browse through them on our Facebook group page, on instragram or on twitter….just look for the #facphotofun hashtag to see them all.

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Where to play?

• Instagram: Just upload your photo, use a fancy filter, add a caption and the hashtag #facphotofun and then share.
• Facebook: You will need to join our photo group at : http://www.facebook.com/groups/facphotofun/ .  Then you can post your pictures in there and comment on other peoples pictures.
• Twitter: You can share on Twitter by uploading the photo and sharing the hashtag #facphotofun.
• Check out faithapostolic.us weekly for the top 3 photos of each day.  Blog will be updated every Sunday.

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What do the prompts mean?

We want you to be creative, but in case you need a little help:

1. Red:  Find something red and share it with us.
2. Peace:  What makes you feel at peace?  What represents peace to you?
3. Play:  How did you find time to “play” today?
4. Message:  Receive a message that you made you smile?  Made you think?  Share with us.
5. Christmas Tradition:  Show us your favorite Christmas tradition.
6. I Collect…:  What do you collect?
7. In My Cupboard:  Share with us something cool from your cupboard.
8. Sunday Selfie:  Need permission for a selfie?  Here you go!
9. Someone I Miss:  Share with us someone you miss and let us know something about them.
10. Tree:  Your Christmas tree, the city’s Christmas tree, are you in the woods and see a tree?  Share with us.
11. 8 O’Clock:  8 AM, 8 PM…let us know what you’re doing.
12. Christmas Banquet/Party:  Let’s see a pic of your favorite Christmas banquet or party.  What a great way to get excited about our church Christmas party!
13. In My Pocket/Purse:  Show us something interesting in your purse or pocket.
14. L is for…:  Find something that starts with L and share it with us!
15. Night:  Be creative!
16. The Weather Today:  Let’s see what the weather is like where you are.
17. I’m Listening To:  What are you singing along to today?  Share it with all of us.
18. Lights:  Show us some pretty lights in your neck of the woods.
19. Christmas Memory:  Share with us a cherished Christmas Memory.
20. Joy:  What gives you joy?  Know someone named Joy?  Feel free to get creative with this one.
21. What I Ate:  Let us know how healthy, or unhealthy you were today!
22. Where I Stood Today:  Where are you currently standing?  Share with us.
23. Wrapped:  Take a pic of something wrapped…a present, a burrito…whatever works for you.
24. How I Celebrated Today:  Show us how you celebrated today.
25. Family:  What a perfect day to share a picture of your family with all of us!

We have been studying the Book of II Peter in our Wednesday evening Bible class.  Several times in chapter one, Peter uses the word “remembrance.”  He didn’t want the church to forget some important elements of our Christian faith.  Neither did He want them to forget what God had done in their lives.

As humans, we are so prone to forget.  God knows this.  That’s the purpose of the rainbow, the Passover celebration, the stones in the Jordan River, the Old Testament feasts, and so on.  And we know the New Testament sacrament of communion is for the purpose of stirring up our remembrance of the Cross and Blood of Jesus.

I don’t want to forget.  I don’t want to forget what God has done in my life.  I don’t want to forget about His grace that lifted me out of my mess.  I don’t want to forget where He has brought me from nor the promises of where He is taking me.

So what does forgetfulness have to do with Thanksgiving?  Forgetfulness leads to unthankfulness.  People who are unthankful have usually just forgotten – forgotten their blessings and where those blessings came from.  Unthankful people have usually just forgotten what their lives were like before Jesus changed them.

A mind that is filled with reflection on what God has done produces a heart that is thankful.  Someone asked me just today, “Do we really know how to live thankfully?”  I believe the way to live a thankful life is to often reflect on what God has done in our lives.

Thank you.  Those are two very powerful words.  Freely speaking them to the people in our lives brings encouragement and satisfaction to those people.  Let’s not forget to offer those words often to God as well.  The Lord has done so much for us that if we told the Lord “Thank You” each day, it would not be too much.  During this Thanksgiving season and throughout the year, let us daily “…Give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.” (1 Chronicles 16:34)

-Pastor Ball

 

Ps 75:1 – Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks , unto thee do we give thanks : for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare. KJV

 

Sunday morning I witnessed a miracle.  The morning after the George Zimmerman verdict, I watched the members of our multi-racial church worshipping God together in an unearthly unity.  They were singing, crying and praying together.  They worshipped side-by-side while demonstrating a deep, genuine love for one another. 

That level of unity would be rare even in a church made up of people who are all alike.  But what is more noteworthy is that Faith Apostolic Church is made up of over 15 nationalities from every conceivable background.  Blacks and whites, Republicans and Democrats, Hispanics and Africans, the homeless and the homeowners, Europeans and Asians, those with a GED and those with a PhD, fifth generation Apostolics and those new to the faith all call FAC home. 

If the Zimmerman verdict would have happened 15 years ago it would not have even been mentioned in our church.  We were a white, Republican, suburban church with a glaring sameness about us.  But God spoke prophetically to us that we would become an “Antioch” church.  And God said that we would not “look elsewhere for the model, but that we would be the model.”  God began to miraculously add a broad diversity of people to our church.  That diversity has brought many challenges.  No longer do we all think alike.  No longer do we all align ourselves on the same side of political issues.  No longer do we all feel the same way about things that are happening in our world.  Even in the context of our Apostolic faith, our cultural differences are stark.

The challenges we’ve faced in becoming a multicultural church over the last 15 years have seemed to intensify lately.  It’s felt like the division in our country has been trying to creep into the church. The spirits of division and racism that are rampant around us have been knocking on our door, wanting to come in and magnify our differences and provoke the ugliness of our fleshly natures. 

