This past weekend, June 21 & 22, 2008, Pastor Bill Purvis gave another great message! This one was titled “The Grace to Change.” In this message, he reminded us that God wants to give us the Grace to Change but the willingness to do so has to come from us. In order to GROW we have to be willing to CHANGE and in order to change we have to be willing to LEARN. I was also reviewing one of Pastor Bill’s Leadership Lessons that I have on CD. Again, Pastor Bill expresses the need for us to learn, change & grow in order to make progress in life.

Do you want your family life to improve, have a closer relationship with your spouse, have a better career, be a stronger leader, and be a greater influence? Then you are the one who has to change. Nothing in your life will change or improve until you are willing to do so. Like Pastor Bill says, just start with small steps. Get a book and read a paragraph a day. Buy a CD and listen to it while you are in your car. Do this on any subject area where you want to make changes. Soon you will find that you want to learn more and grow more each day.

We should never stop learning, changing and growing. In order to be a better wife, mother, leader and friend, I am making it my goal to learn something new everyday. How about you? What are you willing to do to make the changes in your life? God wants to give you the Grace to make the Change, but we have to be the ones who want it & go after it!

Becky McChesney, Preschool Director

The Pack-A-Sack ministry is made up of Cascade Hills volunteers who daily take snacks to the waiting rooms of hospitals around our community. The Real Care staff oversees this ministry. They recently received the following letter:

To Patty, Les, and all the teams at Cascade Hills who minister to the John B. Amos Cancer Center patients,

God bless you and many thanks for serving us weekly with crackers, juice, and a treat. Your ministry is a wonderful blessing to us and to our caregivers, and is very much appreciated.

Love in Jesus,

Mary Ellen Canada (chemo patient)

I just wanted to give a special thanks to Chris Vest and Doug Coppick who teach “The Way of the Master” class at Cascade Hills Church. This class has encouraged and given me the tools to be effective in sharing my faith. In the past 7 days, I have used the witnessing techniques taught in their class to share my faith with exactly 7 people. I wasn’t sure if any of them actually accepted the Lord as their personal Savior, until I received a phone call this morning.

This past Saturday, Chris Vest and I decided to visit downtown Columbus to try out some of our witnessing skills with some of the people outside the clubs. As we were walking along, I heard a guy yelling and saw that he was looking right at me. I just ignored him thinking he was some drunken guy who thought he knew me, until I took a few more steps and realized that I knew him. I didn’t recognize him because it had been about 8 years since the last time I had seen him, and his appearance had changed a bit. Chris and I walked over to him, greeted him and his buddy, and I noticed he was now in a wheelchair. Now, I know maybe you are not supposed to ask, but I can’t help it. I just had to know what happened to this guy. He then explained that he had been shot in the back during a robbery. This story seemed all too familiar, since I had just witnessed to a guy named Jonathan Sparks at the hospital with a very similar story. Anyway, as we were catching up talking about old times, I shared with him the greatest story of my life, which is when I dedicated my life to Christ. At this point, he looked as if he didn’t recognize me. You know it is funny how bringing up the name of our Lord Jesus Christ can really turn the conversation around.

Well, after he paid for his drinks, I began to use the tools I learned in the class to try and plant some seeds. He seemed very responsive and I could see the Spirit doing a work in him. After some deep conversation, I did ask him if he wanted to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He declined, but said he would give it some thought and thanked me for talking with him about the Lord. Upon leaving I had asked to pray with him right there on the side walk. He said, “Ok” and I prayed that his heart would be open to receiving our Lord and that God would do a mighty work in him. We left, and I thanked God for allowing Chris and I to be a part of His great work.

On June 2, 2008, I received a phone call from this gentleman thanking me again for our conversation and he shared that he had a one-on-one conversation with the Lord. He also told me he received Jesus as His Lord and Savior. This is just a small example of how God works and when we’re obedient what He can do.

Thank you again Chris and Doug for equipping me to live out my calling.

Jason Spaeder

Regina Draut came forward to give her life to Jesus Christ two weeks ago at Cascade Hills. Prior to her baptism, she shared with staff member Bob Hawkins that she was a hairdresser at five assisted-living facilities. She specifically mentioned a 91-year-old lady she had been sharing her faith with that was on her heart. After Pastor Bill Purvis’ message about how to share your faith, Regina shared the Romans Road with that 91-year-old woman. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior. She embraced Regina. In the past, Regina would tell her “I love you” and the lady never said “I love you“ back. After receiving Christ, the 91-year-old lady told Regina, “I love you too!” indicating a definite life change. To God be the glory!

I remember receiving a phone call from my buddy Joe Craig saying that our good friend, Todd Burroughs just had his first baby girl. We decided to meet at the hospital for a quick 15-minute celebration, while Todd’s wife was recovering.

