You Are Loved 02/16/22

Posted on Feb 16, 2022 in General |

I had a great Valentine’s Day, and I hope you did too. I let myself sleep in, I did my hair and makeup, I made some chocolate covered fruit, and watched a movie I love. But none of that is what made it a great Valentine’s Day. What made it a great Valentine’s Day is what makes any day a great day; the knowledge that I am loved.
 
God loves me and gives such great gifts. He has the best for me, and when I put my own desires aside and trust him to give me his perfect gifts, I’ve never been let down. He has provided perfectly, and I am always so grateful he didn’t just give me what I asked for. You see we have such a limited view, but he can see the whole picture. When we submit our desires to him, when we strive to align our wants with his will, then what we want changes into the things of God! As we study his word, pray, and hear His voice, then we begin to want His things. And He is faithful.
 
I truly hope you had a great Valentine’s Day, but not because of special gifts or flowers or chocolate. I hope you had a great day because you remembered whose you are and just how you are loved.
 
Many Blessings,
Pastor Sarah

Who is controlling you?

Posted on Feb 8, 2022 in General |

Who is Controlling You?

 

“No one can MAKE you mad.  You can only let yourself get angry.”  I know you might be thinking, “Well Pastor, you don’t know how this person pushes my buttons!”  I get it and trust me, there have been plenty of times when others have “made me mad.”  However, I also have control issues and I don’t like the idea that someone—anyone—can say something that would control my behavior.  I want to be in control.

 

Truth is, there are so many things around us that are trying to control us.  The devil is lying to us.  Negativity tells us that nothing is ever going to go our way.  Our culture prioritizes things in our lives that don’t help us.  And everyone seems to want to tell us what we should do with our time, money and energy.

 

This month we are going to Take Back Control.  And this control isn’t so that we can be our own God.  No.  Rather, we take back control from all the things that are competing with the value, love and purpose that God has for us and we submit that control to him.  The only way we get to live in the fruit that we all desire in our lives is by submitting to God in every area of our lives.  This will be hard work, but God already has the victory through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Let’s take down the unicorn by faith in the victory of Jesus Christ.

 

In Him,

Pastor Tim.


You Are Not Alone

Posted on Jan 31, 2022 in General |

What a celebration we had yesterday during our worship service, from
completing some or all spiritual challenges to giving above and beyond
our yearly budget and faith promise. When we work together, we can
truly accomplish a lot for the kingdom of God; maybe you are like me,
I completed some challenges but wasn’t able to complete them all and
guess what that’s ok because I got a chance to celebrate everyone’s
accomplishments and I still have an opportunity to be involved with
some other opportunities around Houston First.

Just because January ended does not mean everything is over, like
talking with a counselor or a friend, reading my bible, going on a
date with my wife, eating healthy, giving a word of encouragement to
others, etc. If you did some or even all of the challenges, let’s keep
those new habits and apply them every month, if you did not do any of
the challenges, that’s ok, but I will challenge you to ask someone who
did to show you and help you get new good spiritual healthy habits for
your life.

Celebrating is such an important part of our lives, let’s be honest,
we need to start celebrating even the small accomplishments and just
like yesterday, you are not alone in this. You have a church family
that is ready to cheer you on; we love to see you grow stronger in
your faith and in your personal life as well. Let’s keep moving
forward together.
 

It’s Time To Celebrate!

Posted on Jan 25, 2022 in General |

It’s Time to Celebrate!

The 30 Day Fit Challenge is almost over.  I hope you have been able to accomplish some or even all of the challenges of these 30 days, and we want to celebrate all that we have done.  Every step toward growing in Jesus is a step worth celebrating and this Sunday we will do just that.  (www.hfcog.org/fitchallenge)

This Sunday is also our Faith Promise Commitment Sunday.  Now we can really celebrate!!!  This past year you gave over $42,000 through Faith Promise to a number of ministries we support locally, nationally and internationally.  That is over $12,000 more than we committed to give in 2021!  This Sunday we will make our 2022 commitments and I can’t wait to see how God moves on your hearts.  (www.hfcog.org/faithpromise)

We also get to celebrate our commitment to God’s word.  In 2021 many of you committed to read through the New Testament together and we want to celebrate the importance of God’s word in our lives.  Maybe you didn’t read through the New Testament but maybe you set another goal for reading God’s word.  Let’s celebrate all of it!

God has been so good and I’m so proud of the way that you are all seeking after him.  As we celebrate let’s look at how we can continue to accept the challenge to grow closer to Jesus each and every day.

In Him,
Pastor Tim.

Or Is It?

Posted on Jan 12, 2022 in General |

Dear Church,

Blah, blah, talkie, talkie; just another newsletter article.  Right?  Or is it?

