Fresh Start

Thank you FAC for standing strong in 2011. Thank you for representing Jesus at home and in your community. Thank you for honoring His Name and standing in awe of Him (Malachi 2:5). I am currently working through a small group devotional on the book of Malachi and find myself compelled by God's challenge to the priests to walk in deep reverence before Him. True worship, true service, real ministry flows out of a right attitude, a true fear of God. Live in awe of Him and it will spill over into every part of life. I look forward (with a deep awareness of my own personal and spiritual vulnerability) to see how this lives out in my life and in our Church community in 2012.

We start new and fresh in 2012. Kris Gerow begins his ministry as Youth Director January 4th. Elise Bacon begins also in January as assistant to Lera in our children's ministry. Elise comes with a degree from Bryan College in Music and Christian Ministry. She will also be working part time at Trimont Christian Academy. Welcome Elise to the staff of FAC! Below is a listing of our staff so you can be in prayer for us in 2012:

Senior Pastor: Mitch Schultz

Director of Worship: Dr. James Cascarelle

Director of Youth Ministry: Kris Gerow

Director of Children's Ministry: Lera Hesselbirg

Assistant to Children's Ministry: Elise Bacon

Bookkeep/Treasurer: Don Swanson

I sure look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday

Pastor mitch

Mitch Schultz

828-371-3589

http://mitchandreschultz.blogspot.com

Fresh Start

Thank you FAC for standing strong in 2011. Thank you for representing Jesus at home and in your community. Thank you for honoring His Name and standing in awe of Him (Malachi 2:5). I am currently working through a small group devotional on the book of Malachi and find myself compelled by God's challenge to the priests to walk in deep reverence before Him. True worship, true service, real ministry flows out of a right attitude, a true fear of God. Live in awe of Him and it will spill over into every part of life. I look forward (with a deep awareness of my own personal and spiritual vulnerability) to see how this lives out in my life and in our Church community in 2012.

We start new and fresh in 2012. Kris Gerow begins his ministry as Youth Director January 4th. Elise Bacon begins also in January as assistant to Lera in our children's ministry. Elise comes with a degree from Bryan College in Music and Christian Ministry. She will also be working part time at Trimont Christian Academy. Welcome Elise to the staff of FAC! Below is a listing of our staff so you can be in prayer for us in 2012:

Senior Pastor: Mitch Schultz

Director of Worship: Dr. James Cascarelle

Director of Youth Ministry: Kris Gerow

Director of Children's Ministry: Lera Hesselbirg

Assistant to Children's Ministry: Elise Bacon

Bookkeep/Treasurer: Don Swanson

I sure look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday

Pastor mitch

Mitch Schultz

828-371-3589

http://mitchandreschultz.blogspot.com

There Are Two Things Going On

There is always more going on than what you see. That is where faith comes in. Joseph and Mary were ordered by Caesar to go to Bethlehem, only because he was looking to enlarge his already inflated ego by taking a census of his already too big empire. Behind the scenes however, something bigger was going on. Someone else was pulling the strings. A grander purpose was being carried out and suddenly, next to God's grand scheme, Caesar looks so small. Its good to get in the habit whenever something you don't like happens, (like when Caesar tells you to travel 75 miles to Bethlehem when you are pregnant and all you have is a donkey to travel on), to immediately assume God has something bigger in mind. This weeks' sermon from Luke 2:1-7 is entitled "There Are Two Things Going On". What we see, what seems, contrast with what actually is, can actually be exciting.

GOD DOES HIS OWN THING

This Sunday I will be looking at Matthew 2:1-9 and the topic of my sermon is GOD DOES HIS OWN THING. Someone commented this morning (cynically I might add) that we should have two different seasons to celebrate Christmas. One to quench that insatiable lust for stuff and the other to purely honor the birth of our savior. Its hard to do both at the same time, isn't it? God did not try to fit Jesus into the materialistic sin sick muck of our world. What he did was so other than the world. What he did was upsetting to the world. It challenged the world and confronted those in the world and gave men and women a choice. People like Herod looked for ways to kill him, but then you had "kings from the east" who gave up everything worldly because they could not wait to bow down to him. Really, when it comes down to it, you can't have Jesus and all this. We have quiet a choice to make.

I sure look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday.

Pastor Mitch

Jesus'ing Alone? Is it Possible?

Dear Brothers and Sisters of FAC

Someone shared with me recently that they almost gave up on Church until they started attending FAC. I was encouraged but saddened by this. Encouraged of course that FAC rescued them from a growing trend away from church prevalent among young people in our culture. I was saddened however that, according to a recent Barna study, only 3 out of 10 young people who grow up in Church will continue to follow Jesus by going to Church. Do you notice the way I worded that: "follow Jesus by going to Church"? This Sunday I will be referring to a book called "Bowling Alone" written in an attempt to understand the diminishing of community in America. Its a secular book, but describes well what is also happening in Christian community. (You will have to come Sunday to hear the premise for the book.) Is it possible to live for Jesus apart from community? I am so glad my friend concluded that it is not. By the way, note the number of times in Mark's gospel that Jesus taught in the Synagogue (the church of his day)? Community mattered to Jesus. He taught where people assembled, but he also mobilized the assembled (the church, not the individual) to carry out His Great Commission. You don' read much about individualism in the scriptures. It's challenging then to take such an inter-dependent model of community and figure out how to fit it into a culture that is so independent. I sure look forward to talking about how this all brings renewed life into our christian experience. And of course, I cannot wait to worship with you this Sunday.

