Community

Lawrenceville Co-op

We are excited to announce that we are working with the Lawrenceville Co-op Community Food Bank Ministry to help their mission of helping families and citizens of Gwinnett County.

Come In, There’s A Parking Space For You

In 2014 there was an article written about church parking lot problems. The following problems were listed: not easily visible, poor landscaping, lack of parking spaces, no guest parking and where available not easily identifiable. It also listed lack of greeters, greeters not easily identifiable, poor traffic flow, long walk to the church, lack of security, etc. After reading this article I reflected on my previous church parking lot issues. There were times when I could not find a parking space or didn’t know where to park and left. There were times where the gravel in the parking lot was so bad it messed up my shoes. There were so many examples that came to my mind.

However, at the church I currently attend, we have a different problem. We have lots of parking spaces available, some up close with a short walking distance to the sanctuary. And, it is paved so your shoes are not messed up. One would think that with ample paved and close parking spaces that are easily identifiable our parking lot would be overflowing with cars and people. Not So. As member of our parking lot ministry on any given Sunday we will see people drive by slowly and then continue on without stopping. I think they fail to stop because there aren’t enough cars in the parking lot. They fail to stop because in their mind, the church must not have many people attending. And, they could believe that an empty parking lot indicates no one in church. Both assumptions would be wrong.

At Chateau, our parking lot on any given Sunday will have about three or four cars. And, the sanctuary will have five to eight attendees meaning that there is room for you.
For those looking for a place to worship, come and check us out. You will get understanding on God’s Word for your life and clarity on how His Word is still applicable today. The message will encourage, inspire and challenge you to be better. So, next time you see what you consider to be an empty church parking lot STOP, PARK, and GO in and worship. God has a Word and a place for you right where you are.

The Realness of God

In a storm real or imagined, physical or mental, I can call on God who is my refuge. It does not matter where I am, I know that if and when I call on Him, I know that I will be safe and secure. Psalm 71 verses 2 and 3 remind us that He will “Deliver me in Your righteousness and cause me to escape; Incline Your ear to me and save me. Be my strong refuge, to which I may resort continually; You have given me the commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress”. God, therefore, will come to my aid and cover me. So, if you hear me calling His name know that I am desperate for Him to come and comfort me and intervene in my situation. I’m not ashamed to call His name.

As I interact with my adult children, I am pleased to see their unabashed display for Jesus. They have learned to trust in Jesus and to call on Him anytime, not just when there is a need. We want this to flow down to our grandchildren because we won’t always be there for them and they need to know and experience God for themselves. By having their testimony of how God intervened and turned things around on their behalf they will know that God is real. And that He is that safe and secure place where they can let all of the “ugly” out and He will continue to dwell with them.

As a new Christian, many people may think that you are strange because you believe in and follow the precepts of God. They may think that you are strange and crazy because you have decided to trust God in your situation and not go with the flow of man. Their labeling of who you are is because they are stuck in their reality that refuses to recognize the holiness of God. They refuse to recognize the sovereignty of God. And they refuse to accept the saving grace of God. But don’t be hard on them because we have all been there.

If we are honest, we started to recall all of those Sunday morning sermons, our Sunday school lessons, that friend that always talked about God, our parents and grandparents praying, and so many others that relied on God. Those memories caused us to have a sense of desperation for what they had. We found ourselves desperate for Jesus, a real authentic relationship with the God who is Omnipresent, Omniscient, Sovereign…we needed and wanted Him and nothing else. We didn’t change until we became desperate for Him. Our eyes opened to see that we needed the intervention of someone bigger than us. That someone was and is Jesus Christ. It was then that we accepted and felt a peace come over us that could not be explained. We just knew that we felt different. We had a calmness about ourselves and the situation. We were experiencing the safety and security of God.

So, as we journey through life, we can hold our head up high and walk in confidence knowing that God is where we need Him to be. That He is, in fact, our strong refuge and deliverer. He always has His ear inclined to us. And, that He is REAL!