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Items needed for the pantry

* Jelly

* Peanut Butter

*Ramen Noodles

Beef Stew

*Hamburger Helper

*Cereal (non-frosted)

Tuna Helper

Spaghetti-O’s

Ravioli

Oatmeal

Rice

Pasta

*These items are currently needed most

In the small midwestern city of Zenith, George Babbitt seems to have it all: a successful real-estate business, a devoted wife, three children, and a house with all the modern conveniences. Yet, dissatisfied and lonely, he’s begun to question the conformity, consumerism, and competitiveness of his conservative and ultimately cultureless middle-class community.

His despairing sense that something, indeed many things are missing from his life leads him into a flirtation with liberal politics and a fling with an attractive and seemingly “bohemian” widow. But he soon finds that his attempts at rebellion may cost more than he is willing to pay.

The title of Sinclair Lewis’ 1922 satire on American materialism added a new word to our vocabulary. “Babbittry” has come to stand for all that’s wrong with a world where the pursuit of happiness means the procurement of things- a world that substitutes “stuff” for “soul”. Some twenty years after Babbitt’s initial success, critics called Lewis dated and his fiction old-fashioned, but these judgments have come to seem like wishful thinking. With Babbittry evident all around us, the novel is more relevant than ever.

Join us in discussion at Barnes and Noble (2051 N. Federal Hwy, Ft. Lauderdale) at 7:30pm on October 11th.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing from my friend, as we conversed together over coffee. This was coming from someone who didn’t believe in Christianity but understood the implications of it better than most Christians.

And honestly, as I sat with him on this day…better than I did.

Because he’s right.  Imagine living in a world where for all it’s madness, it never “gets to you”. Imagine living in a world where it’s Maker esteems you and considers you his, despite all your shortcomings and failures.  Imagine living in a world with the promise that everything that’s broken about it will soon be fixed.

Perhaps this is why St. Paul could write from a prison cell to persecuted Christians these words: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!…The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything…And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (From Philippians chapter 4)

My friend, though he didn’t believe, knew what this “peace of God” meant and knew that having it would be a superior way to go through life.

But after his remarks, I really didn’t know what to say. I ended up just saying the very thing on my mind at that moment: “You know…you would make a great Christian”.

He laughed. My curiosity was only growing though, “So, I have to ask…what’s stopping you?”

His reply was: “I want Christianity to be true…but I’m just not convinced yet.”

It was an honest statement.  But because he knew the potential implications for his life were so great, he also said something else that was honest: “If it’s true, I want to find out.  And I’ll take as long as I need to find out.”

We then ended up having a lengthy conversation about the historical reliability of Jesus’ resurrection. Still searching, I’m not sure where he’ll land.

But I do know this.  What sends many people on that search is simple, honest…curiousity.  After all, the claims of Christianity are just big enough and the implications are more than desirable enough, that you have to at least wonder…what if?

CityGroups are mid-sized gatherings of 15+ people who exist to rehearse the Gospel together, live it out to one another, and to be an extension of God’s love to our neighbors while serving the community around us. From each CityGroup will naturally flow smaller groups where people can find others to together follow the core Christian practices: worship, learning, confession of sin, and mission.

To join a CityGroup, contact one of the leaders listed below (groups start September 7th):

Faith/Arts CityGroup – Tuesday Nights @ 7:30pm
Meets in Flagler Village Neighborhood
This group is for the artist community and for those who have a passion for the industry and want to see the arts flourish in Fort Lauderdale. We’ll explore how the Gospel shapes what we do and how we create God glorifying art. To join, contact Phil Letizia (phi[at]citychurchftl.com).

Missional Families/Couples CityGroup – Wednesday Nights @ 6:30pm
Meets in Rio Vista Neighborhood
This group is for families and couples who want to learn what it means to be missional in the places God has called them. Together, we’ll help one another learn what it means to join God’s mission in our home, neighborhood, and workplace. To join, contact Brad Schmidt (brad[at]citychurchftl.com).

Mercy/Justice CityGroup – Thursday Nights @ 7:30pm
Meets in Shady Banks Neighborhood
This group is for anyone who wants to see Fort Lauderdale renewed spiritually, culturally and socially. Often joining up with other teams from across our city, we will identify, research and address what it means to see speak hope, mercy and justice into our city. To join, contact Ed Copeland (e.copeland[at]mac.com).

In a recent article in USA Today, Oliver Thomas echoes the position that we can ignore religious beliefs and still appreciate religion for the value system it provides. He says the world needs religion because religion makes us decent people. And that, he posits, is what life is all about–leaving the world better off than how you found it.  Or, as the scary kid from the Sixth Sense once put it: Pay it forward.

So, is this what life is about? Is our place in human history to become more decent people so that we leave this world better off than we found it? And does it really matter what we believe?

Well, judge for yourself.  Here’s what Christians believe.

1. Christianity says to the world: Your view of where human history is headed is way too small
Christianity says that history isn’t simply headed toward a better place (better off than you left it), it’s headed toward a perfect place.  A place where there is not less suffering, crying, and pain after we leave…but a place where there is no suffering, no crying, no pain. Christianity then poses the question to every person: What if life isn’t about you? What if life isn’t about all that you can make it? What if something is happening in human history that is greater than you?

But at the same time…

2. Christianity says Your view of what humans are capable of is way too great
It makes the bold statement that we are not part of the solution, but each of us are a part of the problem. It says that the world is the way it is because we are the way we are.  The problem isn’t outside us, as if we can then influence it for the good.  Rather, all of our problems come from within.  Christianity poses the question to every person: How can I be apart of the solution if I’m apart of the problem?

