The month of May a time to recall why our church exists. We took at look at our vision in HD (making it clear why we exist) and our vision in 3D (making it real). We need to constantly be reminded to look outward and not inward. It is about being a life saving station, not just a club to come hang out at.
Paragon Church
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Baptism - Life Change Celebration #1 - April 25
The afternoon after our communion service, we gathered as a church family to have our first outdoor baptism. It was truly a celebration! Being the fact we don’t have a building or a baptismal, we met down at Ryan and Angie’s house in Corrales. What an awesome privilege was to be a part of baptizing Matt Petre and his two sons Brett and Daniel as well as Mike Peralta and his daughter Alix. What a beautiful picture of our commitment to live for Christ.
Communion Service #1 - April 25
Following our first sermon series, we held our first communion service. It was an entire service dedicated to remembering what Christ did for us. For so many churches communion is just a part of the service… 10 minutes here and we are done until next month. Almost a ritual instead of what it is supposed to be… a time of remembrance. We wanted something that would put all the focus where it needs to be… on Christ. It was a great service with music, scripture and times for sharing throughout. Each person/family could come to take the elements when they felt they were ready. It was a great time of remembering what Christ did for us.
Follow. Believe. Obey. Simple Sermon Series #1
Our first series for the new church was entitled “Simple”. We are a church that encourages people to come as they are, just as Jesus did from the very beginning. We first looked at how Jesus approached Matthew at the tax collector’s booth and asked him to “follow”. He didn’t tell Matthew to change “this and that” and only then could he come and follow… instead Jesus told Matthew to follow knowing full well that as Matthew “follows” his life would be changed.
The second week we focused on “believe”. We took a look at Paul’s letter to the church at Rome as he explained what it means to go beyond following… to move to believing… Here is a little slice of the sermon that was taught…
Here is what he says…
Romans 3:21-26
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
BUT NOW (that means something new has come along – there was an old way of thinking BUT NOW there is something new)
A RIGHTEOUSNESS (which is defined as a “right standing with God – which is something we all want)
FROM GOD, APART FROM LAW, HAS BEEN MADE KNOWN
So this right standing with God comes from God – and here is something shocking to them and even to some of us - APART FROM THE LAW – our right standing isn’t the way it is because of what we do – but because of what God did – and guess how that happened – because it was “MADE KNOWN”
Why did we say that Christ came – to help people understand who God is and to make Him known…. HMMM
TO WHICH THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS TESTIFY…
So all the Law that you guys have been studying and memorizing and all the religious systems they derived from it, (and Paul was one of those religious guys so he knows what he is talking about) guess what, it has always pointed to Jesus coming and being what gives us a right standing with God.
So here is that verse in a quick breakdown…
Paul says – all that doing that every religious system makes you do to have a right standing with God (something we all want – no one wants to be on the wrong side when we die) That giant cosmic scale that we think weighs our good stuff and our bad stuff – it’s all over!
Here is something new – something that God himself has provided… HE – GOD – has provided the RIGHT STANDING WITH HIM and it doesn’t have to do with how good we are or how good we think we are.
He says there is a way to have a right standing with God APART FROM THE LAW – Apart from HOPING you are good enough
Vs 22 – THIS RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM GOD COMES THROUGH (here is the new part – because it used to come through the Law) FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST TO ALL WHO BELIEVE
ALL who BELIEVE - It is not through anything but believing – Why is that necessary for ALL
Because ALL HAVE SINNED (some may be worse than others but if you have sinned – which you have – guess what happens)
YOU FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD (God is perfect - that is his standard – one sin or millions of sins = not perfect)
So how do we get a right standing with God when expects perfection…
Not by trying hard (the Bible says in Isaiah 64:6 - All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Not by being consistent - Not by weighing out a huge scale in our favor
So how are we justified… what does it say in verse 24
AND ALL ARE JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE THROUGH THE REDEMPTION THAT CAME FROM JESUS CHRIST
AND ALL ARE JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE THROUGH THE REDEMPTION THAT CAME FROM JESUS CHRIST
We are justified FREELY (when we see that word – FREE – we always think – what’s the catch?)
No catch – It is a gift given freely – just like you don’t have to earn Christmas gifts or birthday gifts – it is given freely – all you have to do is accept it – believe IT
Verse 25 helps answer the question of how we get right standing with God through Jesus…
GOD PRESENTED HIM AS A SACRIFICE OF ATONEMENT – the people understood this because from the beginning of sin, God had set up a sacrificial system because he knew we would screw up – a sacrifice to make up for when we fail.
Jesus became the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE… THROUGH FAITH IN HIS BLOOD (you see sacrifice wasn’t just giving something up – it meant blood)
Why did God do it…
HE DID THIS TO DEMONSTRATE HIS JUSTICE – BECAUSE IN IN HIS FORBEARANCE HE HAD LEFT THE SINS COMMITTED UNPUNISHED
(26) HE DID IT TO DEMONSTRATE HIS JUSTICE AT THE PRESENT TIME SO AS TO BE JUST AND THE ONE WHO JUSTIFIES THOSE WHO HAVE FAITH IN JESUS
Why did he do it – God saw a problem – the problem was sin. Sin came between you and Him – between God and myself. Since God is perfection, He could not lower the standards, he used Christ to justify our imperfections.