As I approached the hospital I couldn’t help but think how our God is great. It wasn’t long before this day that we were earnestly praying for Todd’s baby girl, whom we were told had a cyst growing on her brain. I remember how devastated Todd was when he first heard the news and presented the situation to the Men’s Prayer Ministry. He was very courageous, but like any father was deeply concerned about his unborn child. After much prayer and God being who God is, we were than told (after a routine follow up) that there was no trace of any cyst on his unborn baby girl. We all praised the Lord for such a miraculous healing, but it seems the Lord wasn’t going to stop there.

As we arrived, Todd met Joe Craig and I and we started talking about prayer and how God really blessed us, when all of sudden we heard a voice behind us saying “I hear you guys talking about prayer, do you guys mind saying a prayer for me?” The voice was coming from a gentleman who was sitting on a bench next to us. He looked like he was in a lot pain, but not just physically. He began to tell us his story about how he had been shot in the stomach after being robbed at his own home. After sympathizing with him, we told him about how great God was, and why we were there, and about our Church. He seemed very interested, yet I could tell he was looking for more.

At this point everyone had to run and get back to what they were previously doing, but I knew I had to stay with this guy. It was obvious to me the Holy Spirit was really working on him. I shared a bit more about my faith with him and asked him “If that bullet had ended his life, where did he think he would have spent eternity. He responded with “I don’t know.” I asked him at that point if he wanted to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior because he would have no doubts then where he was going to spend eternity. He responded with a “yes,” and with tears spilling down his cheeks he repeated my words as I led him into the sinner’s prayer.

This was the day I saw the rebirth of my brother in Christ, Jonathan Sparks. As I walked him to his hospital room we exchanged numbers and I encouraged him to come to church and surround himself with a body of believers. Upon leaving his room I thanked God, almost to point of tears, that He used me to be a part of His awesome work. I encourage anyone reading this story to just have a willing heart, and God will do the rest.

Amen.

Jason Spaeder

A proud member of Cascade Hills Church

]]> http://chimnme.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/willing-to-share-his-faith/feed/ http://chimnme.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/great-mothers-day-services/ http://chimnme.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/great-mothers-day-services/#comments Wed, 14 May 2008 17:29:29 +0000 gymgirl29 http://chimnme.wordpress.com/?p=22

I always enjoy Mother’s Day at Cascade Hills. The whole service was so sweet and honoring. I especially enjoyed Vivian singing “In My Daughter’s Eyes” by Martina McBride while holding her baby girl. Pastor’s message was uplifting and encouraging. When he did the prayer for mothers trying to conceive, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. So many women have been blessed with children after praying on Mother’s Day. Thank you for giving all of the mothers a rose on the way out too. Cascade Hills always gives that special touch!

If you’re a music buff, Cascade is the place to be! I love it when you guys do Rascal Flatts, Chris Daughtry, ColdPlay, Switchfoot, Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Steve Fee & especially MercyMe. From Country to Rock, you guys hit every end of the spectrum. I even heard “Dare You to Move” by Switchfoot on American Idol last night and I think Chris does it even better! The CHC band is talented and versatile. Thanks for all you do.

Dr. Ike Reighard brought a message of hope entitled, “How Do You Perform in the Storm,” on the final weekend in April at Cascade Hills Church. The message from Matthew 7:24-27 resonated with everyone, because everyone goes through storms. Storms are universal. We may not be able to choose our storms, but we have the ability to choose our attitudes through the storms. We get to choose if the storm makes us bitter or better.

Ike Reighard gave his personal testimony of the storm he went through when his wife and newborn child died in the delivery room of Piedmont Hospital. It was a storm he never saw coming. What he learned when he went through that storm was, “God is too wise to be mistaken. God is too good to be unkind. When you don’t understand, when you can’t see His plan, and when you can’t trace His hand, trust God’s heart.”

Seven people accepted Christ as their Savior. Many people gained new insight on storms. A storm handled correctly honors God.

On April 5 and 6, Pastor Bill Purvis will have led Cascade Hills Church for 25 years. We will be celebrating his leadership and his service to the church all weekend. If you would like to thank Pastor and tell him how much he has meant to you, please leave him a comment.

The following is a letter received by the Cascade Hills Pastoral Care Department:

Dear Christ’s messenger,

While in Hughston’s ICU waiting room, I was greeted by two smiling faces offering a goodie bag. What a wonderful outreach for you church. It meant so much to be thought of at this time. Thank you so much for your caring spirit,

Ralph and Martha Walton

The “goodie bag” mentioned in the letter is a sack full of snacks that Cascade Hills volunteers take to area hospital waiting rooms each day. Thank you volunteers. You are making a real difference!