Nope.  It’s spiritual.

Have you checked your Facebook yet?  Wasn’t that cat the cutest?

Nope.  It’s spiritual.

Traffic wasn’t too bad.  Wasn’t that amazing?

Nope.  It’s spiritual.

Did you watch the Texans game?

Spiritual.

Oh man, I forgot to pick up light bulbs.

Spiritual.

Weather…

Spiritual.

What about…?

Spiritual.

This is spiritual.  Seriously.  Right now God is present with you even as you read this.  And he is with those who gave up reading after the first couple lines.  The question is, are we aware of his presence?  And if we are aware of him are we submitting to the leading of God through is Holy Spirit?  Which means the real question is, are we seeing the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives?

Bored of this yet?  That’s spiritual too.

If you aren’t seeing the fruit it might be because of a lack of submitting yourself to God, and you may not be submitting yourself to God because you aren’t aware that he is everywhere you are, and you may not be aware because life can be pretty distracting.

You feel like just closing this email and moving on with life.  That’s right, it’s spiritual.

So how will you focus yourself on God through his word, worship, prayer, service, etc. in order to grow in awareness, submission and fruit?  You can do this!  We can do this together!  God’s Holy Spirit can do this inside of us!  This is a spiritual moment.  Let’s submit our will to him.

 

In Him,

Pastor Tim.


God of the highs and lows

Posted on Jan 5, 2022 in General |

This Sunday’s sermon was so good. If you missed it, it’s a must watch. You can find it on Facebook or YouTube. This is a poor summary of it, but what I walked away with is this: God is still God, when you’re receiving good news, and when things are not going well. He is right there in every situation. I know I have found this to be true in my own life. He was with me as I purchased my home, right before the pandemic, and He was also right there with me when the ceiling fell in. He was with me as I received good health news, just as He was with me as my appendix ruptured. How we feel and what situation we are in does NOT change who He is. A big part of the shift with my mental health was this realization. It seems simple enough, but when you’re in the middle of something, sometimes the simple things don’t feel simple. 
 
Just the other day I wore a t-shirt with a mountain on it and this text: 
G > ^ v 
I had SO many people ask me what it meant! It means that God is greater than the highs and the lows. He is so much bigger than the emotions we feel. God is constant even when our emotions are not. He is bigger than our highest highs when we are happy and excited and feel great! And He is also bigger than our lowest lows when we are sad, angry, fearful, and feel alone. God is still God. He is faithful and His presence is right there with you wherever you are and whatever you’re feeling.
 
I really encourage you to pick up a challenge card, or download one here: hfcog.org/fitchallege . I would ask that you really give it a shot, even if you feel silly, even if you think you don’t need to, even if you aren’t sure you can complete every single challenge. That’s ok. Just start with one, and go from there. In speaking with a friend about being a ‘recovering perfectionist’ he said something really profound to me that has stuck with me since. He told me that even if I was only 1% better than yesterday, that was good enough. Sometimes we set ourselves up to obtain this really big goal, and at the first hiccup we walk away because it won’t look perfect, or as we had envisioned. I would encourage you to simply strive to do 1% better every day this week. By the end, you’ll be glad you’re not in the same place you were at the beginning. – Many Blessings! Pastor Sarah
 

30 Day Fit Challenge

Posted on Dec 29, 2021 in General |

30 Day Fit Challenge
 
Being in Ohio with family for Christmas was great. The drive back… not so much. We ate fast food the entire way. I drank a lot of soda because I wanted the caffeine. Sweets of multiple types were sent home for us to snack on. I also sat still in a vehicle for two days straight.
 
Needless to say I feel like I am what I ate. I need to get back on track with healthy habits in my life. Maybe you do too. Maybe this season showed you just how anxious you feel on a daily basis. Maybe you recognized how some relationships needs some work. Maybe you realized that you just need to get closer to the Lord.
 
This Sunday we start our first ever 30-Day Fit Challenge. Each week we will focus on an area of our lives in which we can make choices to be more healthy and fit. We will grow mentally, spiritually, relationally and physically, and we will do it all together. 
 
Get your Fit Challenge Card this Sunday and join the HFC family as we embrace the challenge to grow in every area of our lives. Find more information at www.hfcog.org/fitchallenge.
 
In Him,

Why Do We Need To Invite Others?

Posted on Dec 15, 2021 in General |

This past week I found myself in a conversation with someone and we got to talking about church and stuff.  I asked her, “So, do you have a church that you are connected with?”  At first she said that she did not and she didn’t grow up with the church, and then she said something that blew my mind!  She said, “Now I just feel Bible-stupid so I don’t go anywhere.”

