Dear Friends,
I hope this Monday has started out with a fresh wave of God's mercy and love. We had a wonderful morning of worship on Sunday with our choir once again bringing us into the presence of God and the congregation being fully involved. It was a memorable morning from my perspective and I hope yours too.
After worship, we welcomed Derek and Jill Gastesi, Don Hannon and Natalie Rose-Hannon, and Betty Rose into this family of faith. I look forward to introducing them to you all very soon. God has blessed this church with His spirit of caring, love, and grace. I hope we all experience that each time we come together and then share that with the world. We are called to be His hands and feet in this world. Let's keep doing that.
Have a safe and blessed week. I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship, or on our YouTube Channel (The Church By The Sea).
In His Grip,
Chris
Sermon Recap
The sermon title was "Wounded Servants" and the scripture was Acts 14:8-15 and 2 Corinthians 12:5-10. Servants of Christ serve from their woundedness not from their strength. Just served that way and calls us to as well so don't be afraid to serve and be open and honest!
Pastor's Weekly Email
Dear Friends,
We had another wonderful day of worship at CBTS. Our choir as usual was outstanding. Thank you, Chris Kane and choir, for expressing your gifts with us. There was such a feel of energy and love in the service that I hope and pray continues. As we wind down January, I am so excited about February which is our mission's month. Dr. Bob Barnes will be here to speak on February 19th and each Sunday we will highlight some of our ministry partners. Please be in prayer for our mission committee and our church as we seek God's call to serve Him and others.
Have a safe and blessed week. I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship, or on our YouTube Channel (The Church By The Sea).
In His Grip,
Chris
Sermon Recap
The sermon title was "Manana", and the scripture was Numbers 13:25-33 and 2 Corinthians 6:1-2. Manana - tomorrow - Let's put it off until tomorrow. Don't let manana steal the important things in your life! Now is the better word. 2 Cor. 6:2 says, "Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation." Do it now!
Pastor's Weekly Email
Dear Friends,
Today, we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr! Please take some time to do some sort of community service. It could be just picking up some trash as you walk your neighborhood or maybe you can't do that but you can pray for those who can! Do something!
Yesterday, worship was incredible! If you missed it, please go to our YouTube channel and watch it. Immediately after worship Chris Kane gave mini-organ concert that was informative and amazing. Thank you, Chris Kane, and thank you Chef Peter and Cheri, Mark and Marilyn Conroy, Marcia Lee, Jennifer and Lindsay White, and David Finneran for providing a wonderful lunch afterwards. It was a memorable day. We also launched an organ Fund. Our beautiful organ will need some serious repairs in the future. As Chris Kane said, "we are nearing the end of her lifetime with leather and other parts that will need to be replaced". I am excited to report to you all soon how much we raised in the coming days! If you would like to contribute, please contact the church.
Have a safe and blessed week. I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship, or on our YouTube Channel (The Church By The Sea).
In His Grip,
Chris
Sermon Recap
The sermon title was "Build an Altar" and the scripture was Genesis 12:1-9. It seems that every time God led, or promised, or protected, or spoke, or made Himself evident in some kind of way, Abraham built an altar. It was his way of commemorating the work of God in his life. Since God’s works in each of our lives it would be a good idea for us to do the same. Doing so would help us remember His presence, not just in big ways, but even in the small one. It would help us worship Him for the blessings He pours out on us. And it would help us teach – our children and others – of His mighty deeds and His amazing grace. Our “altar” will certainly be different than the kind Abraham built but what can you do to make sure the truth of God’s presence in your life doesn’t get crowed out by the stresses and responsibilities of living your life? Let’s build an altar!
Pastor's Weekly Email
Dear Friends,
I hope your Monday has begun with Christ at the heart of everything. If you haven't yet then take a minute right now and ask Christ to guide you through this day. What another great day of worship here at CBTS. We had a lot of visitors some with families interested in becoming involved in the life of this church. I want to ask all of you to be "bold" in sharing your love for Christ in actions and words. 2023 is going to be great because God is doing some miraculous things here and in our world. We just have to hang on for the ride and when we can't hang on - His love and grace grabs us and never lets us go! Now that is AMAZING!
Have a safe and blessed week. I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship, or on our YouTube Channel (The Church By The Sea).
In His Grip,
Chris
Sermon Recap
The sermon title was "Be Bold" and the scripture was Acts 6; 7:54-60. William Wallace was a commoner who was convicted about Scotland's future - he was bold. God used a regular guy with boldness to changed a country's future - how much more will God use us to change our world. Be bold in 2023. Love others from the heart of God.
Sermon Recap
The sermon title was "Fully Alive" and the scripture was Matthew 6:24-34. We can get so caught up in the "business" of life that we forget what is important. We forget who we are and who's we are. Jesus said, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Let's seek Jesus - let's seek His righteousness - let's seek to rearrange our priorities so that what matters...really matters!
