How well do you know Jesus? The fundamental truths about Jesus are just as complex and sometimes confusing as the doctrine of the Trinity itself, but understanding who Jesus is forms the foundation for everything in the Christian faith. After all, we call ourselves “Christians” because we follow Jesus Christ!

In this message, Pastor Jeff shows us from the Bible what we need to know about Jesus.

Speaker: Jeff Mikels :: Passage: Various

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To everyone at LCC:

Let me tell you what an incredible privilege it is for me to be your pastor. Each day, I’m reminded what a wonderful opportunity it is for me to know you, serve you, and encourage you. Each week, I’m reminded what an incredible responsibility it is for me to bring God’s Word to you in a relevant and informative way. Nevertheless, each year, you remind me that LCC is a congregation of generous people who understand the value of community.

Last Sunday, at the end of our announcement time, Dave Hynes stood up to share before the whole congregation that a collection had been taken up during the month of October for me and for Pastor Reggie in honor of Pastor Appreciation Month. I was completely surprised and had no idea that anything like that was going on behind the scenes. He handed me a gift bag that had some fancy chocolates in it and a card with $50 worth of coffee gift certificates inside.

You guys know me well.

See, I’m not a big fan of normal chocolate or normal coffee. I like the crazy strange weird (and usually expensive) stuff. I like the chocolate with chili powder in it to make it spicy, the 90% Cacao dark chocolate that makes your mouth feel dry, the salted chocolate that has real crystals of sea salt in it. I like the strange chocolate, and I’ll go on record now saying that the stuff you all gave me on Sunday was (and half of it still is) absolutely incredible. There’s some seriously strange, fancy chocolate in there, and it’s all amazing.

Also, the gift cards for the coffee are for the most amazing coffee shops in town. I’ve already bought a bag of beans that I intend to french press for my Life Group tonight.

Nevertheless, gift cards, chocolate, money, whatever, all those things are great and all, and I love you all the more for them, but what really excites me, what really gets my motor running, and what really reminds me of your appreciation for me is whenever I see you growing in your relationship to Christ.

This last year, I have received the great gift of seeing people step up to do more than simply greet Sunday morning visitors but to engage them during our Interaction time, to invite them to join Life Groups, to share meals with them, and to welcome them into the life of our church. I have seen people step up to give of themselves financially, making the commitment to return to God through LCC the first 10% of their household income. I have seen people step up to become worship leaders, and KIDOPOLIS teachers, and Life Group hosts. I have seen people devote themselves to prayer, to cleaning the building, to starting a youth program, and to even building a drum cage!

I feel appreciated with chocolate, and I thank you again for your gifts, but I need to thank you even more for simply walking with Jesus. He loves you more than I ever could, not because of you, or me, but because of him.

Let’s finish 2011 strong. Let’s build each other up. Let’s reach out to the lost who don’t know Jesus. Let’s put our money where our mouth is, and let’s all together get ourselves ready for the new miracles God will do in our midst next year.

Thank you again.

Grace and Peace,

Jeff

What comes to mind when you think about God? What images come to mind? Do you think of God like an old man on a throne? Like a breeze blowing through the trees? Like an impersonal force? In this message, we learn that all human language for God falls short especially when we take what we know about words and apply that meaning to God. When it comes to God, we let God himself be the standard for what our words about him mean. He calls himself our Father, but to take lessons from our earthly fathers and make conclusions about God’s character based on that would get us into a lot of trouble. Instead, we take what God says about himself and let that shape our understanding of what it means to be Father.

It works the same way with all His attributes: holiness, wisdom, power, love.

Listen up to revel in the attributes of the God who made you.

Speaker: Jeff Mikels :: Passage: Various

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One of the most complicated concepts to grasp is the notion that God is three-in-one. The Trinity is the conviction that the Bible means what it says. When it teaches that God is one and that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equally God, we simply believe both propositions are true at the same time. In this message we address both the Old Testament and the New Testament to show that if a person believes the Bible, that person must also believe in the concept of the Trinity.

The last 15 minutes or so are questions from the congregation answered live.

Speaker: Jeff Mikels :: Passage: Various

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I just got this email from Seth Curtis saying that their support level is now at 95%. All they have left to raise is $350 in monthly support! Here’s the email:

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Hey Jeff,

Just wanted to touch base with you so you can update your people on how things are going with our departure plans.

Our current support level is at 95% — We are still in need of roughly $350 in monthly support that needs to come in between now and when we leave. Because of the closeness, we have prayerfully set our departure date for Monday, November 21st, 2011.

Our people in Congo have been notified of our arrival plans and are very excited, as are we!

…

If there might be others at LCC who would commit to sacrificially partner with the ministry in Congo personally, I have attached a Statement of Support Intent form from FGM.

Along with this, if there would be those who would like to pray for us & track our travels back to Congo and getting set back up, I will be posting regular updates on Facebook & Twitter. More frequent and pertinent updates will be released to those who are members of our FB group, “ujm LIVE!”

• Talking Drum Mailing list sign-up — http://conta.cc/talkingdrum
• Twitter — http://twitter.com/Curtises4africa
• Facebook — http://www.facebook.com/Curtises4africa
• Facebook Group — http://on.fb.me/ujmLIVE

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To join their financial support team, download this form: Statement of Support Intent.