It was an awesome weekend

Rick talked about "knowing the will of God," and as always he did an awesome job.

Check this verse out. This is what I read in my time with God this morning:

First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:8-10

Because Christ followed the will of His Father, we have been given the opportunity to know Christ in a personal and intimate way. Christ set the example in every way for us. What an awesome God we serve.

My son Andrew (Andy), led one of our songs during worship this weekend; You Deserve, by Hillsong. It was a great moment for me to have Andrew lead with me. He typically is there, but playing an awesome lead guitar. However, believing that he has a gift to encourage people in worship, I wanted him to lead in singing with me. He did great. It was a happy moment for me. I am blessed to have both of my sons leading with me.

Thank God for some redundancy. Today the power supply for the Soundcraft went out at our Downtown campus, but Jeff had a power supply back up. So, it was switched out and the service went on with out a hitch. Sweet!

The worship choir will not meet for the next two weeks. Enjoy!

You all are a blessing. I love you all.
Sammy

Permits needed for home Bible Studies...humm?

Where's this going?
says-home-bible-study-needs-permit

We will start rehearsal this evening in the rehearsal room then finish on stage. This will allow the band some time before we join them as well as give the worship choir some time to learn some parts.

Blessings.
Sammy

Memorial Day Weekend

Well, here we are. It is Memorial Day Weekend. The actual date this year is on Monday, May 25th. The last Monday of the month of May. It is a national holiday when we remember those who gave their life in service to their country.

On Monday, take a moment to thank God for those who gave their lives for our freedom and pray for those who continue to serve our great country.

My dad was in his Army uniform today. He sat right there in front row at the 10:30 am service. He looked great. I'm so proud of him and for the years that he served. On a side note, I wish I had some of that great hair he has.

Well, Boot Camp has come to an end, but my prayer is that God would continue to transform my life and all our lives. What a great study.

I'm excited about our next series. "I Love This Place." Get ready!

Well, Rick quoted one of my all-time favorite verses today. So I leave you with it:

Zephaniah 3:17 (New International Version)

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing. "

Boot Camp message 5

Well, we completed Boot Camp Message 5. Rick spoke on "Giving." He did an awesome job reminding us that giving is a discipline.
Giving reveals spiritual growth and giving spurs more growth. Good stuff.

We also had our full compliment of Connection Classes. As always, I loved them. It is great to see folks coming, wanting to know more about Christ Fellowship. It was so good being with all the folks.

This question came up. "Why do we believe, 'Once saved always saved'?" Have you ever asked that question? This is what I shared with the person that asked me:

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13-14.

When we come to Christ we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Our salvation is sealed. What a promise from God's Word. Check it out. We believe that once we are saved we are always saved because of what the scriptures say.

I love you all
Sammy

Over 600 people at our Downtown campus

Well, what an unbelievable evening it was at our Downtown campus. Well over 600 people. It was awesome! The last time there were that many peeps there was back in the 60's.

It was an amazing evening. Abiel did a great job in heading up our music. All the worship leaders did great. Rick was on point as always. Eric on point as well. Breakouts...off the chart.

I can't wait to see all that God will do. Greater things are yet to come.

Thanks worship team!
I love you all

How is your faith?

Reading this morning from Oswald Cambers, My Utmost For His Highest, I was challenged, so I wanted to share this with you. This is just a portion of what I read. Check it out:

Faith is not some weak and pitiful emotion, but is strong and vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. And even though you cannot see Him right now and cannot understand what He is doing, you know Him. Disaster occurs in your life when you lack the mental composure that comes from establishing yourself on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the supreme effort of your life— throwing yourself with abandon and total confidence upon God.

God ventured His all in Jesus Christ to save us, and now He wants us to venture our all with total abandoned confidence in Him. There are areas in our lives where that faith has not worked in us as yet— places still untouched by the life of God. There were none of those places in Jesus Christ’s life, and there are to be none in ours. Jesus prayed, "This is eternal life, that they may know You . . ." ( John 17:3 ). The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we will take this view, life will become one great romance— a glorious opportunity of seeing wonderful things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.

I love you all and look forward to seeing you at the Ministry Rally this evening and worshipping together this weekend. Let's continue to pray for God to move in power over all our campuses.

Sammy

Believe

Studying this morning after my bike ride, I read this verse:

John 5:39-40 (New International Version)

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Have you ever asked yourself this question? "What do I believe?" Do you believe in the Bible or whom the Bible testifies about? Oh, I believe in the scriptures, but look at the scripture again. Our belief in the scriptures alone is not enough. We must believe in the One whom the scriptures testify about.

This is why when sharing the Gospel it is imperative that we use the Word of God, for it is through the scriptures, the Spirit of God can do the work necessary for a person to cross the line of faith.

Please pray for the Worship and Media ministry today. We will be having our Reach Beyond at Perrine Elementary. Some of the Worship Leaders and Pastors will be singing, we'll be serving them a lunch, and giving them some gifts. It should be fun. But let's pray that they will see the love of Jesus in us.

Thank you for the supplies that you all provided for us.

I'll give you all the details this evening at rehearsal.

Blessings
Sammy

We will see you tonight.

Bell Shoals Baptist Church gets new pastor

As many of you remember, around a year ago my brother's senior pastor was tragically killed in a plane crash. Just this weekend Bell Shoals voted to receive Stephen N. Rummage as a their new senior pastor. Continue to pray for my brother Victor, who is the student pastor there, as well as the entire staff of Bell Shoals as they go through this transition. Below is a short bio.

Stephen N. Rummage is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina. He received Christ as his Savior in 1975 and was baptized a year later. Throughout his high school and college years he served the Lord in various capacities both inside and outside his home church. Six months after completing his undergraduate studies in 1990 he felt a calling by the Lord to preach the gospel. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1993 and earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Preaching from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1998. Dr. Rummage has served pastorates in North Carolina, Louisiana, and Virginia. At each church he has served he shares Christ’s desire to see lost people saved and Christians brought to a growing relationship with Him. He has emphasized expository preaching and personal evangelism. Dr. Rummage’s greatest desire is to fulfill God’s purpose in his life by living to glorify Him.

Blessings
Sammy

Boot Camp hits another high.

What another amazing weekend we had at CF. Frank Gali, Student Worship Leader at our CF Palmetto Bay Campus led worship in the adult service this weekend. He did amazing! Thanks Frankie for leading us in worship this weekend.

Eric gave the message and did a great job in leading us in prayer and fasting. Super message.

Folks, don't forget. We will be praying and fasting on Thursday, May 7th. Remember, as Eric shared with us, when fasting be sure to pray. While missing a meal, spend that time with God. And remember, you don't need to advertise this to the world.

Let's pray that we will be all that God desires us to be. That we would have a passion for the city and for the world.

Ministry Rally, Friday May 7th at our Downtown campus. It's gonna be great. Go ahead and register now: www.cfmiami.org Worship will be awesome, breakouts, amazing. So we look forward to seeing you there.

Blessings
Sammy