presence or presents?

Tonight, I rested in His presence. That's all that was needed. Just the Spirit of God breathing life into my weary soul. It's good to just rest. Sometimes I get caught up in thinking about what I can get from God instead of just being with God. Matt brought amazing truth and light to a subject that is seldom discussed, the gifts of God. The things that God does for us. Whether it's tongues or encouragement or prophesy or leadership or administration or whatever gift that God has given you is first of all, from God. And I believe what we can all walk away with tonight is that all gifts are first and foremost for exalting the name of Jesus. no other Name. One Name matters. And secondly, the gifts are rooted in love. As we live our lives and use the gifts that God has uniquely give all of us, it's most important that people walk away from us not talking about what great gifts we have, but talking about how great God is. Jesus is THE gift. If you didn't make it to encounter tonight for whatever reason, then I have a bit of bad news for you. Because of a minor technical error, Matt's message didn't get recorded. I am terribly sorry. So, if you're trying to go to the website and play the message from tonight, I'm sorry, but it's not there. I wish there was something we could do because I know there are many of you that don't live in Auburn and like to listen to the talks online. Sorry for any disappointment.

Living for what matters.

As a ministry we're getting into the heart of community groups and pushing through the mid-semester as students strive to survive midterms. I'm confident that God's name is made great in all of the community groups. As I've spent time with several of the leaders, it's becoming more obvious that the King is leading these groups. The leaders are vessels, and very effective vessels I must add. As for Encounter, Matt's finishing his series called, "Presence" this Thursday night. Come join us as we capture what it means to live life in the joy of His presence. But here's what I really wanted to bring to the table in this short post. If you have 2 extra minutes, go read this article. It's about an olympic snowboarder living for the glory of God everywhere she goes. This is a really cool encouragement. See you Thursday!

He's on the move.

I just left the community group leaders meeting tonight and it is now more clear than ever than God is on the move to show His glory in our community. Student leaders were literally on their face tonight worshipping and proclaiming truths about who God is. We then got into small circles and prayed for people in our groups by name. People were praying that the lost would be redeemed and experience the saving grace of Jesus Christ. It was an amazing night seeing all of the leaders passionate about seeing the 300+ students involved in community groups experience what it means to live in light of grace for the glory of His name. The leaders aren't taking this thing lightly, they're are determined to see God's glory take over this campus. It's definitely exciting. I pray that the passion that these 50 leaders have will infiltrate the lives of every student they come in contact with.

glory.

Last Thursday we finished a series at encounter that we called "Great Awakenings." This series focused on five core ideas that as christians God wakes us up to. The last talk was called, "The Bottom Line." Glory. It's all about the glory of God. God is focused on His own glory. Everything He does is for His glory. That's a hard idea to come around. That shakes my thinking a little. It's easy to slip into the mindset that God is a selfish God if He is primarily concerned with His own glory. But, when I think about that logically, who else do I want God to be primarily concerned with other than Himself? If it's right for me to make God central, how is wrong for God to make God central. Needless to say, the ending to this Great Awakenings series was amazing. I think we could listen to glory talks all day long and never hear it all. At the beginning of his talk, Matt put it perfectly. He said, "There's an endless supply of wonder when we start talking about God's glory." If you missed a week during this series, I encourage you to either listen online or buy it on CD because the Lord did amazing things over the past 5 weeks. So, what else is going on around GCM? Well we are continuing to hear about what God is doing in all of the community groups. I'm thinking of one group in particular right now where I know God is on the move and changing hearts slowly, but surely. It's a very exciting time as we continue to press into learning about our identity in Christ. This week we learned about purpose. What is our ultimate purpose in life? What is your purpose? Did the Lord teach your or your group anything new about purpose this week?

