Building God's Temple - February 23, 2014

"Building God's Temple"
Text: I Corinthians 3:10-23
On this special Sunday, the Cape Elizabeth Church of the Nazarene honors Pastor Emeritus Roland Stanford and his wife Phyllis. As we continue our study in First Corinthians, we discover some key points about what it means to build God's Temple - the Church. We recognize that we receive a trust from those who have built the foundation. We stress the importance of building what will last - the Kingdom of God. And we hear the warning to not do anything that would destroy that temple.  Ultimately, this passage is an invitation to put our faith on the Church's One Foundation - Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Cape Elizabeth Nazarene Podcast - and Expanded Video Ministry

Greetings in the Name of Christ!

I want to thank you for being a faithful subscriber to our podcast. Whether you listen weekly, or only periodically, we're glad to have you as part of our extended family.  Since we began our podcast, we've had over 30,000 unique downloads of our audio sermons. It's a blessing to know that our ministry reaches to traveling nurses and truckers, missionaries on the other side of the world, and those who are isolated from a church community because of location or health concerns.

I'm writing today because we're looking for a handful of people to help us with a new internet venture. God has placed within our congregation some individuals with skills, passion, and desire to help us reach out through video ministry as well. This would allow us to cable-cast our services to our surrounding communities, live-stream on the internet, and offer video-on-demand through a variety of distribution channels.  It's our belief that this will allow us to impact our local communities, as well as to enhance our internet ministry.

I don't believe that I've ever written to our podcast subscribers to request financial assistance. We intend to always offer our resources with no charge (manuscripts, audio downloads, and (if we proceed) video).  I also commit to you that we will not begin filling your email inbox with solicitations!

However, as you know, endeavors like this do require significant resources, and we're doing all we can to identify those individuals who would like to help with start-up expenses, or with monthly support of our expanded online ministries.

If God leads you to support us, either with a one-time gift or some monthly support, please email me at pastorjon@capenazarene.org and let me know. Even a small monthly gift would help with wiring the church with internet and putting together our streaming services.

Regardless, I would ask you to pray for us. These are exciting days for the Church, and God continues to use the people in Cape Elizabeth, Maine in powerful ways.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jon

Under Construction - February 16, 2014

"Under Construction"
Text: I Corinthians 3:1-9
Paul continues his letter to the new believers in Corinth, encouraging them to move on from "drinking milk" to "solid food." Just as a baby must learn to feed themselves, mature Christians should not be content with being spoonfed, but instead have learned to feed themselves. We not only feed ourselves the "solid food," but we help others discover where the spiritual food of the Gospel can be found.  Spiritual growth can be uncomfortable, painful, and even messy... but growing Christians continue to draw closer and closer to God.

Eyes, Ears, Hearts, and Minds - February 9, 2014

"Eyes, Ears, Hearts, and Minds"
Text: I Corinthians 2:1-16
After emphasizing the core essentials of the Gospel, Paul invites the maturing believer to deepen their faith, to be filled with the Spirit, and to have the mind of Christ. In so doing, our eyes, ears, hearts, and minds are opened, as the mysteries of God are revealed to us. Holiness is not merely a list of dos and don'ts, but an invitation to participate in God's Kingdom.

A Foolish Message - February 2, 2014

"A Foolish Message" - February 2, 2014
Text: I Corinthians 1:18-31
God doesn't often choose the eloquent, the influential, or the wealthy. Instead, he chooses the nobodies, the meek, the poor. At the core of the Gospel is a message that seems foolish to the world: that God would take on human flesh and bones, be born in a manger, and die for those who had turned to their own way.