Pastor's Weekly Email
Dear Friends,
What a wonderful day of worship we had yesterday! I hope if you all haven't watched it - you will on YouTube. Thank you to Chris Kane and our choir for "once again" bringing us right into the presence of God and speaking of our choir - I want you to put a very special date on your calendar...January 15th. After worship, Chris Kane is presenting about a 30 minute organ concert and then a luncheon prepared by Chef Peter! This is will be a memorable time of hearing about the organ and listening to it do what it was created for. I hope all of you can make this special day. Please sign up for the luncheon after worship or just call or email the church so Chef Peter will know how many will be attending.
Let's make 2023 a year when we as a church family become "fully alive"...see sermon recap!
Have a safe and blessed week. I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship, or on our YouTube Channel (The Church By The Sea).
In His Grip,
Chris
Pastor's Weekly Email
Dear Friends,
I hope you all had an amazing Christmas filled with love, family and friends, but most importantly, I hope it was filled with the "LIGHT " of Christ. For He is the reason for this season. It is funny how the day after Christmas the radio station that was playing all Christmas music went back to regular programming. I understand but it is so symbolic of how we move on. I hope the Spirit of Christmas - Jesus Himself is in the hearts all year long. Let's not move on!
Thank you to all those who made the 5pm and 9pm services happen. They were a joyous celebrations of Christ birth. Let's shine His light into all areas of life - the sunny ones and the dark ones. Jesus loves me this know for the Bible tells me so. Amen and amen!
Have a safe and blessed week. I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship, or on our YouTube Channel (The Church By The Sea).
In His Grip,
Chris
Pastor's Weekly Email
Dear Friends,
The candle of Joy was lit by the Wadsworth family yesterday and joy was what was experienced through our worship. Thank you, Brian, for stepping in and leading worship for me. This bug that I am dealing with is pretty humbling! I hear a lot of us in the church have it or had it. As I watched the service from my bed on Sunday morning, I experienced that joy Brian was sharing about. A joy that God loves and God cares. This Advent season brings a lot of busyness and stress, but I hope we all can experience the "joy" that God brings even if our circumstances are not. Have a blessed Advent season and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Advent is fully upon us and CBTS has many ways to "Experience Advent" together and individually. Here is the link to what was passed out last Sunday in worship. https://event-51851-ba96.pushpayevents.com/booking/attendees/new - I hope each one of you will take time during the week as the candles of hope, peace, joy and love are lit. We have activities designed for you to celebrate that particular candle each week.
We will also have an Advent Study on Wednesday nights. We will have a dinner from 5:30pm to 6:30pm and then our video study with Max Lucado. This time will be led by myself, Brian, and Randy. No need to sign up just come by where we have Patio Time on Sundays for some delicious soup and salad.
Have a safe and blessed week. I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship, or on our YouTube Channel (The Church By The Sea).
In His Grip,
Chris
Sermon Recap
The sermon title was "Christmas Joy" and the scripture was Luke 15:28-32. On the third Sunday of Advent we light the candle of joy to remember the joy that comes with the birth of Jesus. In the story, the father reminds the older son – and us – of the blessings we have simply because of his presence. Verse 31 says “My son, you are always with me and all that I have is yours.” And that’s where our Christmas joy comes from! It’s not from the decorations, holiday parties, and gifts that eventually end up back in the box. The joy that Jesus brings is different! It’s lasting and never goes away. The joy that Jesus brings has nothing to do with our circumstances and everything to do with His presence in our lives! He is with us in good times and in bad times and His unconditional love for us is always ours as well! That’s what brings us joy at Christmas and throughout the year!
Pastor's Weekly Email
Dear Friends,
What a great Sunday at Church By The Sea. It began with worship. Our choir sounded so full and like one voice! Thank you for always leading us into God's presence. We also had communion - I love our communion Sunday's. It is a time for us all to be reminded of the greatest sacrifice and gift of all...Jesus Christ. Our final hymn was "Angel's We Have Heard on High". It was inspiring seeing everyone sing from the bottom of their heart. It was a great day - Please watch the service on YouTube if you haven't yet!
Sunday evening, we had our 35th Annual Christmas Gala held at the Fort Lauderdale Yacht Club. We had over 110 people come and celebrate and raise funds for our Corporate Board. The CB is responsible for the buildings and grounds (the business of the church) consisting of 9 members elected about the church. A big thank you to Marilyn Conroy and Cheri Evans-Schmidt who chaired this committee and all the board...Beth Welker, Harry Rozelle, Michael Higgs, Rhett Wadsworth, and Cathie Banta. A grand time was had by all and I look forward to sharing with you all how much we raised! Thank you to all our sponsors, ticket and raffle buyers, those who donated baskets and silent auction items.
