lifeisministry

Exciting News!

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Bruce Humphrey

Ministry Update
Common Ground Christian Church

My family and I continue to navigate through the many changes in our lives. Your prayers for us are evident. We see the hand of God moving in our midst as we venture into a new role as Lead Pastor.

Many are responding, making Common Ground their church home. Not only this, we experienced seven baptisms this summer. One of these was a spontaneous baptism, and several individuals came forward to make Common Ground their church home.

Excitement is growing.

Thus far, the time at Common Ground Christian Church is a true blessing to my family. The church has a diverse DNA in an urban environment; it inludes all colors, creeds, and tongues.

Visit our website and our Fan Page (become a Fan, please.) Here you will find everything you need to know about Common Ground and her mission to the Tampa Bay area.

Jesus Messiah

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Bruce Humphrey

In the life of Jesus, you see the heart of God and the original idea of the old becoming new. Jesus wants to bring people to Himself. You don’t have to “work” to acquire favor with God.

HERE is the deal: Chances are, you hear the opposite message a lot in your life. When you are not hired for a job that would help financially, or you are overlooked when a group of your friend’s head out to lunch, you tend to battle the thoughts of incompleteness.

Are you so self-absorbed about how others view you rather than how God is viewed in you?

Maybe it is just that you are at a time in your life when you are trying to figure yourself out. All along, what you thought about yourself turned out to be wrong, and it left you feeling restless and inadequate.

Have you noticed? This phenomenon always occurs at a time in your life when being a part of something greater than you means more to you than almost anything else. You strive. You stress. You work hard– the sweat, blood, and tears — and through this you accomplish nothing. You find out that you continue to miss the mark. All of these things send a message to you about not measuring up.

You feel “less than” — misunderstood and hurt.

BUT JESUS still reigns. He the God of the fatherless, the orphan, the disputed, destitute, and the shameful.

And the beauty of the message:

God became flesh and walked among HIS people.

HE IS YOUR BEAUTIFUL MESSIAH.

Church Planting, Common Ground, Ministry

Making Disciples

Image | Posted on June 21, 2014 by Bruce Humphrey

If the Apostle Paul lived today, he would be on every social media outlet, gaining people’s attention, and for good reason–people needed his help. God placed Paul strategically to help the early church bring clarity to the chaos. Reading his books found in the New Testament, Paul spoke against false teaching and set out to clear up the confusion. Thousands of years later, Paul’s words are a great reminder for all to focus on HIM. When we focus on Jesus, we lead others to do the same. It is contagious.

Have you ever asked yourself what kind of fruit comes from a growing church? Is the fruit represented by the number of people filling up the seats of the church? Is it represented by the amount of attendees filling up the parking lot? Yes. And. No.

I am a firm believer the fruit is in the amount of people who choose Christ as their Savior and become a disciple. The task of every church is to make disciples! It is one of many characteristics of a healthy church.

Common Ground is growing. I remember when Rosa Jones came forward last weekend; she said to her church, “I am coming home. This is my church.” Not only this, we experienced three baptisms last week. One of these was a spontaneous baptism. A young man by the name of Kevin stood up as we were baptizing two into Christ and said he needed to be baptized too.

In the last 40 days, we added five new members to our little church and baptized five. This coming Sunday, we have two more being baptized into Jesus Christ.

Thank you for your steadfast support, prayers, and being there for my family as we are trying to figure it all out. God already knew from the beginning what He wanted from my family. Yes, this was not the average, predictable way to plant a church or find a church to lead. Nonetheless, God is certainly doing incredible ministry at Common Ground.

It Will Cost You Something

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Bruce Humphrey

It is beginning to cost something to be a Christian in America—not as much as in many places in the world or in much of history, but more than it used to. And, as living for Christ costs more in our culture, it will mean more in our context.

Churches that are preaching the Gospel and are focusing on biblical truths are going to become more clearly distinct from the culture around them. The end result? Robust Christian communities are going to get stronger.

These Gospel-preaching churches will have members who are more, not less, committed and these committed churches will have less nominal Christians in the years to come. Christianity will become more of a minority in culture, but more refined, more biblical, and more missional churches will be the result.

— Ed Stretzer

Salvation costs you nothing, but discipleship will cost you everything. Salvation occurs in a moment, but discipleship takes a lifetime. Jesus asks whether or not you truly want to live a life of discipleship. Don’t waste your life. See it through. I am convinced for today’s church, we are moving into a time of positioning as the salt and light to our culture and our surrounding communities.

Certainly, the church has always been this way, but we are witnessing a great marginalization occur in our society and the state of the Church. I’ve been a Christian most of my life, and it has been relatively easy to follow Christ in America. Most of America is built on laws and morals found in the Bible.

This is changing and it is happening far more rapidly than anyone expected. I recently read an article on the trends concerning the state of the church. It is an excellent read. Suddenly, many Christians are finding their faith challenged and extreme persecution will be upon us before we know it.

Discipleship will become our chief missional goal as a church. It needs to be intentional and bold as we counter the culture that is ever present.

Adding to the Ministry

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Bruce Humphrey

Without a doubt, one of the greatest privileges and one of the most awesome responsibilities that God can entrust to me is to be sent into a community and lead people to Jesus. Common Ground is a sending church. Biblically speaking, every church needs to fulfill the Great Commission. When I answer that call, I am sent into the world to reconcile others back to Jesus. We are adding to the Kingdom. The last couple of weeks our church added two members and baptized one into Jesus. We are involved in the greatest work in the world. We serve the God of the Universe, the Savior of the world, and the King of Kings in a ministry that changes lives. What could be more exciting than that? Pray for our excitement as we move forward in the coming weeks.