So God saw a problem and he became the solution. Everyone is invited. Jesus died for ALL because ALL have sinned and fall short. The perfect lamb (Jesus) was sacrificed because we are all screw ups.
Because there was a problem someone had to pay – our payment of good deeds isn’t good enough
I know that is a hard pill to swallow…
But I want to challenge you to just follow. Listen to His words, Watch what He does, Learn from the master
Someday (maybe today) the light bulb will click that Jesus came to explain God and also give us access to Him.
We all want that right standing with God. Christianity says it is completely free… all you have to do is accept it – to believe it.
That was week #2 – then week #3 was obey… the next logical step after following and believing.
Matthew 7:24-29
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
What foundation are you building your life on… what set of rules are you obeying?
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Paragon Launch
It has been an amazing journey to this point and I look forward to what God is going to do… here is how we got here
It was March 2009 and a friend of mine in Phoenix was going with his church staff to the 2009 Catalyst West Coast Conference in Irvine, CA. It sounded fun and a lot of great speakers were going to be there, so I went and little did I know what God was going to show me.
It was an amazing conference with guys like Francis Chan (author of Crazy Love and The Forgotten God), Craig Groeschel (author of It and The Christian Atheist) and Perry Noble (a church planter in South Carolina – leads the church “where the sinners go”). With ten speakers in less than two days, by the time it was over I was leaving with a headache because my brain was literally full-- so many thoughts, so many ideas, so many people to be reached for Christ. I didn’t know what to do or how it was going to get done. One thing was for certain; I was never going to be the same.
As I sat on the plane leaving Orange County, I thought about all the things that were said but one the one speaker that kept ringing in my mind was Andy Stanley, the Lead Pastor at NorthPoint in Atlanta. He shared his story of planting a church in Atlanta in the mid 90’s and all that it entailed and what God had done to bring it to where it is today (tens of thousands weekly over 5 campuses). I kept saying to myself that I would never be a church planter and I didn’t want that stress or to put that stress on my family or my friends. I guess we don’t tell God “no”.
I got home and really prayed about it. I didn’t even tell Christy right away. I wanted to hear from God to see where He wanted me and what He wanted me to do. As the time came and I shared with Christy, I was excited that she was completely on board. During that same time, before I even mentioned “church planting” to anyone, God was moving. People at First Baptist Rio Rancho were coming up to me “out of the blue” and saying, “if you plant a church, we will go with you.” That happened more than a few times.
We didn’t know how, where, when, or even if this was going to happen, but we started to talk about it with some friends. The first friend that I talked to was a buddy by the name of Scott Brownson. (you might recognize that name because he is now Paragon’s worship leader) We talked about the possibilities of what God might do in bringing him along… but it was a long shot, a VERY long shot – nearly impossible by any stretch of the imagination. It wasn’t quite as long of a shot for our other friends. It was just the question of how to make this a reality.
The summer flew by (just as it always does for a youth pastor) and September came. We had a church informational meeting in the PowerHouse that brought a lot of people out to hear what God was doing (it also brought out a lot of people because they found out we were serving Hot Tamales enchiladas, beans, and rice). A few more weeks passed and we had our first meeting in the fellowship hall on a Saturday Night. The Hendrix, the Proctors, the Lundays, Juanita Peralta, Katie Carroll, and Christy joined me and pastor Si to kick this off. We started meeting every other week and two weeks later we met for our first regular meeting in Room 204 (seats about 20 comfortably) with 24 people.
We continued to grow every meeting we had through December 2009, so much so, we had to move into and out of two rooms and finally ended up in the PowerHouse at First Baptist.
That brought us to March, and Sandia Vista Elementary School. Our first Sunday there (March 7) we started our Spring Training series with 77 people. The second week we had 83, third week, 93, and the fourth and final week, 94.
Then, we launched. Easter Sunday was preceded with door hangers, mailers, and a fun outreach at WalMart. God did His thing and brought out nearly 150 people to our first official Sunday. It could not have been better.
It has been exciting to watch the transformation from a Bible Study to a church in the past months. We have seen decisions for Christ every week since we entered the school. We have a Baptism “Life Change” Celebration on April 25th with six people already lined up to be baptized. I really can’t wait to see what is going to happen next.
Until NEXT time…
It was March 2009 and a friend of mine in Phoenix was going with his church staff to the 2009 Catalyst West Coast Conference in Irvine, CA. It sounded fun and a lot of great speakers were going to be there, so I went and little did I know what God was going to show me.
It was an amazing conference with guys like Francis Chan (author of Crazy Love and The Forgotten God), Craig Groeschel (author of It and The Christian Atheist) and Perry Noble (a church planter in South Carolina – leads the church “where the sinners go”). With ten speakers in less than two days, by the time it was over I was leaving with a headache because my brain was literally full-- so many thoughts, so many ideas, so many people to be reached for Christ. I didn’t know what to do or how it was going to get done. One thing was for certain; I was never going to be the same.
