Into The Deep

This morning I was meditating on Luke 5:4 - And when He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a Catch" Of course, you know the rest of the story. On that night they caught a catch like they had never caught before to the point that their nets were breaking due to the massive weight of all the fish. They even had to call over their friends in other boats because they ran out of room in their own vessel. Now most of you know that I love to fish so naturally passages like this in the Bible tend to grab my attention, recently I was bass fishing at a local lake and we were really having a banner day however, we began to notice a pattern that when we fished in the shallow waters we tended to only catch the smaller fish, but when we could find the deep channels and deep underwater creeks we seemed to catch larger fish. When I was reading over the Luke 5:4 passage this morning God spoke to me and said don't settle for being a shallow water Christian, but dare to dive deeper, love greater, dream bigger, and give more. As I reflected on this I began to realize that Jesus was teaching the disciples a far greater lesson than just about where to fish. He was more importantly trying to teach them to stay out in the deep things of God, to dive deeply into His word and discover the depth of God's Greatness and love. I encourage and challenge you today to not settle for being a shallow water Christian, but dare to dive deeper with God. Yes sometimes the deeper you go the stronger the current, but remember that those who swim in the fast current are those that become stronger because of it. Be willing to launch out into the deep and get ready for God to blow your mind.

Your Friend,
Jake

Clash of The Titans

I am really pumped about the upcoming sermon series that I am going to be starting this week called -Clash of The Titans-. You will want to make sure and be here for this one, as we will be exploring the different clashes and struggles that so many are facing in the current day and age. We will also be taking an interesting look into the Word of God to see what it has to say about this topic. Make sure and dont miss this weeks introduction message to the series, I look forward to seeing you there.

On another note this Sunday was another historical Sunday for our church as we have had another record breaking attendance at an estimated 130-140 people (this is counting men, women, and children). Great things are happening as new folks are visiting every Sunday and many are making a commitment to follow Christ either for the first time in thier lives or in a recommitment to follow God. We have had over 25 decisions to follow Christ since January 1, 2010 and we have doubled in size as a church since October 2009. God is so awesome!!! I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the coming months.

Just His,
Jake

1 Year Old and Still Rockin

Wow!! I am so pumped as of late. So much is happening at Eagle Heights lately, we recently celebrated our one year anniversary and I stood in amazement in all that God has done over the past year. This time last year we had just moved into our current facility and we had an average of about 25 people in attendance on a good Sunday. For the past month we have averaged over 100 people in attendance and it is growing every Sunday. New people are coming, and coming back. Kids are everywhere, young people abound, young couples, young families, middle aged folks, and even a WWII veteran. We are now in the process of building a new auditorium that will accomodate 225 people, and we will be turning our current auditorium/childrens building into a first class childrens/youth facility.

We launched our connection groups (Small groups meeting in homes) on Feb 15th with almost 70% of the church in attendance. We have been active in supporting missions in all three areas of local, national, and international missions, and we have served our community through several community service projects.

I could go on and on, but I simply want to say thank you. Thank You God for your faithfulness, thank You to every member of Eagle Heights for giving, serving, and believing in the vision that God has placed in our hearts. God has done so much this past year, but I assure you that the best is yet to come, I know that this year God will once again blow our minds with His greatness. No one could fathom, no mind can imagine, no man could comprehend His wonder, He is the master of all creation and we are His masterpiece. That should make you feel great, you are the awesome creation of Gods hands.

Just His,
Jake

The Fathers Business

I am really pumped about 2010. I know that God is going to do some amazing things in our church and also in my life. I have vowed to go to another level in God this year. To dig deeper in His word, be stronger in prayer, be more compassionate in my approach to others and more diligent in my quest to have a heart like His. One of the things that I am doing this year is breaking away from my traditional devotion plan and really devoting much of my time to studying the life of Jesus.

Recently, I have been meditating on the early life of Jesus. Particularly on the passage of scripture in Luke 2:41-50 the story tells us of a time when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus along on thier annual trip to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. However, this trip would become somewhat of a blemish to Joseph and Mary's parenting skills as they found themselves a days journey having left Jerusalem and on the way back to Nazareth without Jesus anywhere in sight. I have often found myself asking the question, how does anyone loose the only begotten Son of God, The Lord of Glory, The King of Kings, The Prince of Peace, and what was it that The Son of God was doing that was so important that he would'nt try to reunite with his parents? But the answer reveals itself when Mary posed the question "Son, why have you done this to us? Look your father and I have sought you anxiously." The reply of Jesus is one that we should never forget "Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my fathers business?" In one sentence Jesus officialy blew His parents mind, and in one sentence He officially taught all of His followers then and now that our number one priority should always be to be about our Fathers business . I have learned that it is the business of the Father that really matters, it is the business of the Father that really counts for something in the end, and I am determined to make the Fathers business my business this year. I challenge you to go deeper in God this year, allow Him to do surgery on those areas that need healing, to comfort in areas that need comforting, and to convict in those areas that need convicting.