Its About the Gospel

This Sunday we begin a fifteen week message series on Mark's Gospel. Mark begins with the banner headline that his narrative is just the beginning of the Gospel about Jesus the Son of God and quickly introduces us to a man, by the name of John (some say he was a baptist but I think he was non denominational - okay that was bad!), who was driven by that gospel. He was born for this and he died for this. He was also described by Mark as a voice (not THE VOICE) calling, or crying in the wilderness "prepare the way for the Lord". This encourages me as it invites me to be an other voice with the same call to more people still stranded in today's wilderness. If John had been the only voice there would not have been much for us to do, but we have all been invited to join him to cry out the gospel message and to line up our entire life to be driven by it. I sure am eager to see how the Holy Spirit will use this to simplify our lives. Whether you are in the kitchen, or out talking to people about Jesus, you have been left here for the Gospel! The Good News - that Jesus lives, that Jesus is Coming and that Jesus Reigns.

Pastor Mitch

IS MISSION PLURAL OR SINGULAR?

This Sunday is World Focus Weekend. We hold WFW four times a year as our way of partnering with the work of mission around the world. Mission? The use of the singular is not a mistake. While we usually use the plural it is in fact a singular mission that we take part in. It is the work of mission, the one purpose, the singular task given to us by our Lord Jesus in the Great Commission of Matthew 11:28. Mission is not one ministry in our Church, it is OUR MINISTRY. Its the reason we exist. Mission is one call, one activity that flows out from where we are extending to the furthest parts of the world. Our mission is the see the return of Our King. According to Matthew 24:14 Jesus promised to return when this gospel has been preached in all corners of the world. So, how important is WFW? It is extremely important because it reminds us of who we are but also involves us in who we are. Each time we hear from a missionary we have one more opportunity to advance the kingdom just all the more forward. As the Holy Spirit stirs us during these weekends, he also invites to pray and to give. Lets take these events extremely seriously, not something else we do. It is what we do!

JESUS SHALL REIGN, JESUS DOES REIGN!

Its been fascinating watching events unfold in the mideast. I remember feeling relieved when long time dictators such as the iron fisted Mubarak in Egypt, and that villainous Gaddafi in Libya came toppling down under the relentless pressure placed on them by the common people. If you responded like I did, you probably sighed with relief that finally; justice will finally be carried out, people will enjoy freedom, and a dawn of a new era will begin. Have you watched the news this past week? In Egypt, Christian are facing a level of persecution never seen under Mubarak's reign of terror. In the span of just three weeks over 30 Christian demonstrators were mowed down by storming tanks. In Libya, Jews are being targeted and attacked and forced to flee, something unheard of under Gaddafi's maniacal rule. None of this makes me long again for repressive regimes, but it does make me wonder about the state of our world particularly in those nations surrounding Israel. Zechariah in his prophecy speaks over and over of a Day that will come where pressure and attacks against Israel and against God's followers will increase but so will the motion of God's hand against His enemies. Read Zechariah, as I did again this past week, and one exciting truth surfaces to form a banner headline over a messed up world. The worse things get in our world, the more God will begin to move to establish His reign. In chapter fourteen, the chapter we will be looking at this Sunday as we consider Jesus the Coming King, God lures His enemies to Israel to destroy them and finally bring an end to all opposition and once for all establish His reign. The world is very unsettled today, but as followers of Jesus we have a lot to look forward to.

Healing - The Elephant in the Room

The issue of healing can be the elephant in the room that no one is really willing to talk about. Does God heal? If so, why are so many sick? Why do we rarely see true miraculous healings, I mean the kind that is a total and complete reversal to a medical situation that has absolutely no other explanation? I don't struggle at all with Jesus being the Healer. That conviction is sound. It's settled and rooted deep into my belief. My struggle is what I observe. Fortunately I do not base my convictions on experience, but rather on Biblical truths. While I might not see God heal all that often, I still go to Him for healing. And I do it with expectation. He is still the only one who can heal, therefore I run to Him. My experiences and observations about healing have not rattled one bit that sound conviction that God can heal and does heal. With that comes a deep trust that he knows what is best.

Pastor Mitch

The Believers Health Rating

You will often find on the wall of most restaurants a sheet indicating the health rating of that particular establishment. A 100% reflects a perfect score, offering confidence to the restaurant guest that this is a very clean place. This restaurant has met the standards set by the health department. Did you know God expects a 100% score of His followers? The idea of sanctification is related to the concept of sanctuary. Sanctifying is what God does to prepare his sanctuary. According to 1 Cor. 3:17-18 we are now that temple! In short He cleans us (that is sanctifying) so that he can indwell us (that is the sanctuary). Thankfully I do not have to do anything other than offer myself to him inorder to meet this otherwise imposible standard of cleanliness, or holiness. 1 Peter 1:15 calls us to "be holy as I am holy". I heard someone say once that God cannot use a dirty vessel. This used to make me feel guilty, unable to ever reach this high call, until I realized I am not the one who does the cleaning. He does. Sanctification, so we become his sanctuary, is His work. He sets me apart by the work of Christ, He empowers me to dedicate myself fully to Him, He in turn cleanses me and then indwells me so my life is completely His to use.