What she meant was that she didn’t know anything about the Bible and she felt like she was too old to start learning now.  Do you hear the lies and the attack of the enemy in that?  She didn’t say she wasn’t interested.  She didn’t say she didn’t want her kids to be involved.  She didn’t say she had a bad experience.  She just feels totally insecure because she doesn’t know God’s word.

This is why we are intentional to invite others to worship with us and join Community Groups and just go out to coffee together.  People are interested in knowing more about God but they don’t know where to start.  And these individuals don’t need you to know everything; they just need you to know enough to point them in the right direction. 

Church, we can do this!  Your invitations will change lives and families.  Our focus on discipleship will empower those far from God to begin a relationship with him and overcome the attacks of the devil on their lives.  Don’t let the devil talk you out of it.  Invite someone today and we will all together see again that God is able.

In Him,
Pastor Tim

After Christmas Shopping

Posted on Dec 15, 2021 in General |

Christmas is one of my absolute most favorite times of the year! From as long as I can remember, my Dad & KK, Aunt Nancy, and NiNi would give me a Christmas ornament with the year. Then when I became a mom, I did the same for our kiddos. To me, there is something about picking the perfect ornament that reflects the past year!
 
The day after Christmas; KK, Aunt Nancy and I would go “after Christmas shopping” (as a side note, one of my gifts was a few bucks to go after Christmas shopping)! I remember this from the age of 6 at least. There used to be a huge Christmas only store here in Houston that we would go to, along with Marshal Fields and Macy’s. If you are from Houston and know what I’m talking about, it was in the 80’s. So, I’ve been pretty much “in training” for this my entire life, really.
 
I really enjoy finding decorations and gifts for projects like Bane Angel Tree. Over the past few weeks, I’ve meet many people while picking up various donations and from these brief encounters, it was the start of something bigger! One of our neighbors posted on our neighbor page that he had items he wanted to donate in our community – I commented on his post about Angel Tree and our website: hfcog.org/Christmas. He offered them to us and when I went to pick them up, we had a great conversation and I was able to invite him to worship. I did not think to bring a bag or box with me to pick up the items, so he let me borrow his storage contains and I will return them – well, that’s another great opportunity for Ken and I to not only invite him to worship again, but to our community group as well. Look at God making a way! Also, from the post with the website – I’ve have a few reach out to me asking to help or wanting more information. Again, God working.
 
I’m saying all this, to say, God can use you in every area of your life! For me it was in “shopping” from that young age of six, He knew how to use my family every year and how that would play in the role in furthering His Kingdom, at that time, and even 40 years later. He wants to be involved in everything. Pastor David mentioned in a prayer yesterday for our minds to be filled of God. When we live our lives for Him, He responds!
 
How has God been involved in your life this week? How would you like Him to be involved? How can you invite others to know Him? Take a few minutes, right now and go to Him in prayer.
 
We would love to hear from you! Share your Christmas Together invite stories with us. If we use yours on a Sunday – we will have a fun little Christmas gift for you.
 
Your Sister In Christ,

Christmas Together – 2021

Posted on Dec 1, 2021 in General |

Maybe you’ve heard… Beth and I are converting an open attic space into an office.  Just this past week we had our Community Group over to our house and we were explaining what it looked like.  Eventually we just said, “Do you want to come upstairs and see it?”

This is how things go with the church too.  You can explain to people what it is like.  You can tell them about how inspiring the worship is.  You can convey the energy in the sermons.  You can describe how fun the Children’s Ministry is.  However, nothing creates a clearer picture of who we are better than experiencing it for yourself.

As I mentioned in the HFC Vision Conference, you are our invite strategy this Christmas.  We aren’t buying Facebook ads or boosting posts.  We aren’t doing a big mailer to thousands of people.  We are relying on you to invite your family, friends, neighbors and coworkers to come and see what God is doing with HFC.  Why don’t you take a few minutes to invite someone in one of the following ways?

  1. Invite Cards. This Sunday pick up as many invites as you want and hand them out to everyone you know.
  2. Invite Text Message. Send a short note in a text with the following link: youtube.com/watch?v=_Mg2aIkRPcY.  You can encourage them to get more info at www.hfcog.org/Christmas.  Let them know they can reach out to you with any questions.
  3. Invite on Facebook. You can share the video from the HFC Facebook Group or you can share this link: https://www.facebook.com/HoustonFirstChurchOfGod/videos/321157909445561. 

We can tell people all day long about how good God has been to us but for people to really get it we have to ask, “Do you want to come and see it?”  As we do Christmas Together with those we invite we will see God change lives and grow his kingdom!

In Him,

Pastor Tim.


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