Heritage Community Church will be sponsoring a little league soccer team this fall. What an incredible way to reach our community! Some of our kids from HCC will be on the team and Johnny Mellado and Chris Munn will be coaching. The team had its first practice the other night and we thought we'd share some photos with you.

Have you done any dreaming lately? Did you take time this summer to ask God to give you a special dream, a fresh vision of what He would have you do in the future? Do you share your dreams with those of like faith?

Sometimes I think we are so insecure in our dreams, that we tend to hold on to them like they are the last peanut butter sandwich we will
have have, and we're not going to share them with anyone. Not even God.

What we give Him, He takes.  What He takes, He cleanses.  What He cleanses, He fills, and what He fills, He uses for His glory.

But giving our dreams to the Lord does not involve risk.  Nothing about our walk with God involves risk, when you know the heart of the One who holds you in His hand.  When we place our desires in the hand of the great Almighty, we find that first they will be broken, and then buried.  But, not to worry, because then comes resurrection day.  A hallelujah day where the dream
emerges with a fragrance and newness of life that far exceeds the life we could have carved out for ourselves.

Keep your eyes on Him, the spinner of dreams.  Watch Him remake your dream into a thing of beauty that will not only outdo itself in satisfying the longings of our heart, but will be a bright testimony and display of HIS magnificense and resurrection power to those around us!!!

Don't settle for a  mundane journey.....no more "gee...I prayed...and I guess He heard...and I can only hope he'll answer..."  When we're seated in the heavenlies with Him, all guess work is gone.

Martin Luther said, "I've held many things in my hand and have lost them all...but the things I placed into the hands of Jesus, those things I still possess..."

Eph 1:8..."wherein he has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence..."   The Message says, "He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need,". God's 'more-than-enough' grace operates within the framework of His infallible will -

With what He saw in us, and, how much He loves us, and how large and perfect His plan is for us at Heritage Community, how can we do anything less than make our dreams big!!!

-Dorothy Huffman

The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. - Exodus 20:21

Like the nation of Israel, we are each called to the mountain of God, but few are willing to pass through the darkness to get there. God wanted to reveal His glory to the children of Israel, but they were afraid to enter into His presence. They only wanted to know about God, rather than know him personally like Moses did. This grieved the heart of God.

Why wouldn't the people of Israel risk entering the darkness if it meant being in the presence of God? What did the people fear?

Perhaps they had fears like each of us. The fear of the unknown. The fear of what might happen. The fear that God might not like what He sees. Or, perhaps even the greatest fear: the fear of darkness itself and what lies behind that darkness.

Many of us have been satisfied to hear about God from God's messengers. But there is a greater calling for each of us—a calling to enter into His presence. Sometimes entering into His presence means we enter through an unexpected door—a door that appears to have nothing good behind it.

We do not need to fear entering the presence of God even if it means entering through a period of darkness. Above all else we must believe that God is a God of love. If He calls us into darkness in order to enter His presence, then that darkness will become an entry to new levels of relationship with a God who longs for fellowship with you and me.


-by Os Hillman, August 22, 2007

I was sitting in the living room tonight with Caleb and Abbie spending a few minutes with them before bed. We just happened to be watching a DVD that Merideth had bought for Abbie that had dancing in it (Abbie has been taking dance for the past two years). She and Caleb were having a good time trying to imitate the dances while I (the audience) paid close attention and applauded their efforts.

While the music was playing and they were acting out their dances, my ears caught a subtle sound that was familiar. I turned the music down, but I didn’t hear it again. So I turned the music back up, and they resumed their dancing on the floor in front of me. After turning the music back on, I again heard that familiar sound so I turned the music back down. A little irritated with me, Abbie immediately replied, “Dad it is just the TV, turn it back up”! I agreed with her after I didn’t hear the noise anymore and again turned the sound back up only to hear that whisper of a sound again. Out of instinct, I got up from my seat and went to our 2 years old’s room. I had put Anna to bed earlier and usually when she is down, she is out—but this time she had awoken and was calling for me. I comforted her, covered her back up and then proceeded back to the living room to continue my duties as the audience for my two dancers.

