by David Docusen | January 22, 2012 | Uncategorized
What are you known for? When people think of you, what are the first thoughts that come to mind? What do people think of when they think of our church?
We are taking a look at how the body of Christ can be known by love over the next several weeks at Center City Church. The series is based around John 13:34-35:
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Click the link below to view last week’s message: Love is Vocal
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/35113153 w=266&h=150]
by David Docusen | January 8, 2012 | Uncategorized
The story of Abram & Sarai in Genesis 11 is set up by a small statement in the middle of a particularly unfascinating description of a family lineage. But tucked away is a statement about one of the most prominent couples in Scripture: Abram & Sarai.
This is what the Word says about Sarai: But Sarai was unable to become pregnant and had no children. (Genesis 11:30 NLT)
I haven’t gotten to this part of the story yet in my one year Bible reading plan, but I will go ahead and spoil it for you: Sarai not only ended up having a child, but she literally became the mother of an entire nation. God had a plan for her that was impossible to accomplish in the natural. She was barren. Unable to get pregnant. But God’s plan was much greater.
So here is my thought for the day: it doesn’t matter what the doctors say. Now…don’t stop your treatments because of this blog or throw away your medicine. All I am saying is that if God has put a promise in your heart, there is no human diagnosis that can stand in the way of it being accomplished. There are no negative words spoken over you that have power to hold back the plans of God.
Place your trust in Jesus. Allow him to determine your steps. And you never know, the barren woman may just become the mother of an entire nation.
by David Docusen | January 6, 2012 | Uncategorized
One of the most intriguing & obscure Scriptures is found in Genesis 7 as the story of Noah is told. In short, God gave Noah an incredibly odd directive: build an enormous boat in the middle of the desert, because he was about to send a flood to cover the earth. God trusted that Noah would obey, even if it didn’t make sense.
The story continues on and we find Noah completing this task in the face of sure ridicule and long days of incredibly difficult work. He loads his family on the boat, two animals of every kind and them the rains came immediately rushing down from the heavens.
This is an incredible act of obedience, but there’s only one problem with my re-telling of the story: the rains did not immediately come rushing down from the sky.
Genesis 7:10 – After seven days, the waters of the flood came and covered the earth.
After SEVEN days! Those three words paint an incredible picture of faithfulness. After listening to the directive of God to build an enormous boat in the middle of the desert. After long days of back breaking work. After looking like a fool to follow God’s command. And this was Noah’s reward? Seven days of waiting.
I believe that there is a dream inside your heart. Even as you read this, it probably comes to mind. It may be extremely detailed or as vague as “I want God to use me to change the world.” If you are in a season that your God-given dreams have yet to come to pass, I have a word of encouragement for you today: don’t get off the boat.
God used Noah to save the human race as we know it. His faithfulness and obedience led to life and restoration of our world. But he had to listen carefully, work hard and stay faithful in the waiting for it to come to pass.
Listen carefully to God. Work hard. And wait patiently for God to honor his promises.
Don’t get off the boat.
by David Docusen | December 30, 2011 | Uncategorized
As 2011 is coming to a close, I want to give everyone an opportunity to consider an end of year donation to Center City Church. We are moving into 2012 with an incredible anticipation for all that God has in store for us.
Just this past week, we had a businessman in our community that I have recently met send along a $5,000 check. He said, “I have never been to your church, but if what I see happening in the community is half as good as what is happening inside your church, this is a great investment.” That was followed by another gift of $5,000 from another man in our community that said, “Thanks for your investment into my family. Be encouraged.”
Every gift is tax deductible and allows us to move into 2012 with momentum and a strong financial base to continue reaching our community. Thanks for your consideration!
You can give online via PayPal (click here) or send a check to:
Center City Church
401 Hawthorne Lane
Suite 110-219
Charlotte, NC 28204
**As long as a check is postmarked by December 31, it’s still considered a donation for 2011 tax deductions.
by David Docusen | December 28, 2011 | Uncategorized
My oldest son, Max, was in the room the other day when I was telling the story of getting a $1,000 donation from an out-of-state friend toward Ebenezers Coffeehouse. The next day, I was reading the Bible with him and we started talking about generosity. Max has seen firsthand the way that God has provided for our family and he is so sensitive to God’s voice (even at the ripe old age of eight years old).
A few moments later, Max came into the dining room with a jar full of money. He said, “Dad, I want to be generous. I have $6.02 that I want to give to help bring Ebenezers to Charlotte.” I teared up. “Max,” I said, “That’s your money and you can do whatever you want with it.” “I know, Dad, and I really want Ebenezers to come to Charlotte. Will this help?” “Absolutely,” I replied.
I asked him again today if that’s what he wanted to do with his money. “I already gave you that money for Ebenezers, dad. I really want Ebenezers to come to Charlotte.”
And there you have it. An incredible lesson in childlike faith and overwhelming generosity from an eight year old. May my faith in Jesus be so pure. We’re $6.02 closer to seeing our dream become a reality.
by David Docusen | December 26, 2011 | Uncategorized
Every Godly dream has a death before it fully comes to life. Jesus taught us this principle in John 12 as he teaches about seeds that must fall to the ground and die. The idea being communicated is simple: every seed has a hard outer shell. When a seed is planted in the ground, that outer shell “dies” as it begins to decay over time. When that outer shell is gone, the true life of that seed is released into the ground and comes to “life.”
Dara and I have been dreaming of opening Ebenezers Coffeehouse (a non-profit coffeehouse & multiple use venue in Uptown) for over five years. We were thisclose last year to landing an amazing property in the heart of the city. We worked hard for ten months on plans. Walked countless thousands of steps around that property. And it all came to a screeching stop and fell through only days before it looked like we were going to get this property. The dream died. And I cried. Literally.
Four months (and no activity or plans being made) later, I got a random check in the mail. It was from a friend of Center City Church that had attended for a short season. She was now living in Tennessee and she wrote me a note:
“Pastor David, I wanted to be one of the first to invest into the dream to see Ebenezers come to Uptown Charlotte.” Included in that envelope was a check for $50. I teared up and realized that this dream still had a pulse.
Fast forward 4 months. I just sat in a meeting this past week with two businessmen in our community that are incredibly supportive of our vision. After that meeting, I got an email from another out-of-state friend:
“I want to give $1,000 toward this (Ebenezers). It isn’t much, but I want to sow a seed.”
Every dream has to die before it can truly come to life. And now there are 1,050 seeds that have been planted into this vision. I believe with all my heart that we are about to see an incredible miracle of God’s provision. And it all started with a random $50 check and a $1,000 email from two out of state friends.
What seeds are you planting into the dreams of others today?
