I hope you’re enjoying a terrific week and your 2012 has gotten off to a terrific start. There’s certainly an added bit of excitement in the air around Maryland due to the Ravens’ big AFC Championship game coming up this Sunday vs. those annoying New England Patriots. I’m sure many of you are displaying your purple pride as you’re reading this. I encourage you to continue donning the purple right on through Sunday at one of our CCC services at either 8:30am, 10am, or 11:30am. (My prediction…30-27 Ravens.)

This Sunday is a special Sunday at CCC and not just because of Baltimore’s big playoff game. At the beginning of each service, we’re having our annual Parent and Child Dedication. It’s always a special time when families intentionally stand before their church family and make promises about how they will do everything they can to point their children toward God the Father through Jesus Christ. And our church as a whole gets to encourage them along the way in that endeavor. It’s a very cool moment and one I hope you don’t miss.

We’ll be continuing our series called I Quit where we’re looking to start 2012 off on the right foot. And we’ve got a special video I’m anxious for you all to see.

David Robinson
Community Christian Church – Helping People Find Their Way Back To God
8094 Sandpiper Circle
White Marsh, MD 21236
www.communitycc.net
410-933-8330

Email nick@communitycc.net if you have any questions about the upcoming transitions for children and students.

If you are interested in serving on the Summer Team, you can sign up to attend the Orientation on Sunday, June 5, from 10:00-11:15AM. Email nick@communitycc.net to sign up or sign up in the lobby at CCC. You can sign up to serve even if you can’t attend the Orientation. I’m really looking forward to serving with the summer team!

Nick Blevins

Every Sunday there is an entire team of people who devote their morning to ensure our first impression of CCC is first-class, comfortable, and is a positive experience.  This is the work of the Frontline Team.  If you’ve ever had a cup of coffee, followed signs to find the church, or picked up a program, you’ve enjoyed the work of the Frontline Team.

It’s vitally important for us to be able to focus our hearts and minds on God in worship.  Through music, videos, slides, lights, and sound, the Worship Arts Team helps create an atmosphere where our attention can be directed to God.

We value children here at CCC. It’s our desire for children, from their earliest days, know God’s love for them and that their memories of church from childhood will be fond ones.  From birth through fifth grade, there are children learning about God’s great love and plan for their lives every Sunday because of our Children’s Ministry Team.

In just a couple weeks we will be shifting from two services to three: 8:30, 10:00, and 11:30.  What does that mean for these teams of people?  It means there is a lot more work to done.  This is a great opportunity to jump on one of these teams and serve to help make Sunday mornings an extraordinary experience for people who are trying to Find Their Way Back to God.

If you are interested in joining one of these teams, or in serving in any other areas here at CCC, please contact us at 410-933-8330 or at info@communitycc.net.

November was quite a month here at CCC. From the culmination of our “One Month To Live” Series to the Baptism Celebration to Parent and Child Dedication services to KidStuf Express to our very first Member’s Dinner…there was much to celebrate and be grateful to God for throughout November.

December packs quite a wallop as well.

We’re kicking off a brand new series this week called Unwrapped that will carry us through the end of month. The very first KidStuf at Nite is happening this Friday, December 3rd at 7pm. The band Alathea (www.alathea.com) will be with us in our services leading our singing this coming Sunday, December 5th. We’ll continue to celebrate Advent each week. (Be sure and pick up the Advent readings.)

The EPiC Christmas Party is all set for December 12th from 5:30-8pm. (EPiC is our Student Ministry large group gathering for Middle Schoolers.) Christmas Eve services (on December 24th of course) will be held at 2pm, 4pm, and 6pm on the Friday before Christmas. Our 2010 Christmas Project is off to a terrific start with almost 100 children being blessed through the generosity of CCC individuals. (This week is another opportunity to participate in the 2010 Christmas Project.)

So jump in with both feet this December as we lead up to the celebration of Christmas in just a few weeks.