God has great things in store for you, no matter where you are in life He has a plan, a purpose and a destiny for you. In the words of the song - Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so, little ones to him belong we are week but He is strong-

Just His,
Jake

Merry Christmas

Christmas is most definitely one my favorite times of the year (although I could do without the cold weather). The sights, the sounds, lights, festivities, fire in the fireplace, eggnog in the coffee cup, and the smell of a fresh cut tree in the house. As 2009 comes to a close I reflect on the greatness of God, He has been so faithful to us. You can always rely on God, when everything else fails, He never will. I cant help but be reminded of a day some 2,000 years ago when the father God in the greatest display of love that the world has ever known sent His only begotten Son, the diamond of Heaven, to be born in a feeding trough likely in a cave in a small town called Bethlehem. A day when The Lord of Glory would come with a mission to save us. During this time of the year it is so easy to forget about Jesus, with all of the other distractions around us we forget about the MIP (Most Important Person) of the whole season. This Christmas I want to challenge you to honor the gift that Christ gave to us, dont over look the King of kings for the business of the season. It is with a heart of gratitude that I thank Jesus for all that He has done for our church and for my family in 2009, and we are excited about what God has in store for our future. I love our church! God has brought together an awesome group of people from all walks of life, and He continues to add daily. So with all of my heart Merry Christmas from my family to yours.

May your Christmas be Bright,

Jake

An Attitude of Gratitude

Recently I was reflecting on the many things in my life that I have to be thankful for. My family, My church, My friendships, and the many other things that God has so graciously blessed me with. However, most of all I am simply thankful for the fact that Jesus saved a sinner like me and like Paul I will boldly declare that I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ . Recently, we had a very memorable Sunday morning service at our church where several people got up and shared thier testimonies of how God has changed thier life,and that they had found a new hope and outlook on life through the eyes of Jesus. Today if you are reading this never forget to be thankful for Gods great mercy and grace that He has given you. This time of year I am reminded of Noah when he got off of the ARK, the Bible tells us that the first thing he did was to sacrifice of the animals that he had on the ARK in a display of his great gratitude for what God had done for his family by saving them from utter destruction. The story goes on to say that when he made the burnt offering it went up as a sweet smelling aroma to God in other words Noahs attitude of gratitude got Gods attention, and God was pleased. When we have a thankful heart toward God I believe it moves His heart toward us, He becomes much like any parent does when thier children are thankful and His desire is to bless us because of our Attitude of gratitude. So I encourage you to always rejoice in the Lord, because He is always rejoicing in you.

With A Thankful Heart,

Jake

When Love is in the House

- When Love is in the house the house is packed - I love this statement because it is so very true! We are all drawn to people who will accept us for who we are, people that are real and genuine, people who display the love of God in a world that so desperately needs it. This past Sunday I taught on the subject of love, we reviewed the story of the Good Samaritan and how all of us can use this passage of scripture to help us in displaying Gods love outside of the church walls in a practical way. The amazing thing about this story is that the beat up Jewish man who was left for dead on the side of the road by thieves and robbers would have probably called the Samaritan man anything but good, because of the bad blood between the Jewish and Samaritan people. However, despite their differences it was the Samaritan that displayed Gods love that day, not the so called "religious crowd". The story tells us that the priest and the Levite(from the priestly Tribe of Israel) passed by on the other side of the road leaving the hurting, wounded, broken man to die in his miserable state. The title of last Sundays message was You Give Love A Bad Name. The challenge that Jesus gives us in this story is not to be like the so called "religious people" (The Priest and the Levite) but rather to put love first. Not to get so caught up with the affairs of this life, that we forget the basics of what being a Jesus Follower is all about -Loving God and Loving people-. So I want to challenge you to live a life that displays the Love of God. In the words of St. Francais of Assissi "Preach the Gospel at all times and when neccessary use words"

Lets give Love a Good Name

Jake