A New Song

The Bible talks a lot about music and singing. Psalm 4:3 says, “Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things!” Does that mean we shouldn’t sing our old favorites or sing hymns? Of course not. It means that we are to give God glory and praise for His most recent gifts of grace and mercy. It doesn’t have to be a song set to music, but it can be. Sometimes we just need to praise God for what He has done lately any way we can.

How about email or the internet? I would love to hear from you today about what God is doing in your life lately. Just reply back to me. It doesn’t have to be huge but if you can’t think of anything that God has done for you lately, either you or God is falling down on the job. God ought to receive some musical attention this morning! He is worthy of it. He demands it. We enjoy telling it and hearing it and it should be easy to do!

We are thoroughly enjoying our new building that God has provided for us in Chico! If you haven’t worshipped there yet, please join us Sunday morning at 10. It’s just not the same when you are not there! I love you all! — Todd

Spiritually Healthy

Good afternoon, Christ Fellowship! How many of you out there would consider yourself to be a bodybuilder? Anybody? No? Do you know how often a professional bodybuilder works out? Most of them work out 6-7 days a week. One day it’s back and biceps. The next day is legs. The next is chest and lats or whatever. But most of those guys work out pretty much every day. Plus, there is the cardio and the nutrition and the supplements. It’s a lot of work and a lot of time and effort. But that’s what you have to do to be in that kind of shape.

Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 4 that physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. Do you want to be godly as God has commanded? Do you want to be holy as God has commanded? Do you want to be in healthy spiritual condition? Do you really think you can do that by going to church once a week? I know you are busy. I know you are tired. But you make time for what you want to make time for and if you really want to be in good spiritual condition it is going to take more than just showing up on Sunday mornings.

Our Sunday night times and Thursday nights are really where you get the good, hard spiritual and biblical workouts. I really want to encourage you to consider coming to at least one more evening of Bible study. Sunday nights are from 6-7 and Thursday nights are from 7-8:30 or so. You can ask all the questions you want or you can sit there like a bump on a log. It’s up to you and there is no pressure. I hope you will make time this next week to give it a try. You won’t regret it. 

I love you all! — Todd

Faith

Faith. What is faith? Faith is not seeing but yet still believing. I was looking at Hebrews 11 this morning and I noticed that all through there it starts a paragraph with, “By faith, Abel…”, “By faith, Enoch…”, “By faith, Abraham…” and then it would tell what they were able to do because of their faith and they were commended for it.

What would your story be if it were written in Hebrews 11? By faith, (insert your name) was able to do what seemed impossible to do because God called them to do it and provided everything they needed to do it. All they had to do was be obedient to God. Even when it meant they had to wait upon God.

That’s faith. Do the faith thing today and we will talk more about it this Sunday at our new place in Chico! 405 W. Kentucky St! We had such a good time last Sunday! I have “faith” you will be there! I love you all! — Todd

Big Sunday

Well, this Sunday is the big day! Yes, Sundays are always a big day at Christ Fellowship. It’s my favorite day of the week! But this Sunday will be our first to meet in the new building we are renting in Chico. The address is 405 W. Kentucky in Chico, right across from Got-to-Go Solutions. There is plenty of room and it’s a beautiful building, especially inside. Yes, there will probably be some hiccups, some changes, some weird smells – and that’s just the nursery. But Jesus is still our focus and I can’t wait to worship with my church family in our new, albeit temporary, building that God has provided for us.

I did find out yesterday that our old building in Lake Bridgeport will now house a Hispanic church that has come from First Baptist Bridgeport. I talked with them and I have no reason to believe that they had any idea that we were there when they agreed to purchase or lease the property. I sincerely hope and pray that the community will embrace their church like they embraced us and I pray that God will bless them and use them to minister to our friends there.

I love you all and can’t wait to see you Sunday at 10 and 6! — Todd

Big Weekend

Yay! It’s Friday! Almost everybody looks forward to Friday, right? Because it means the weekend is here and maybe you can get some rest. But will you? For some it means just doing a different kind of work and there never seems to be any real rest. Psalm 91 says, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Read that sentence again. Seriously, read it one more time and just let it sink in.

We have a lot going on at Christ Fellowship and I really need that kind of rest; the kind of rest where I can give God all my cares, my hopes, frustrations, sins and doubts. And I can rest knowing that He is the Almighty, ready, willing and able to provide strength and energy, wisdom and clarity, showing me grace so I can show others grace in this stressful time. Thank you, Lord!

