Connecting Point – April 12, 2023

This week we're celebrating and thanking God for all that He did through our people on Easter Weekend. We praise God that we were able to host great numbers of people in our Good Friday and Easter Saturday and Sunday services at our Celebration Campuses, many of whom were first or second-time guests or even former Celebration attendees who haven't joined us in some time. We're counting on the fact that the overwhelming majority of people who attended were encouraged and challenged in our services. And we believe that thousands of people either encountered Jesus for the first time or were lifted to a new level in their relationship with Him. If you hear of testimonies of people who experienced the healing or transforming power of Jesus in their lives during our Easter services, or simply people who were encouraged by our services, please share their testimonies with us at info@celebrationchurch.org.

None of the above would have happened were it not for the powerful presence of God's Spirit in our Easter Weekend services, and for the efforts of God's people. So many of you prayed, invited, served, and helped out in various ways in preparation for and during our Easter services. I'm wearing my Saints shirt right now because the Saints organization is going to be drafting new players in the next couple of days who will hopefully become great contributors to the Saints football team. And we all know that you can't have a winning team unless you have great players who give their very best in helping that team accomplish its mission and goals. I want you to know that we have great teammates on our Celebration Team, and our Pastors, Church Leaders and I are so grateful for all of you who contributed so much to help make our Easter Services such a great success. We thank you for being great men, women, and teens of God, and we're praying that the Lord will bless you for your extraordinary efforts and sacrifice.

As a follow up from our Easter services, I want you all to do several things.

First, contact the people you invited to our Easter services who did attend, and ask them to give you their feedback as to what they experienced at Celebration. And then encourage them to join us in the coming weeks for Free Donut Sunday (April 16), for Communion Sunday (April 30), and for the continuation of our There's A "Script" For That sermon series. You may also want to invite them to join you in a Life Group.
Second, contact the people you invited who didn't attend any of our Easter services, and ask them to consider viewing our Easter service. Everyone needs some "hope" in their lives, and the message of the Easter service was about finding hope in the midst of hopeless or dismal situations. They can view our Easter service at www.celebrationchurch.org/media/.
Third, continue praying for and inviting all of the people you invited to our Easter services. The Lord will respond to our prayers, touching their hearts and causing them to realize they need a relationship with Him and with a local Church.
Fourth, share your feedback or your guests' feedback at info@celebrationchurch.org. We're always looking to evaluate our services to see how we can do a better job of serving God's people and welcoming our guests.

We're also celebrating and thanking God at Celebration Church because on Good Friday we were able to move back into our Celebration River Parishes Campus. This Campus was totally devastated by Hurricane Ida, causing us to host worship services in Laplace at another location and at an inopportune time for many people. But under the leadership of Pastor James Fletcher, his Staff, and Leaders, that congregation continued to grow spiritually and relationally, and with the assistance of Charles Hogan and so many others, the Campus was rebuilt 18 months after Hurricane Ida, and it looks much better than ever.

It was a joy and privilege for Vicki and I to worship with our Celebration River Parishes congregation on Good Friday. And believe that as a result of the faith and faithfulness they've demonstrated during this difficult period of time, that the Lord is going to bless and utilize them in unprecedented ways in the coming days.

One of the goals of the 52 CHALLENGE initiative that we launched at the end of February, was to be able to raise the funds needed to rebuild our River Parishes, Kenner, and Westbank Campuses. In this 52 CHALLENGE initiative, we're asking every Celebration attendee to give generously above their regular Church offerings to help us fund the rebuild of our Campuses that were damaged by Hurricane Ida in 2021. You can do so by giving a large one-time gift, or you can do so by giving weekly. You may also have stocks, bonds, jewelry, property, or other items that you would like to give towards this effort so that we can complete the rebuilding of our Campuses. If you haven't already done so, please turn in your 52 CHALLENGE Commitment as soon as possible. Doing so will help us to know what funds we have available to fund and finish the rebuild of our Campsues. When Nehemiah presented the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls and gates, the people responded, "Let us arise and build." May we have a similar faith and determination as we participate in the 52 CHALLENGE.

This coming Sunday at Celebration we're giving away Free Donuts and we're continuing our There's A "Script" For That sermon series that we began on Easter Sunday. Many doctors and pharmacists and health and nutrition experts consider the United States to be an overmedicated population. The US Centers for Disease Control reports that every month 130 million Americans swallow, inject, inhale, infuse, spray, and pat on prescription medications.

And over the past 10 years there has been a 66% increase in prescriptions in the United States and there are now over 3.5 billion prescriptions being filled every year.

Now we aren't opposed to medicine, doctors, nurses, health care, or therapy. We know these products and services have helped many people find health, healing, balance, and freedom. However, we know, that it is very easy to take a good thing too far.

We also know there were SCRIPTURES for mental health long before there were PRESCRIPTIONS for mental health. The scriptures is another name for the Holy Bible, which is the Living Word of God. We wonder how many people would find true freedom if they ingested the Scriptures of God with the same faith they place in the Prescriptions of Man. So join us in the coming weeks as we discover that "there's a script" for Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, and Betrayal. And be sure to bring others with you.

We love and appreciate you at Celebration Church. Let us know how we can be praying for you at webcc.info.