Some would say, “I can’t believe you heard her over the noise and commotion that was going on in front of you?” But then again, I know her voice. It really wasn’t that complicated. I just had to be tuned in and attentive to what was going on around me.

When is the last time you heard the voice of God speak to you? It can be difficult if you aren’t tuned in and attentive but impossible if you don’t know HIS voice. The key to knowing the voice of God is not a formula or the result of a method you can follow. Knowing God’s voice comes from having an intimate love relationship with HIM. I picked Anna’s voice out of the noise because I know her intimately.

In the Bible, John 8:47 says, “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

As you pray and read the scriptures, watch and see how the Holy Spirit uses prayer, God’s word, and circumstances to reveal Himself and speak to you.

He still speaks! Trust me. Better yet, trust God!

I can't believe that the summer is almost over.  Now it is time for hurricane season--aren't you excited!?!  In our home, we have been getting ready for school this week--Merideth has been busy cleaning out the kids closets as well as shopping for new clothes and school supplies.  The kids have been so excited trying on their new clothes as well as showing off their new backpacks to anyone who has come around the house.  You know, I remember those days like it was yesterday.  

As Abbie and I were talking the other day about the start of the new school year, I asked her what she was looking forward to the most this year as she was getting ready to go back to school. She quickly replied, "Getting to meet new people."  I thought that was an interesting response since most of us like sticking with the same old crowd and not venturing out to meet new people.  I praised her for her enthusiasm and marveled that she would even be thinking about meeting other people. 
 
When we prayed that night, Abbie prayed that she would meet new people so she could invite them to come to church...Boy, was I proud; but also convicted.  How many days do I wake up in the morning praying, "God who will you put in my path today so that I can share the good news of Jesus Christ and influence in the world in which I live?"   Isn't this important?

The latest Statistics tell us that 80-85% of our churches today are either plateaued or declining and that the churches that are growing, a majority of them are growing only by transfer growth with people joining from other churches.  Why are these statistics so bleak?  Could it be that we have become content in doing church and not being the church.  

For Heritage Community Church to break the mold, we need to clarify that our win as a congregation will not be in our budgets, numbers in attendance or the building that we will occupy, but our win must be measured by if we as a congregation are being intentional at building new relationships with the intent of sharing Christ.  Swapping sheep will not impact the culture in which we live.  We will need to live a life of purpose and understand that our place of business, school or wherever we are is an opportunity to live out a legacy of faith.

1 John 3:18 says, "Dear Children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

How will you demonstrate the love of Christ this week?

You can see God's glory there! Ezekiel 43:1-5

Maybe you had a bad experience in a church where God's people didn't live up to their names, or the fact your family holds differing beliefs makes the choice of a church difficult. Perhaps you live a high-pressure life that begs for Sunday morning in bed or you feel uneasy walking into a building and sitting in a crowd of people where you don't know a soul and don't know when to stand, sit, kneel, or sing. Church just doesn't address where you are in your life-and besides, you don't like the music. Is it worth overcoming these obstacles to go? Yes.

Every church is flawed (it is, after all, made up of mere humans). But in a mysterious sense, a body of Christian believers gathered to worship God makes up the present-day version of God's temple (see 1 Corinthians 3:16). Near the end of his book, Ezekiel was blessed with a vision of a new temple not yet built. But he saw the glory of God return and fill that temple.

God's glory fills a gathering of His people in a way that isn't possible in us individually. It's one of the wonderful mysteries of God. In church, if you open your spiritual eyes, you just might see His glory. (See also Acts 2:1-13,41-47; Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 3:10-17; Ephesians 2:11-22.)

(From ChristianBibleStudies.com)