I’m thankful for you all and am glad to be on this journey together.

See you Sunday!

David Robinson

This Sunday, November 7, is the very first KidStuf Express. KidStuf Express takes place in between the Sunday morning services and starts at 10:40AM in Room 109. If you attend the 9:30AM service, please join your child for KidStuf at 10:40. If you attend the 11AM, come out early and grab a seat together for KidStuf before your child attends Discovery Island while you attend the service. It’s only 20 minutes long so you don’t want to miss a minute of it!

Doors open at 10:30.

We also announced some exciting new things in store for KidStuf. There will be different formats for KidStuf that will all have the core components but will vary in some ways.  We think it will make KidStuf an even better resource for parents. You can download a PDF version of the upcoming KidStuf Calendar, or check out the image below:

Over 100 volunteers give their time and talent to help create irresistible environments for families each week at CCC. Summer is a great opportunity to give them a break. We do this by creating a Summer Team for volunteers to serve in Children’s Ministry during July & August, but not necessarily every week. If you are interested in serving on the Summer Team, you can sign up in the lobby at CCC to attend the Orientation on Wednesday, June 16, at 6:30PM. You can sign up even if you can’t attend the Orientation.

This is a great opportunity for anyone who has more time to give during the summer. It’s also a great opportunity for anyone who has not served on a team at CCC yet. The Summer Team gives you a chance to contribute according to your availability and during a specified window of time. I’m really looking forward to serving with the summer team. What are you doing this summer?

Nick Blevins
nick@communitycc.net

Over the past few Sunday’s we’ve been talking about how we can stack the deck in favor of families and children so they have every opportunity to succeed.  We want to place things in such a way that everything leans in the favor of our families and they have every advantage at their disposal to become what God hopes and dreams they will be.

If you would like to know more about how CCC works together with families, please email us at info@communitycc.net or you can download our Blueprint for families here and read about our strategy for children and students. You can also read Blueprint online here.

We hope to see you at one of our Sunday services (9:30 & 11:00) as we continue looking at how we can stack the deck in favor of families.

I’ve been receiving quite a bit of feedback regarding our current series “Dumb Things Smart People Believe“. These past few discussions seem to have struck a chord with many. That’s why I don’t want anyone to miss our final week of the series this coming Sunday, May 2nd. We’re talking about a belief we are particularly prone to here in our country. So make sure and spend part of your Sunday at 8094 Sandpiper Circle. (Services at 9:30am & 11am) It might just be the highlight of your week!

That’s not all that’s going on this Sunday. KidStuf (Where kids take their parents to learn) is happening during the 2nd service. This is a terrific opportunity for elementary age kids and their parents to experience together. You can attend the 9:30am service while your child is in their Children’s Ministry Discovery Island environment, and then go together to the 11am KidStuf in rooms 108-109.

Also taking place this Sunday is Starting Point, which is the place to go to find out all things related to CCC. (Who we are, where we’ve come from, where we’re headed, how we’re going to get there, etc.) It’s a great place to ask any questions you might have regarding Community Christian Church and the place to go if you’re fairly new to CCC. If you haven’t signed up for this installment of Starting Point, it’s not too late. Simply respond to this email and make your way next door to suite F at 10:45am. (Just after the first service ends.) Starting Point will wrap up by 12:45. Free food and free childcare are provided. (If you need childcare, we’ll need to know that sooner rather than later.)

I would also encourage you to take advantage of the many resources we make available each and every week. The resource table in the lobby contains daily readings and small groups guides for our current series, which you can also listen to on our website. And cds of past services are always provided. Don’t miss out.

I hope you have a fantastic start to your weekend. And I hope to see you all this Sunday for our final week of “Dumb Things Smart People Believe“.

“May the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope…” Romans 15:13

David Robinson

I trust you’re all relishing in the break of warm weather we’re enjoying over the last several days. (Maybe the snow piles will fully disappear before June after all!)

