Do You Need A Victory?

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Baptism on Sunday

Sometimes victory can seem like something out of reach. Have you ever been in the middle of a project and you couldn't see how you were going to finish it before the deadline? Then, to your surprise, you got it done. It took late nights, perseverance, time management, and insane hours. But you had that victory moment!

In college I remember looking at my syllabus's thinking, "There is no way we're going to cover all this." Some how we would. I would get all the projects done and all the exams passed. One class, specifically, was the bain of my existence. Anatomy. I had to memorize, what seemed like, every piece of the human body. Thousands. Of. Parts. With the help of my wonderful wife I passed by one point. That was a huge moment of victory for me.

Sunday September 11, 2011 was another one of those days. I had the privilege to baptize one of the students we had been working with at Reality for several months. It was so mind blowing to see God work in a person's life and actually change them. I could tell she was growing because she started making the right, but often more difficult, choices.

Those kind of victories are why we do the things we do at Oceanside. Why are we starting a new Saturday night service? To be able to have a hip service for cool people. No. We're doing it to reach a type of person that may not be reached any other way. Why do we offer movie tickets to guests who come to Reality? So they can see a movie. No. So that when we have 37 students at Reality because they want movie tickets and hopefully a few stay and we can actually make a difference that will last for eternity.

I think I used my life verse last week, but I love it so much, I'm going to use it again. Deal with it. Brothers and sisters, I can’t consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don’t look back, I lengthen my stride, and I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14


Look at you life and figure out what you consider victory. Would God put your victory in His win column? If not, examine how you can change that and get victory for God. The rest of this week serve God and run as hard as you can, lengthening your stride so that can pass the finish line proudly. Enjoy the victories and learn from your defeats.

In Closing...

Saturday Night Beta Service starts this Saturday at 8PM. Please come enjoy and hang out with us. Gourmet coffee, a great message on the power of God in our lives, and killer worship.

I've Tabled Sanctification or Cool Story Bro

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Practicing Sanctification...

Sanctification... It's a cool word. If you're alone right now (or even if you're not), say it out loud. It's fun to say. It's not always fun to experience and do.

Some of you may ask, "What is sanctification?" I'll explain it with a story and then a verse...

Thursday and Friday Pastor Trey and I were putting together some new tables for our hip Saturday night service. The tables were circular and it was important to find the relative center. After a quick search on Youtube we found an easy way to do that and we started putting the legs on the tables.

The first table we put together was a little sloppy. We were almost an inch off of center. It's nothing life altering, but it wasn't as sturdy as we wanted. So on table two we figured out what we did wrong and reduced our error to one-quarter of an inch. We were getting better. On the third table we were determined to make it our best yet. So, we measured twice three times and drilled once. It was even better. We were only less than a sixteenth of an inch off. We got better over time.

1 John 3:2-3 explains sanctification this way, Dear friends, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure. [Emphasis is mine.] Sanctification is becoming more like Christ tomorrow than you were today. It's the process of reaching perfection over time. Becoming like Christ.

Drinking coffee on one of our tables.

If we would have had a one more table and a square I really think we could have hit dead center. It took time and practice.

Our Christian life is similar. When we first become followers of Christ all of our sins are forgiven, but that doesn't mean we just stop doing sin. The goal is to become more like Christ every day. As Philippians 4:12-13 says, Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead,I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus. It's a process that we have to push forward through. Today focus on being a better person than you were yesterday, repeat tomorrow.

On The Other Hand...

• Oceanside Saturday Night starts on September 17 at 8PM. It'll be our beta service so we might be a little sloppy. But if you're ok with that join us! We're aiming for gourmet coffee, loud music, and digital integration (So it might not be for everyone).
• Sun Stand Still I've just started reading the book for the new series we're doing. Amazing! You'll be blown away. The series truly kicks off September 17 and 18. Start saving a few bucks to buy this book. It's one of those books you'll want to have around for a long time.
• Scaremare keep thinking about your rooms. We're going to have another meeting this Sunday (Sept. 11).