Fight For Joy!

Depression is a very serious issue, more and more people suffer from it today than ever before. It can be caused my numerous amounts of things, more things than I could probably think of. The one thing I know about depression is this, it's one of the worst feelings you can possibly have, EVER. I went through a deep depression for years as a teenager and partially after that. I would say from the time I hit 7th or 8th grade until my early 20s, (I'm 25 now) I constantly struggled through depression. Everything from feeling completely alone, hated by everyone to not wanting to live anymore. Serious thoughts of suicide occurred twice my freshman year of high school. If you struggle with depression, these are all too familiar for you. It's an awful feeling. The emotional pain and negative thoughts can be unbearable at times.

Don't feel alone in this. The good news is, you can be victorious over it. It may take telling someone that you struggle with it, which is a very difficult step, but believe me when I say that you are a strong person in doing so, and worth it in the future. I didn't overcome my depression overnight. It was years of counceling. Want to know the one thing that defeated my struggle with depression? Jesus Christ. God wants nothing more for His children than to be joyful. To be honest, it's a fight for me still at times. And He did that when He died on the cross for you and me. I mentioned earlier to not feel alone, did you know that Jesus knows every pain and hurt that we go through? He experienced that on the cross. Romans 10:9 says, If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Making that decision changed my life, forever. And personally, for me, that's the way I fight for joy every single day. Understand that Christ died on a cross for us, to pay for our sins, so that we didn't have to pay for it ourselves. That's love, man (John 3:16). Allow Christ to come into your life, and take over. You'll be overwhelmed with the love that we see on the cross and what Jesus did for us (1 John 4:10).

There are many ways to fight depression, surrounding yourself with people that love Jesus, is a great way. The love and support from people that care about you, (And believe me, if you feel like no one does, there ARE people that care about you) is an incredible way to build you up. Love is a trump card, it dominates everything. Why? Because God is love (1 John 4:16). So for maybe the person that is struggling with depression, your question is maybe where do I find those people? Church is a great start. Try OneSpring Church. If not ours, a church is great place to go. We want everyone to feel comfortable coming to a place where it's OK TO BE JACKED UP! We need Jesus just as much as the next person, we are not better than anyone. And for the person that may know a person dealing with depression and for followers of Christ, we need to love our brothers and sisters (1 John 4:19-21).

Fight for joy, even if it's not depression, maybe it's just a bad day or another struggle, you cling to Jesus. Maybe you've lost a loved one, cling to Jesus. God is faithful (Psalm 91:4), let that be a motivation for you. His love endures forever (Psalm 100:5). Through Christ Jesus, we have victory over anything. My prayer for the person reading this is that you've found hope, or that you've been motivated to help a person in need. A few weeks ago, I talked about taking your next step, what's yours? Maybe it's accepting Jesus Christ into your life. Come talk to us, we'd love to help out and hear your story. Much love! Have a great week!!

Life in Perspective

This past weekend a friend of mine, while mowing his yard, had a heart attack and suddenly went to be with the Lord. He didn’t know it was coming nor did his family, his friends or people he worked with. We seem to think we are invincible, that something like that will not happen to you or me.

God’s word tells us in James 4:14, You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. Francis Chan in his book, Crazy Love, likens our lives to one fifth of a second in a movie seen. What are we going to do to make a difference for the Kingdom in that amount of time? Psalm 39:5 says this, Look, you make my days short-lived, and my life span is nothing from your perspective. Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor.

Since January 2 of this year, I have been wondering if starting OneSpring Church was a good idea. Satan has a way of making you question the decisions that God clearly instructed. Well after the events this weekend, I know without a doubt, it was the right decision, it has reaffirmed and stamped a big exclamation point on that decision. I’m ready more than ever to make the most of my speck of a life and tell people about Jesus. We need to change the way we think and the only way to change is knowing Jesus more. The more you know Jesus the more you will mirror Him. The only way to get to know Him is to open His word daily and pray. Yes, daily! It is our responsibility, we don’t need a program or to wait on someone else to start a bible study to read God’s Word. This one is on you and me. Life is way to short to wait on someone or something else to feed us when the food is right in front of us. Let’s stop making excuses and start doing something for the Kingdom. We need to pick up the cross and carry it, not someone else. Yes, I am fired up, and no I am not going to apologize. This is what God has laid on my heart.

The Barone Family

We had the privilege of having missionaries join us after our service for lunch. Daniele and Adriana Barone, along with sweet Federico, shared with us their heart for the country of Italy. They met at Word of Life in Argentina, and God has given them a heart for the country of Italy. God has ordered their steps to work with Word of Life in Italy. They have learned to follow God's leading and that God can work through anyone, anywhere.

Please pray with us for the Barone family, as they continue to raise support and for their ministry to reach the country of Italy for Christ.

Go and Tell or Sit and Shut Up!

Which of those two choices describes you best? Now consider, which describes you when it comes to telling someone about Jesus? Are you waiting (sitting) for someone else to do the job that Jesus instructed you, a follower of Christ, to do? Or are you actively pursuing the lost?

Evangelism may not be your Spiritual gift but we are all instructed to it according to Matthew 28:18-20. OneSpring wants to make telling someone about Jesus less intimidating. Please join us Thursday, March 10 at 7:00 as we start an easy to understand teaching on Evangelism. Pastor Perry will share with us the basics of this vital calling.

Food and Fellowship

This past Sunday we took the opportunity to sit back and fellowship with each other. We chatted a bit about where we are going as a church and the possibility of finding a new location to meet--conversation is always good over lunch! We have welcomed some new friends to worship with us which is very exciting to meet and get to know others stories. We are looking forward to see where God is taking us!

Join us this Sunday as we start a new series called Upgrade. We will be talking about taking our walk with Christ to the next level! This is a must for anyone wanting to grow in their relationship with Jesus! Hope to see you there!

Vision Sunday

If nobody is laughing at your vision, you are nor dreaming big enough! ~Steven Furtick

Join us this Sunday for our service at 11:00 and then stay for a pizza lunch as we share our vision for OneSpring! Come laugh with us as we dream together of what God wants to do in our community!