As I sat on the plane leaving Orange County, I thought about all the things that were said but one the one speaker that kept ringing in my mind was Andy Stanley, the Lead Pastor at NorthPoint in Atlanta. He shared his story of planting a church in Atlanta in the mid 90’s and all that it entailed and what God had done to bring it to where it is today (tens of thousands weekly over 5 campuses). I kept saying to myself that I would never be a church planter and I didn’t want that stress or to put that stress on my family or my friends. I guess we don’t tell God “no”.
I got home and really prayed about it. I didn’t even tell Christy right away. I wanted to hear from God to see where He wanted me and what He wanted me to do. As the time came and I shared with Christy, I was excited that she was completely on board. During that same time, before I even mentioned “church planting” to anyone, God was moving. People at First Baptist Rio Rancho were coming up to me “out of the blue” and saying, “if you plant a church, we will go with you.” That happened more than a few times.
We didn’t know how, where, when, or even if this was going to happen, but we started to talk about it with some friends. The first friend that I talked to was a buddy by the name of Scott Brownson. (you might recognize that name because he is now Paragon’s worship leader) We talked about the possibilities of what God might do in bringing him along… but it was a long shot, a VERY long shot – nearly impossible by any stretch of the imagination. It wasn’t quite as long of a shot for our other friends. It was just the question of how to make this a reality.
The summer flew by (just as it always does for a youth pastor) and September came. We had a church informational meeting in the PowerHouse that brought a lot of people out to hear what God was doing (it also brought out a lot of people because they found out we were serving Hot Tamales enchiladas, beans, and rice). A few more weeks passed and we had our first meeting in the fellowship hall on a Saturday Night. The Hendrix, the Proctors, the Lundays, Juanita Peralta, Katie Carroll, and Christy joined me and pastor Si to kick this off. We started meeting every other week and two weeks later we met for our first regular meeting in Room 204 (seats about 20 comfortably) with 24 people.
We continued to grow every meeting we had through December 2009, so much so, we had to move into and out of two rooms and finally ended up in the PowerHouse at First Baptist.
That brought us to March, and Sandia Vista Elementary School. Our first Sunday there (March 7) we started our Spring Training series with 77 people. The second week we had 83, third week, 93, and the fourth and final week, 94.
Then, we launched. Easter Sunday was preceded with door hangers, mailers, and a fun outreach at WalMart. God did His thing and brought out nearly 150 people to our first official Sunday. It could not have been better.
It has been exciting to watch the transformation from a Bible Study to a church in the past months. We have seen decisions for Christ every week since we entered the school. We have a Baptism “Life Change” Celebration on April 25th with six people already lined up to be baptized. I really can’t wait to see what is going to happen next.
Until NEXT time…
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Spring Training
March 7 was our first Sunday in Sandia Vista Elementary, the home of Paragon Church. The church family spent the day Saturday in preparation for this big day. We unpacked the trailer, organized carts and supplies, set-up rooms and transformed the school into a beautiful place for corporate worship. You could sense the excitement in each of the devoted people that have played such a huge role in the behind the scenes of Paragon Church.
After little sleep on Saturday night, Sunday was here. Our first service in the school was upon us. There was a busyness in the school as people had gathered early to make sure that everything was in its place. As a crowd gathered in the worship center/gym, you could feel God's presence. I stood in the back in awe of God's mighty hand in Paragon Church. He IS Paragon Church. As we continue through our own "spring training" in this season of ministry, we have already been recruited. We ARE on the team. Are we going to sit on the bench or are we going to get in the game?
Put me in coach.....I'm ready to play!!!
After little sleep on Saturday night, Sunday was here. Our first service in the school was upon us. There was a busyness in the school as people had gathered early to make sure that everything was in its place. As a crowd gathered in the worship center/gym, you could feel God's presence. I stood in the back in awe of God's mighty hand in Paragon Church. He IS Paragon Church. As we continue through our own "spring training" in this season of ministry, we have already been recruited. We ARE on the team. Are we going to sit on the bench or are we going to get in the game?
Put me in coach.....I'm ready to play!!!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
And so it begins...
With great anticipation, Paragon Church has had its first two Bible Study gatherings. What excitement was in the air! I am ecstatic to see God moving. I want to document this incredible journey of obedience and faith, so we can be reminded again and again of God's blessings.
I remember as a youth hearing the term "founding member" of the church. My immediate thoughts jumped to elderly men and women of the church who complained that the music was too loud and the youth were too rowdy. Now, here we are with a group of people that will soon BE the "founding members" of Paragon Church.
This picture represents a group of people that want to share the gift of Christ to the lost. These are the eyes of people that are going to see people the way Jesus sees them. These are the arms of people that are going to welcome in the unlovely. These are the hearts of people that are going to show others God's love for them.
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