Advent is fully upon us and CBTS has many ways to "Experience Advent" together and individually. Here is the link to what was passed out last Sunday in worship. https://event-51851-ba96.pushpayevents.com/booking/attendees/new - I hope each one of you will take time during the week as the candles of hope, peace, joy and love are lit. We have activities designed for you to celebrate that particular candle each week.
We will also have an Advent Study on Wednesday nights. We will have a dinner from 5:30pm to 6:30pm and then our video study with Max Lucado. This time will be led by myself, Brian, and Randy. No need to sign up just come by where we have Patio Time on Sundays for some delicious soup and salad.
Have a safe and blessed week. I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship, or on our YouTube Channel (The Church By The Sea).
In His Grip,
Chris
Sermon Recap
The sermon title was "Weight of the World" and the scripture was Isaiah 9:2-7 and 1 Peter 5:7. The Christmas Season can be a stressful one with all the expectations and hopes built into it. Jesus came to take that weight off our shoulders and onto His. Trust Him and give Him all that weight!
Pastor's Weekly Email
Dear Friends,
Well, Thanksgiving is behind us, and Advent has arrived. I hope everyone of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope, whether you were with a lot of family and friends or just relaxing by yourself, that it was a time of reflection and thankfulness. It is easy to focus on all that is around us and forget the simpler blessings of life itself. It is never too late so "thank you" to God for giving you life and breath, so go ahead and say "thanks".
Advent is fully upon us and CBTS has many ways to "Experience Advent" together and individually. Here is the link to what was passed out last Sunday in worship. https://event-51851-ba96.pushpayevents.com/booking/attendees/new - I hope each one of you will take time during the week as the candles of hope, peace, joy and love are lit. We have activities designed for you to celebrate that particular candle each week.
We will also have an Advent Study on Wednesday nights. We will have a dinner from 5:30pm to 6:30pm and then our video study with Max Lucado. This time will be led by myself, Brian, and Randy. No need to sign up just come by where we have Patio Time on Sundays for some delicious soup and salad.
Have a safe and blessed week. I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship, or on our YouTube Channel (The Church By The Sea).
In His Grip,
Chris
Sermon Recap
We often use the word “hope” to mean wishful thinking. We hope the weather is going to be nice, or that our favorite sport’s team can pull out a victory. But biblical hope is something different… something better. We light the candle of HOPE to begin the advent season to remind ourselves that Jesus IS our hope. He has gone to prepare a place for us where there is no more mourning, no more tears, nor pain. He is our one and only hope in times of struggle and fear! He is the one and only hope for forgiveness of sin! As we prepare for the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Advent reminds us to focus on the hope that we have in Him.
Sermon Recap
The sermon title was "The Most Important Prayer You Will Ever Pray" and the scripture was Luke 17:11-19. Thank you just maybe the greatest prayer you will ever pray! Be Grateful/Be Thankful.
Pastor's Weekly Email
Dear Friends,
What a wonderful day of worship we had yesterday. We all have so much to be thankful for these days. One of which is our ability to worship together. I love our worship and I am so thankful for our choir and its leader and servant, Christopher Kane. He is a wonderful lover of God to work with and yesterday, was a great day as we had our pipe organ back in service after a long time in repair. It's rich tone once again fills our sanctuary with praise to God. Thank you Gladys and Luther Simjian for their donation many years ago.
I hope this week you will take time to be thankful. To talk with your family about the things you are thankful for. Name them one by one. Make this week - a week of thankfulness. Have a blessed Thanksgiving and I look forward to spending Advent worshipping our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ together.
Have a safe and blessed week. I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship, or on our YouTube Channel (The Church By The Sea).
In His Grip,
Chris
Pastor's Weekly Email
Dear Friends,
I hope your Monday has begun with peace and love that only comes from Jesus Christ. It is an interesting time in our land. Our political process always brings up smiles, tears, and sometimes outright hurt and anger. How do we stay focused on Christ when our worlds might be on shifting sand. Hurricane Nicole whipped through Florida and a large part of the East coast and caused severe damage. All these things, these events are pushing us this way and that way. I, personally, take time to quiet my mind, my heart and I pray. Sometimes with heart tears about where we are and how we need a touch from the Master!!
Please take some time to pray and ask God how you can serve Him in this world and also, in the life of CBTS!
This past Sunday I spoke about the giving of our finances to the work of Christ through CBTS. I hope by now you have received in the mail our stewardship letter and pledge card for 2023. We are asking you to support a budget of $600,000. Thank you to Les and Mindy Waites, for sharing their heart with the congregation during worship about why they give not only of their time and talent, but also of their financial means. It will take all of us to be Christ's hands and feet and I look forward to walking together. Please return your pledge card by this Sunday, Nov. 20th.
Have a safe and blessed week. I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday in worship, or on our YouTube Channel (The Church By The Sea).
In His Grip,
Chris