All of our differences have created a situation ripe for division in our church.  How can so many people who are so different ever love one another and live out their faith together?  Look at our divided society.  The division in our country has escalated to frightening levels.  Racial tension is at a boiling point.  The political division in Washington is so bad that many have lost faith in government.  Hopes that the election of a black president would ease racial tensions are waning.  Trayvon Martin’s death has further exacerbated the problem.  Society says unity is impossible.  Society shouts at a multicultural church and says, “You’ll never have unity!” 

But we do.  And it’s amazing. 

What we’re experiencing at FAC is truly miraculous.  But I can’t take credit for the unity we enjoy in our church.  It wasn’t any profound leadership skill on my part that created it.  It wasn’t that I wisely handled the culturally divisive issues in the church.  The challenges we’ve faced have often left me perplexed and struggling to find solutions.  When God asked Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel basically responded, “I really don’t know!”  I’ve felt the same way.  I’ve often wondered if it’s possible for us to really be joined together.  The realization that I am powerless to make it happen has been humbling.

Just like in Ezekiel’s story – it is the Spirit of God that has brought our church unity.  It was the moving of the Spirit in Ezekiel 37 that joined together the fragmented bones and made them a body.  Paul said to the Corinthian church, “For by one Spirit are you baptized into one body.”  On Sunday I shared with the congregation that we must have a move of the Holy Ghost because it is only the Spirit that can make a multicultural church one body.  This is especially true on the heels of a controversial verdict. 

The solution to division is the Spirit of God.  The enemy seeks to divide and fragment, but the Spirit of God brings broken pieces together.  The Spirit joins us as one.  Hatred, discord, jealousy, envy and rage are works of the flesh.  But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, longsuffering and gentleness.  The reason there is so much division in our society is because society has largely forsaken the very thing that produces unity – God’s Spirit. 

The church should be a “city on a hill.”  The church should be a model to the world of how we can be diverse yet joined in love and unity.   The miracle that God has done at Faith Apostolic is not that He’s made us all alike – it’s that, in spite of our differences, He’s made us one.  At FAC, recognizing and celebrating our differences does not undermine our unity but rather epitomizes what the Spirit of God has done among us.  A racially divided country should be able to look at a multicultural, Apostolic church and see that there is hope.  

The answer to our country’s division is the Spirit of God.

Pastor Matthew Ball

Check out Sunday’s Message on this subject entitled, “The Moving of the Spirit Creates Unity”  in our sermon archives 

Our theme at FAC for the New Year is “Back to the Basics.”  Life can be complicated.  The challenges we face every day are not usually simple.  In our pursuit of the abundant life that Jesus promised, we often search for solutions and approaches that are as complicated as those challenges of life that we face!  The irony is that our spiritual success is usually found in giving ourselves to the basics of Christianity.  The simple aspects of being His disciple is usually were the victory is found!

Jesus taught in Matthew 22:40 that the entirety of the Law and Prophets can be summed up with this:

     – Love God with all Your Heart

     – Love your Neighbor as Yourself

Throughout the New Year our preaching and teaching will be focused on 5 themes that stem from loving God and loving our neighbor: Prayer, devotion, faithfulness (loving God), serving and sharing our faith (loving our neighbor).  Getting back to the basics of our Christian faith will bring spiritual growth to our lives, families and church.  The basics of Christianity are where we find joy, peace and fulfillment.  In 2013, it’s “Back to the Basics!”

We just finished up our annual Ten Days of Prayer & Consecration. What a great way to start a new year!

So many great things happened during our season of prayer. The Lord really did a work of restoring much-needed joy, peace and unity to our church. But what I took away more than anything from this season of prayer was an overwhelming sense of excitement and anticipation about 2013. I realize that I’m the eternal optimist and you may be saying right now, “Oh, Pastor, I’ve hear this every January!” But this sense of anticipation is widespread throughout the church. It’s amazing how many people have shared with me how they feel the same thing.

Not only has the last ten days been awesome, but in the last 6 weeks the level of intensity in worship, unity, prayer and spiritual gifts in our services has been really, REALLY good. If the last 6 weeks and the first ten days of the year is any indication of what’s in store for us in 2013, you’d better fasten your seat-belt and get ready for a year of unprecedented growth and revival!

God wants YOU to be a part of what He is going to do in 2013. I believe this can be the BEST YEAR ever of your walk with GOD! I believe God can do amazing in you and in your family.

At FAC we are committed to helping you reach your fullest potential as a Christian. I want to do everything I can as your pastor to equip and empower you to be what God has called you to be.

Don’t stay on the sidelines! Make a commitment today to put God and FAC first in your life. Make a decision today that you and your family will jump in and be involved and faithful. Make the weekend service at FAC and mid-week Bible study a priority this year.

2012 is gone.  We’ve turned the page on the old and have begun a new chapter. Regardless of our mistakes, regrets, failures or inconsistencies of the past, today is the first day of the rest of this new year.  Let us fully embrace and commit to what God desires do through us in 2013!  May we give ourselves wholly and completely to His purpose.

This Sunday, I’ll be preaching about the “Restoration of Joy.” Don’t miss out on what the Lord is sure to do among us. I’ll see you Sunday.one. We’ve turned the page on the old and have begun a new chapter. Regardless of our mistakes, regrets, failures or inconsistencies of the past, today is the first day of the rest of this new year. Let us fully embrace and commit to what God desires do through us in 2013! May we give ourselves wholly and completely to His purpose.

– Pastor Ball