Verse of the Day (an NCC of Spencer Blog)

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." 2 Corinthians 4:16 (NIV)
Today this verse has struck something inside of me. Imagine this, we are small, insignificant in the eyes of an ALMIGHTY and OMNIPOTENT God, but HE doesn't see us that way. So, HE provides a way for us to be RENEWED every day. HIS word renews us, feeds our soul and our spirit. So even when life feels like it is crashing down, you are out of glue and you can't catch all the pieces that are raining down anyway, HE has given us a way to piece our lives back together. I've been going through a tough time myself, where everything feels like it is crashing down on top of me and I am so far from a place where I feel safe. But its gonna be okay, because HE has provided a way for me to be renewed. The Bible.
Got the Word?

Expectations (an NCC of Spencer Blog)

Last night, at our weekly meeting, we discussed expectations. Like how when you take a drink of what you expect to be Iced Tea and it turns out to Pepsi. At first you make a terrible face, because what you were expecting wasn't what you got. That's how it is with church a lot of the time. Either we expect the people to be perfect, because it's church, or we expect it to be terrible because thats all we've ever known. And if we expect these things we are either disappointed, because they can't live up to our standards, or we are smug because they just proved our point.
These "expectations" are more like prejudices. We "expect" Christians to be perfect, but truth is we aren't. We are human as well! Only by Christ's love do we even survive, because Christ is the perfection and we are his children. We hope to attain his perfection, but we aren't perfect yet.
Or we "expect" Christians to be hypocritical, puritanical, annoyances of the world. And when we "expect" this then that's all we see in others. But truth is, expecting someone to be perfect or hypocritical doesn't make them that way. Just like expecting Pepsi to be iced tea.
So, why do we let these "expectations" color our view on Christianity and other religions? How about this, the next time you find that you are expecting (assuming) that someone will fall, change your point of view and expect that they will do well, and even if they don't expect that you will help pick them back up.

The Love Club (an NCC of Spencer Blog)

The Love Club is kind of what We (New Community Church of Spencer) are calling ourselves. We want to make it our job to LOVE EVERYONE!!! Because that is what we are supposed to do, is love one another as Jesus Christ loved us. Even if we get mad, we commit ourselves to loving despite the faults of people. I don't know about you, but I am happy to be in the Love Club. And we aren't talking about "free" love like you see in the movies and all over. We want to make people aware of the promise we have striven to keep. To Love everyone as a brother or sister in Christ Jesus.
Love means (to us) to accept the differences of others, to love despite faults and to pray for the sins of our brethren. I am excited to be a part of this!