From the Pastor

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT (60 Day Marriage Challenge – Aug 09)

Top SEVEN Ways To Make Your Marriage GREAT…

1. Stop Fighting IN It and Start Fighting FOR It! As long as you see your husband/wife as the enemy… your home will always be a battlefield! And EVERYONE loses when you fight WITH each other and not FOR each other!

2. Stop Asking God To FIX YOUR HUSBAND/WIFE And Ask Him To FIX YOU! No one in any marriage is perfect… and when we stop pointing out all of our spouse’s perceived inadequacies it really does make us a much nicer person to be around! (Psalm 139:23-24 is a GREAT Prayer to PRAY when asking God to show you your own “Opportunities For improvement!”)

3. ASK For HELP! You are NOT the first married couple that’s ever struggled… and you won’t be the last! The problem is that (especially in church today) we are so obsessed with what people may say or think about us… that we will allow our relationships to implode! We CANNOT allow our desire for appearance to distort the reality that WE NEED HELP!

4. Ask The Lord To Allow You To See Your Husband/Wife THROUGH His Eyes! This can/will absolutely CHANGE your perspective on WHO you are married to! Because you begin to see them less and less as your Husband/Wife and more and more as a Son/Daughter of the KING! Considering things like… How do you think HE wants HIS Child to be Treated?

5. Choose Right Now That You Are Always Going To BELIEVE THE BEST About Your Husband/Wife! LOVE… ALWAYS ASSUMES THE BEST about a person! (See 1 Corinthians 13) If you are always assuming the worst about your husband or wife… then you have a major problem and are placing them in a NO WIN Situation!

6. Stop Seeing Your Husband/Wife As YOUR SERVANT - But Rather YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE! As long as you see your husband/wife as Your Servant… you will always be tempted to point out their shortcomings in regards to the ways they are not meeting YOUR perceived needs! However… If you see your husband/wife as YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE… it will completely change the dynamic and temperature of the relationship!

7. Do WHATEVER IT TAKES To Get To The Church of Celebration’s… “60 DAY MARRIAGE CHALLENGE!” Trust me… This event is going to be one of THE BEST events our church has ever hosted! It starts on SUNDAY, AUGUST 09^th (9a/10:45a – MHS Performing Art Center) Six Weeks/Six Weekly Challenges… followed by a Four Week closer look at Your Marriage in our LIFE Groups Weekly Studies… followed by an ART OF MARRIAGE Weekend Conference (Oct 16-17). And the Best Part… If you and your husband/wife can COMPLETE the entire 60 Days AND Challenges… your names go into a drawing for a FREE “SECOND HONEYMOON!” (Did I mention it was FREE!?)

One Last Note… If you’re SINGLE or DIVORCED…? THIS EVENT IS FOR YOU AS WELL… The best way to HAVE a Great Marriage is to actually PREPARE IN ADVANCE for one!

See You Sunday Celebrators… (9A / 10:45A)

RunTheRace! (Heb 12:1-2)

Pastor Josh

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT (60 Day Marriage Challenge)

You CAN’T Have A GREAT MARRIAGE…

Are you Struggling in your Current Marriage? Are you Single and one day HOPE you’ll have a Great Marriage? I don't want to burst your bubble... but You Will Never "HAVE" a Great Marriage! (However… You can BUILD ONE!) All the people I know who have Great Marriages did not just inherit them overnight… they worked on them… communicated openly… fought fairly and put their spouse's needs before theirs! 

Just the other morning I read in PROVERBS 10:4… "Lazy Hands make for Poverty - but Diligent Hands bring Wealth." Often times this is referred to as being Rich Financially… but it also applies to being Rich Relationally! If you want to have a Great Marriage… then you must be willing to Neglect Laziness and develop Diligent Hands that BUILD UP rather than TEAR DOWN!

If you are MARRIED… (Ask yourself…) What steps can you take today to have Diligent Hands that Build Your Spouse Up? (A Surprise Date Night? A Text that says… "I LOVE YOU”? (Or a simple…) "I’M SORRY" about the latest conflict?)

If you are SINGLE… (Ask yourself…) What steps can you take today to have Diligent Hands to PREPARE YOU for your Future Marriage? (Get out of debt? Deal with past baggage? (Or…) Growing in God's Word?)

A Great Marriage is a Great Marriage because two people WORKED to make it GREAT! Don't just Pray for a Great Marriage… Participate With God as He leads you! Develop Diligent Hands to DO WHATEVER IT TAKES for your Marriage to be GREAT!

Our “60 DAY MARRIAGE CHALLENGE” is only a couple weeks away… it starts SUNDAY, AUGUST 09^th – And I can think of no better way to WORK ON MAKING YOUR MARRIAGE (or Future Marriage) GREAT… than to participate in this Challenge! We’ll be continuing to give INFORMATION about this Challenge the next couple weeks at COC… or you can find out more by visiting www.churchofcelebration.com for more detailed info!

DON’T… MISS… IT!!!

See You Sunday Celebrators… (9A / 10:45A)

RunTheRace! (Heb 12:1-2)

Pastor Josh