As most of you know, this will be our last Sunday at 1301 N Main St in Lake Bridgeport. We have been here for ten years and it’s painful to have to leave but I am truly excited about what God has planned for us in this next chapter of the life of Christ Fellowship. We have found a temporary place to rent that holds great potential for us. I think everybody will be very pleased and we are very grateful to God for supplying it!

The physical address is 405 W. Kentucky, Chico, Tx 76431. The mailing address is PO Box 645 in Chico. It used to be a church and then it burned down. They rebuilt it but then covid hit and they may have used it 3-4 times but then sold it to the new owners who have made it into an event center. It is right across Davis Street from Got to Go Solutions and it is almost brand new and plenty big for everything we need to do. We have an agreement to rent it all day Sundays and Thursdays.

So, this is where the work starts! And we need your help! We have Timmy and Trina’s wedding tomorrow, Saturday, at 2 pm and everyone is invited to that. Then we need to start moving things. Some can go to the event center but most to storage and we need lots of help Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. After church Sunday morning, we will have lunch provided here at the church and then start moving again. We have to be completely out (including all my stuff) by Thursday the 15th. Please bring trucks and trailers if you have them.

Again, this new place has great potential and I am very excited but it is going to be a lot of work. It is going to be uncomfortable at times and not ideal for anybody. People are already stressed out and tired so please be mindful that all of us need grace and need to show grace to each other as God has shown it to us. I’m sorry this has been so long but it’s important so I will see you Saturday and Sunday and I can’t wait! I love every one of you! — Todd

Waiting…

As I sit here this morning wondering what we are going to do, wondering what I am going to do and wondering what God is going to do, I found this Psalm of David that brought me peace. Psalm 27:13-14 says, 

“I remain confident of this:
    I will see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the Lord.”

I and the Leadership Team are doing all we know to do. We are tracking down every lead, exploring every unused building and working with realtors and others in the community to find a place for our church to go. But at the end of the day, we are just waiting on God to provide. We know He is aware. He is concerned. He is in control and He loves us. So, we will wait on Him. — Todd

Friday update

Psalm 27 starts off with 

The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
    of whom shall I be afraid?

King David had people trying to do him in and we don’t usually have to deal with that. But we do have to deal with situations that will do us in if we let them, physically, mentally and spiritually. But God is our light, our salvation and our stronghold and we will not be afraid! No, this isn’t another devotional today. It just needs to be our focus as we continue looking for a place in which the church can meet.

We still have no perfect solutions yet but there are possibilities at the RV Park and a couple of places in Chico are interesting. Please continue to send your ideas and we will check them out asap. Also, please continue to send boxes. We need all sizes. And the same with prayer. Please continue to send those, asking for wisdom and unity and for God’s will to be known and done.

I love you all and can’t wait to see you Sunday! — Todd

Major Announcement

Today’s email is not a devotional. My plan is to do that Mon – Thurs for a few weeks and then Fridays will be my usual Friday email. But this morning I want to tell you to make sure to be at Christ Fellowship Sunday morning if at all possible. Not only will you get a great time of worship as always but this Sunday our church Leadership Team has a big announcement that will literally change the way we do everything at our church. I’m not being dramatic when I say it’s the biggest thing to ever happen to our church and I need you to hear about it in person. So, please, if at all possible, if you care about Christ Fellowship as a member or attender, please be here or at least watch on Facebook or our website. You don’t want to miss it.

I love y’all! — Todd

Fishers of Men Fish Fry

To celebrate another successful Vacation Bible School, Christ Fellowship will be having a church-wide fish fry this coming Sunday right after morning worship time. Everybody is invited and if you want to bring something, you can. But you don’t have to. In honor of the VBS theme of being fishers of men, we thought it appropriate to fry up some fish that has been caught in Lake Bport lately. So, bring something that goes with fish or a dessert or whatever or nothing. Just come on! 

Also, I am excited to start another sermon series this Sunday! 1 Corinthians has so much to teach the church about…well…how to be a church. This Sunday we will start by hearing what God has to say to us through the message of the cross. I love you all and can’t wait to see you this Sunday at 10 and 6! — Todd

Special kind of different or different kind of special?

I don’t know if you would say this weekend at Christ Fellowship is a special kind of different or a different kind of special but it’s gonna be fun and worshipful! Ben Grieser will be bringing the message Sunday morning at 10 and then Sunday night at 6 he will lead us in a special and different all-request sing-along. We have done this before and we know God will be glorified while we have a lot of fun. I can’t wait to see you there! I love you all! — Todd