Dear Slaves,

Recently, an involved leader of our little grace campus community sent an email to many other leaders telling of what God had put on her heart. The truth contained in the email cut straight to the heart and was overflowing with freedom. It was so freeing that it had be shared here for all the community to read. I hope you enjoy it. The following is the email we received from this passionate Christ follower. Dear Slaves, We are slaves of righteousness. WE ARE SLAVES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS! WE ARE SLAVES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!!! PLEASE Hear His word, His promise to you on this, which is the blanket over us - His children. "What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once committed your members a slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification." Romans 6:15-19 SO THAT IS WHO WE ARE... THAT IS WHY WE ARE FREE FROM SIN BUT NOT TO SIN. "When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things that you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:20-23 THAT IS WHY, ALONG WITH THE MIRACLE OF IT BEING OUR VERY IDENTITY, THAT WE LONG TO DO GOOD. WE ARE NOT ONLY SLAVES TO GOOD, BUT THE FRUIT THAT COMES FROM GOOD IS... GOOD... ETERNAL-LIFE-GOOD. THAT'S AS GOOD AS IT GETS! In Ecclesiastes 3, He tells us that He has put eternity into man's heart. SO THIS ETERNITY IS WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO. THERE IS NO DENYING IT. IT IS BY DESIGN. SO... OF COURSE SATAN WILL TRY TO COME IN AND TWIST THIS AND DESTORT IT. AND THERE LIES THE MUNDANENESS INSTEAD OF THE EXTRAORDINARY, THE COMPLACENCY INSTEAD OF THE MOTIVATION, THE GUILT INSTEAD OF THE FREEDOM OF GENTLE CONVICTION. THIS IS NOT HIS DESIRE FOR US. HE HAS FREED US. ALL BECAUSE OF THE FULL EXTENT OF HIS LOVE, NAMELY JESUS. I claim His truth that His word does not return void, and that He is not the God of confusion. And I trust Him with the cultivation of this in each and every one of our spirits. Take heart in who He is and who we are in Him. REST.

Blog comment problems.

Ok everybody, it was brought to our attention that the blog has had some issues with allowing new comments. That could possibly be the reason why every post for past couple of weeks has had 0 comments. I'm here to tell you that the problem has been fixed and you can now feel free to add all the comments you want and we can join together to proclaim what God is doing in our community. We apologize for the mistake and look forward to reading your thoughts. -gcm

community

The rumor is that last week's community groups started off with a bang. Hundreds of students with a desire to dig deeper with each other and in their relationship with Jesus are meeting on Monday/Tuesday nights in various homes all over Auburn. Stories have already been circulating from group to group about what God is doing in their midst. Students are eager to learn more truths about their identity in Christ and what it looks like to live in light of grace for the glory of God. The 50+ leaders that are involved in facilitating these groups are meeting on Sunday nights to cover each other in prayer. People in each group have been prayed for by name at these leaders meetings. The Spirit of God has rained down on these meetings and sparked a fresh desire in each leaders heart to lead this community of Christ followers. We look forward to sharing more about these groups with you as the next 10 weeks unfold. If Christ is on the move in your group, feel free to comment about it here. Just click on the "comment" button, and tell us what's going on in your group. -gcm

A cloudy night in auburn

Most cloudy days seem glum until today, where the fog hanging over our little city is a reminder of God’s presence. The LORD used clouds to reveal His glory, strength, and the details of living for His people. Clouds were the backdrop for life-changing moments for the people of God. Tonight, in a similar fog, we were reminded that not only is God’s presence with us, but God’s presence resides in us. The mystery of the gospel, is that Christ lives in His people. The very presence of our Risen Savior is housed our hearts. It’s no fairy tale, wishful thinking, or pop theology. It’s God’s intent. It’s His promise. It was His plan to place us in Christ before the foundation of the world, before the fall, before the mess, before the Cross came to be, God knew. God chose. God accomplished. God planned. God placed…us in Christ to be holy and blameless. So, moving from doing “for” God and embracing life “from” God really is life changing. It’s one thing for the presence of God to be with His people, yet it’s altogether astonishing that He would place His presence, His life, His glory in fallen people like you and me. Talk about being totally secure in who you are. In the words of God, “I AM THAT I AM.” God desires not just part of our lives, segmented and shallow; but to consume our very life for our joy and His glory, wholly and forever. How has God moved in your heart? How has the life of Christ in you been expressed? What does it mean for you to be in Christ and for Christ to be in you? -gcm