Cedar Creek Banks Mill Blog

Some of you may remember me mentioning at our 20^th Birthday Celebration that God was leading our church to get involved in taking on the global giant of human trafficking.  As we do with all of our outreach, we try to work through partnerships with people and organizations that are making a long term difference on the ground.  The great news is that we’ve found our first partner in this area…and we didn’t have to look far.  Andrea Stokes, who served as an intern in our outreach department several years ago,  is now serving in India with a ministry focusing on victims of human trafficking and was recently featured in the Aiken Standard.

 

Andrea will be at our Banks Mill Campus Sunday night May 19^th at 6 p.m. in the Centerpoint building to share with us the work she’ll be doing and how you can be a part of it.  If God has burdened your heart for this work, I hope you will join us.

 

God Bless,

 

Phillip

 

Also – check out the article in the Aiken Standard - http://www.aikenstandard.com/article/20130511/AIK0101/130519921/1007/AIK0101/locals-to-work-with-victims-of-sex-trafficking

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On Sunday, March 24, 2013, Cedar Creek Church will be 20 years old!  To celebrate this amazing milestone in the life of our church all three campuses (Banks Mill, Ridge & West) will gather together at the USCA Convocation Center for a birthday party.  We will gather to celebrate twenty years of God’s amazing grace and look forward to what He has in store for CCC as we go forward into the next twenty.

It is our hope that this event will be one for the entire Aiken community.  We hope that everyone who calls CCC home, has ever been a part of, visited or ever thought about visiting would join us at one of two celebration services at 9 & 11 a.m.  We will ALL be together.  Adults, students, kidz and little ones will gather to share in the celebration.

What can you do now to get ready for the party?

• Pray!  Pray for the team planning & producing the event and for God to move in HUGE ways at this celebration.
• Mark your calendars to be a part of this exciting and historic day in the life of Cedar Creek Church!
• Go HERE to click “I’m Going” on the Facebook event page.
• Tell ALL your friends, co-workers, neighbors…anybody that you think should be there with us.  Use the “Invite” feature on the FB page too!

Also, to help us prepare, if you have any photos, video or “momentos” from the past twenty years of Cedar Creek Church we would love for you to share them with us so that we can share them at the Birthday Party.  Please e-mail any pics, vids or scanned media to cedarcreekchurch20@gmail.com

God bless and see you at the party!

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I am so excited that international author and speaker Carl Medearis is coming to Cedar Creek this weekend.   While his name might not be familiar to many of you, for churches like ours, he’s a rock star!  His books, Speaking of Jesus and Muslims, Christians and Jesus, have helped inspire our church to reach across religious, social and political barriers to share Jesus with those who are far from Him.  While much of Carl’s focus is on connecting with Muslims (a big part of our church’s global outreach focus), he has great perspective and insight on how to talk to people in our own community who have kept their distance from Jesus because of misconceptions about Him from those who claim to represent Him.  We, as a church, have spent nearly twenty years trying to break down those same kind of man-made religious and cultural barriers so that those far from God could find their way back to Him.  Carl is just what the doctor ordered for our church to start 2013 with a renewed passion to introduce people, not to a religion, but to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.  I hope you will make being a part of this weekend’s events a priority.  Carl will encourage you, challenge you, make you think, and he may even make you mad.  But you won’t forget being there.

Carl’s Schedule:

                Saturday, January 12 @ 7 p.m. Banks Mill Campus (Community-wide Event on Muslim/Christian Relations and the Middle East)

                Sunday, January 13 @ 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Banks Mill Campus (Speaking of Jesus)

                Sunday, January 20 @ 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. West and Ridge Campuses (Speaking of Jesus)

Hope to see you there!

Phillip

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We are looking to put together a Hurricane Relief team to head out Dec. 12-16.  This team will partner with a church we have worked with before in New Orleans, LA to gut homes damaged during Hurricane Issac.  We are looking for men and women.  Any and all skill levels are welcome.  If you have any of the following it would be helpful if you let us know: electrical, carpentry, tiling, plumbing, drywall, roofing, painting, other.  This will help those that plan if there is an opportunity to use those skills. You can let us know of your interest by noting Hurricane Relief on your tear off at your campus on Sunday along with your contact information or by emailingoutreach@cedarcreekchurch.net.

