Christ and the Cross

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:2 - "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."  The Corinthian church was divided into factions - Paul, Apollos, Peter, and Christ which led to disruption and confusion among the body of Christ.  At times we are tempted attribute the label of "silly and immature" to the Corinthian church.  However, we have a tendency to do the same thing today.  We tend to exalt the messenger above the message of Christ.  Our loyalty and identity must be Christ and Him crucified!

Christ and the Cross must be our message, motivation and mission.

Religious people will mess up the Gospel message by distorting the truth through their creeds, systems, pious regulations and institutionalism.  The message of God's people must always be Christ and the Cross.  Our motivation must be to live at the cross and filter our whole lives through it.  Another words, "we must take up our cross and follow Him!"

Paul told the Galatian church that if they attempted to live by a religious system that they were making the Cross of Calvary ineffective.  Once you leave the embrace of the cross you lose the benefit of it's grace and mercy.

Dr. Tony Evans said,"Many Christians are like submarines - they surface once a week on Sunday - then go back down to the depths of sin on Monday.

Our message and our motivation will compel us to complete our mission and that is to GO INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOSPEL.

Christ and the Cross is Our Only Hope!

The Cross

We are excited about the completion of a new cross that will service as a testimony of our commitment to it's message.  We will be sharing pictures of it in the next few days.  It will be similar to the one displayed in this post, only on a smaller basis.  Special thanks to everyone who has helped to make this dream possible.  Thank God for Christ and the Cross.

Men's Breakfast

Men's Fellowship Breakfast will be Saturday, March 16th at 8:00 a.m. at the Cracker Barrell Restaurant in Cottondale, AL  Pastor Vic Hutchins will be our guest speaker.  Join us for a wonderful morning of fellowship.

Unity Service

We would like to extend our appreciation to Pastor Chris Barnett and Harvest Church for their hospitality and graciousness.  There was a tremendous "manifestation of God's presence" as we join together for worship and fellowship.  We are looking forward to a future Homecoming Revival with Harvest Church in the month of May.

Alive and Well!

The CCC blog is functional after 2 years of dormacy.  Many have inquired about re-activating this site for informational purposes and outreach.  We invite you to visit us regularly as we proclaim the message of Christ and His Kingdom.  Sunday sermons are availabe here and many of the events that take place will be published.  Here are some upcoming events:

Men's Breakfast - Saturday, Feb. 23 @ 8:00a.m. at the Cracker Barrell Restaurant in Cottondale, AL.

Unity Service with Chris Barnett and Harvest Church - Wednesday, March 13 @ 7:00 p.m.

Please join us as we anticipate the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ through worship and fellowship.

Recordings

To find the recordings of the SERMONS, look on the right hand side for LINKS....Thanks and enjoy.

Are You Willing To Take Up Your Cross?

In Matthew 16, Jesus begins to tell the disciples about the will of the Father for His life. He goes further, also, to tell them about the will of God for their lives. As his life involved sacrifice, their lives for Him would involve sacrifice, and our lives, if lived for Christ, will involve sacrifice. He truly instructs these men and informs us through the witness of his Word on how to live a Christian life.

To live a Christian life you must live a:


I. Crucified Life: The believer must understand that being a witness for Christ requires that he take up his cross and follow Christ. The cross of Christ represents the will of God for his life, and the cross of the Christian represents the will of God in the saint’s life.
II. A Consecrated Life: To live a Christian life means that you must deny yourself and take up your cross. You will not only need to live a crucified life, you will also need to live a consecrated life. Your cross is God’s will for your life.
III. Conformed Life: Jesus said you must deny yourselves, take up the cross, and “follow me.” Others have given their lives for the cause of Christ. Consider that whatever sacrifices we are making today to serve God is minimal. Consider that, “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” II Cor 4:17.

2011 - The Year of Revival

The Lord has called us to proclaim 2011 as "The Year of Revival" for CCC.  We believe that God is going to inhabit our lives this year in a very spectacular way.  Our first revival begins on Sunday, January 23, 2011 with Dr. H. E. Cardin.  We are excited about what God is doing. 

The revival will be preceeded by 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting.  The event will begin on Jan. 2nd and end Jan. 22.  This will lead us into a special time of spiritual renewal.

I believe that God has been calling His people to prayer and fasting over the last several years. Sometimes the church has responded in a variety of ways. I have seen some use 21 days of prayer and fasting as a time to begin their New Year’s resolutions. Some have used it as a way to diet and lose weight, while others see it as a time to break bad habits.


Too often we go on hunger strikes to hear from God, yet we continue our busy, distracted lives. That is not a true fast, therefore, we will get very little benefit from it.

A true fast occurs when we abstain from the things of the world for the purpose of seeking God in a more focused manner.

The children of Israel would abstain from food and then question God, saying, “Why are You not impressed? or Why don’t You notice our efforts?”

God answered them through the prophet Isaiah in Is. 58: 3-4 saying, “I will tell you why! It’s because you are living for yourselves even while you are fasting – In the day of your fast you find pleasure and exploit all your laborers. This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me" (NLT).

The fasting that God is calling us to is not necessarily a food fast, and most likely it is not a total refraining from food. It is a fast of what keeps you from seeking the Lord. It may be TV, the computer, cell pohones, Facebook, Twitter, gossip, friends, family, finances, work, and so on. It’s time to turn from the world and turn back to God.

Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 at CCC brought a special feeling to the hearts and lives of hundreds of people who were blessed by presence of the real and living Savior.  December 18th was a special day of service to the poor and need.  Volunteers from CCC, Cottondale Christian, Cottondale UMC, Old Salem Baptist and others helped to serve 155 families in our monthly food distribution.  The Lord has blessed this ministry this past year and we are anxious to see what God will do next.

The youth and children's ministry were in charge of the annual Christmas program.  Approximately 170 people turned out to see this special presentation.  The kids put on an excellent production and many were blessed by the message of God's "indescribable gift."

The ladies turned out for a wonderful evening at Pamela's Palace on Dec. 20th.  It proved to be a great time of fun and fellowship.  We are anticipating God's blessings throughout the coming year.

"His First Noel" Christmas Play

Ladies Christmas Celebration at CCC!

Community Thanksgiving Service

The Cottondale Community Thanksgiving Service was a tremendous blessing.  The event took place at Benville Baptist Church in Cottondale, AL.  Churches and pastors from the community partcipated in a special time of worship and giving of thanks.  Bishop Simon Hunter brought the Word of God with great anointing.  The service concluded with a wonderful fellowship dinner.  To God be the glory for His bountiful blessings of love.

Food Pantry

The Care Package set distribution records this past week-end.  We served 187 families from our food pantry.  We would like to acknowledge the outstanding effort of our director, Teresa Crawford, and everyone who volunteered their time to participate in this ministry.  There were 37 new families served on Saturday.  The next distribution date will be December 18th.  If you would like to serve in some capacity during this month's activity please let us know.  There is plenty of work to be done.