I thoroughly enjoyed our time together this past Sunday at CCC as we celebrated our 4 year anniversary. It’s hard to believe 4 years have passed since the first day we started meeting at 8094 Sandpiper Circle. As I’ve said many times, it’s been a fantastic start, especially considering that 80% of new churches never make it past year 3. So as we say goodbye to year 4 and start in on year 5, I am overwhelmingly grateful to God for his goodness and grace that has been evident in countless ways since March 5, 2006. And I’m grateful to God for all of you who are committed to seeking and serving Jesus through the life of this new church.

As we inch closer to this year’s Easter celebration, I am excited to see how the same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead some 2,000 years ago, will be at work in each of our lives in the coming months and years together.

Speaking of Easter, you’ll want to be aware that we’re adding a third service for that particular Sunday, April 4. This will slightly shift our typical service times. We’ll have three identical services at 8:30am, 10am, and 11:30am on Easter Sunday. Children’s Ministry Programming (Discovery Island, Kid’s Kove, and Baby Bay) will be unaffected by the time change, but note that KidStuf (where kids take their parents to learn) will take place during the 10am service.

To help balance out the services, we’re asking everyone to pick up place holders for whichever service they plan to attend. The place holders are free and are not tickets, but they will help us prepare well for one of the most important Sundays of the year. (You can begin picking up place holders on Sunday in the lobby at CCC.)

This coming Sunday, March 14 is the final week of our current series called “Why”. It’s also a baptism celebration Sunday, which means we get to celebrate together with folks who are taking the important and crucial step of being baptized into Christ Jesus. We love participating alongside people who are being baptized. It’s one of our favorite things. You don’t want to miss it.

So be sure and set your clocks ahead this Saturday evening (That’s right, Daylight Savings Time begins) and make your way on over to CCC at either 9:30am or 11am.

I hope to see you all then.

David Robinson

I hope all is well with you this week. I’m looking forward to this coming Sunday as we will be celebrating CCC’s four year anniversary. We launched Community Christian Church on March 5, 2006, and it’s been quite a ride since. I am grateful to God for the start we have had and am incredibly optimistic about the future that is before us. Most of all I’m thankful for all of you who call CCC your church home and gather regularly at 8094 Sandpiper Circle to celebrate what God has done, is doing, and will do. It’s a privilege to journey with you and serve God alongside of you.

So make your way out to one of CCC’s services at either 9:30am or 11am this coming Sunday, March 7th, as we continue our series “Why”. (I hear there will be lots of food to help our stomachs enjoy the day!)

It’s also a Kidstuf Sunday, which is one of our Children’s Ministry environments where kids take their parents to learn. Kidstuf takes place at 11am in rooms 108-109. For those of you wanting to take part in Kidstuf, come on out to the 9:30 service and then make your way across the hall at 11am.

I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday.

David Robinson

Raising kids is one of the most challenging tasks anyone can tackle. This crucial and demanding job can’t be done alone. Every week at CCC there are committed volunteers who help create irresistible environments for children and students. Those environments provide the context for meaningful conversations that will help shape a child or student’s life as they figure out what it means to follow God fully with their lives. Parents have more influence than anyone else when it comes to their kids, and CCC wants to be the parent’s strongest supporter, biggest fan and trusted guide as they raise their children in faith and character.

Nick Blevins

The title of this post represents the magnitude of influence that parents have with their children.  You see, CCC might have 40 hours each year with the average child or student while parents will have about 3000 hours.

We acknowledge that parents are the primary spiritual leaders for their children and that is a life-long influence that cannot be matched from any other source.  Knowing that parents will have much more time with their kids, we want to leverage the time we do have to make the parent’s time as effective as possible.  For that reason, every children’s environment and event throughout each age level is built around the context of partnering with the family.

Parents, if you have children in preschool or elementary school, what else could we do to help you?  Click the “Add Comment” link above to give us your ideas.

Nick Blevins
nick@communitycc.net