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It’s that time of year when everyone wants you to give to his or her organization.  We all want every child to have a great Christmas, because it’s all about the toys, right??? Well, not so much.  A simple shoebox, filled with small presents, candy, toothpaste, items that our kids take for granted every single day can bring joy and hope to children all over the world. And I’m talking about The Hope, The Reason.  Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes are part of Samaritan’s purse and each one when given to a child in a country you may not even know about yet, tells that child that God loves them.

This is a great way for you, your kids, your family, HOME group, friends, and co-workers, everyone you know to share the love of Jesus with children all over the world in a simple and practical way.  Pack your box, bring it back to your campus this Sunday, Nov. 11.  If you would like to know where your box goes, you can donate the shipping cost online at www.samaritanspurse.org and they will email you with the final destination of your box and lots of neat country information.  Another great idea is to include a letter in your box, our Kidz Creek small groups have done this and have received letters back!!!

This year Operation Christmas Child hopes to reach 100 million children! Thanks for helping reach that amazing goal.

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For most, the summer means slowing down, taking it easy.  But not Cedar Creek! I don’t think I can express in words how much God is using what you are doing here to spread the GOOD NEWS to folks all over the world!!!!  Do you even know how
awesome that is???? We’ve had families, adults, students, just all kind of folks going all over the world and still going, so keep praying.  But we got some more amazing news from a partner of ours, Ebenezer, just this week.  Here’s the gist of it…Cedar Creek’s HOME group leader manual is being translated into Hindi.  This is the National language of India.  INDIA, like a Billion people!!!!!!!  Can you even imagine????  And the Jesus film has been translated into the Irula language which means that all the folks that can’t read will be able to understand the Gospel in their heart language.  Guys…YOU are helping this take place.  Your sacrificial giving, your PRAYERS, your support of the vision to do Crazy things that other churches don’t do, your willingness to GO places people have never heard of, your willingness to be UNCOMFORTABLE!!!  I’m telling you, Jesus is well pleased with YOU and I am honored to serve you guys.

P.S.  Home group plug here- This is like the 7^th or 8^th language the HOME group leader guide has been translated into.  Why?  Because it works in any language!  Because it is Biblical!  If you aren’t in a HOME group you need to get into one, over a billion and counting, we’re better than hamburgers J

Kristi Hunter

Global Outreach Coordinator

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Cedar Creek Church has made donations to the North American Mission Board,  Samaritan’s Purse , and Ironman Outdoors to aid their disaster relief efforts following the tornadoes in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and North Carolina.  If you would like to volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse in their disaster relief efforts, go to http://spvolunteernetwork.org.

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http://vimeo.com/33911713

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Ron and Julie Stevens HOME group recently went to Washington,
DC, to put wreaths on the graves at Arlington Cemetery for Christmas.
This is a great picture of a group showing the love of Jesus in a practical way
to the families of our soldiers, and to our country.

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Around 56 children received Christmas gifts from Cedar Creek
Church through Christ Central New Ellenton this season.  Thanks to the Burt
and Sylvie Carey HOME group for managing the collection of gifts, and for being
the link between Cedar Creek and Christ Central New Ellenton. Thanks to all the
HOME groups and families that generously purchased gifts and delivered them to
the church.  It is great to see HOME groups partnering with like-minded
agencies to Be the Church in our community.

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http://vimeo.com/33615982

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BE THE CHURCH:  Outreach Trip – Drill water wells in Guatemala, January 7-14, 2012.  We need two female health trainers, and several men or women to drill the water wells.  Applications are due to the Cedar Creek Banks Mill Outreach Office by Sunday, October 16.  Click here http://www.cedarcreekchurch.net/images/forms/CCCSTMapplication.pdf to get a Short Term Outreach Trip Application, or go to the  Global Outreach page of www.cedarcreekchurch.net.

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