One of the great paradoxes of Christianity is this: It makes more of human history, all the while, making less of human capability. It tells us something we want to hear and something we don’t want to hear – at the same time.  Thankfully though, we’re not left to reconcile this tremendous gap – the gap between the world that God intended/has in store for us and the broken people we have become.

The news of Christianity is that God himself fills the gap. Though we became the problem, he becomes the solution.  He solves our human incapability problem by living the only truly good, truly decent, perfect life and takes our place on the cross. He then solves our human history problem by resurrecting from the dead and thereby securing a day when he returns – only this time to bring all of heaven with him in order finish what he started – the restoration of all things.

In the meantime, he’s gathering people who believe.  And that’s why Christians would say it makes all the difference in the world what a person believes.  Because if Jesus did rise from the grave, then now – and only now – can we be apart of the solution. We do that by being apart of The Solution, that is, by being united to Jesus through faith and by joining him as he addresses the problems of this world through us in order to build for that day when he returns to finish what he started.

And that’s what a Christian is. They are people in this world who have exchanged greatness - “I’m a good person who can change my life and this world” - for humility - “I’m not truly good and need someone to change my life and this world”.  They’ve exchanged being decent…for being His.

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What is a Christian Fast?

The focus of fasting should not be on the lack of food.
Fasting from food can be done for a variety of purposes, either physical or spiritual. So abstaining from food alone doesn’t constitute a Christian fast. Instead, a Christian fast is accompanied by a special focus on prayer during the fast, often substituting the time you’d spend eating with prayer.

Fasting provides a real-life illustration of dependency.
Although modern man thrives on the idea of being independent, beholden to no one, fasting helps you put the facts in the proper perspective. It’s easy to believe in your independence with a full stomach, but when you start to feel hunger pains in your belly after missing a meal or two, you awaken to your body’s dependency on food to survive. Fasting reveals a physical reliance on food that points to the ultimate dependency – the fact that you’re dependent on God for things far more important than food.

Fasting fosters concentration on God and his will.
Oswald Chambers once said that fasting means “concentration,” because when you’re fasting, you have a heightened sense of attentiveness. Food or any physical sensation can satisfy, fill you up, and dull your senses and spiritual ears. In contrast, a hungry stomach makes you more aware and alert to what God is trying to say to you.

Fasting offers a way to impose self-control in your life.
It gives you a “splash in the face” to awaken you to the need for the personal strength of will that you need to grow spiritually. When you restrain yourself physically, you’ll find it easier to apply this same self-discipline in your spiritual life.

One last thing – everyone can participate. Not everyone may be able to fast from food (pregnant women and diabetics for example), but everyone can give up something in order to focus on God (e.g. unplugging the television for 24 hours could also be an effective way of joining the fast)!

Source: Richard Wagner

A while ago, CityChurch hosted a discussion at Cinema Paridiso after the film, Fargo. One woman asked the discussion leader how this movie meshed with a christian understanding of things. The reply was that it accurately represented the biblical understanding of total depravity – the doctrine which says that humanity is not inherently good, but is in need of God’s intervention. She took offense. The woman’s reply: “You may be depraved and in need of God, but not me”. Which was an interesting way to put it. She wasn’t saying that “total depravity” wasn’t true…it just wan’t true for her.

Pragmatism – the assumption that if it works for you, it’s true for you – is a prevailing idea in our society and is the reason we have a hard time with an exclusive claim like Jesus’s where he once said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”   Through the pragmatic grid that claim will usually be met with indifference or anger. My friend, indifferent,  was glad I’d find found some truth in this world.   The woman from the cinema, offended, couldn’t believe that someone would apply their truth to her life.

Perhaps you’ve thought of Christians, “Keep your view of humanity to yourself!”  We wonder, how can an exclusive claim like Jesus’s really be a good thing for our diverse society? Isn’t the Christian position an arrogant one towards those who don’t believe?

Well…my pragmatic friend and the woman from the cinema, in essence declared what they believed about humanity – that there is not one exclusive need for the human soul and life. Their assumption then is that each one of us, at our core, is fundamentally different.

But in practice, do we really live as if we believe this assumption? Take our attitudes now towards racism – a disposition our society has come to reject as a whole. What is the assumption behind it? It says that one person is inherently and fundamentally different (born superior or inferior) than a person of a different race. Now our modern minds, of course, don’t stand for that. We fight tirelessly for equal rights. Why?

Because we really do believe that humanity, at it’s core, is fundamentally the same.  We don’t pursue friendships and get married because we think we’re all different.  We do those things because we think we’re all the same and we can mutually meet each others needs – emotionally, physically, spiritually, etc.

In retrospect, for instance – how does this actually sound: “You may be totally depraved…but I’m not.” “You may need Jesus to die for your sins…but I don’t”. Is that not, well…arrogant? This is why pragmatism perhaps ends at the place it fears most. Instead of enhancing human dignity, respect and worth, it actually robs us of those things.

This is where Christianity offers the world a much more honest assumption about humanity and one that resonates deeper… We are all the same. We all have the same need. Yes, you need it. But I need it too. Christianity simply moves forward to shed light on what it is that we all have in common and what that one great need is. We’re all broken and we all need God to intervene in our lives.

Jesus did claim to be the way God does that. Call it unbelievable. Call it untrue.  But to call it arrogant – to say “it works for you but not for me’ – may be to become the one thing your looking to avoid.

Join us for the CityChurch Fall Retreat at the Hutchinson Island Marriott.

Special guest  Chuck Holliday from River Of Life PCA in Orlando will be speaking on “Gospel Centered Living” when we’re not enjoying fun in the sun or schooling each other at volleyball. The cost of the retreat includes a complimentary match of tennis or round of golf.