The scariest monsters are those that come from within!

JR. Forasteros - September 1, 2013

Be the Church!

The Next Right Thing

Today, Beavercreek Nazarene turns 60 years old. We have a wonderful heritage, but it's time to look forward. For the last decade, we've been Bridging Church to Neighborhood. As we follow God into the future, we want to Be the Church that connects and engages the unchurched in our neighborhoods.

From Series: "The Next Right Thing"

This year, Beavercreek Church of the Nazarene turns 60 years old. Over the last 60 years, we've made Jesus famous in our community by Bridging Church to Neighborhood. As Jesus has for us, we've gone into our neighborhoods, taking Jesus' love with us and showing our community in tangible, practical ways that Jesus loves them. Now it's time to take the Next Right Step. What will Beavercreek Nazarene look like in the next 60 years? What kind of church will we become? For the month of September, we explore our new vision, imagining together how it will shape our announcement of the Jesus' Good News in Beavercreek, Ohio. We want to become the Church that connects and engages the unchurched in our neighborhoods. What does that look like? Join us as we dream together!

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Today’s about Ghost stories. Though they appear in many forms, the quintessential ghost story involves the spirit of a dead person who’s stayed around (usually a haunted house) because they have unfinished business. Maybe they have to deliver a message or ensure proper burial or get revenge. Whatever the case, once their business is complete, they leave into the afterlife.

Unlike our previous two monsters, today we’re not ghosts. Rather, to quote Peter Rollins,

We are the haunted houses. — Peter Rollins

We move through life collecting hurts, wounds and scars, evidence of pain inflicted on us by other people. Some may be slight, exaggerated in our heads – maybe someone who cuts us off or says something cruel or who causes us harm by accident. Others could be huge, life-altering. A spouse who left. An abuser. And there’s a whole range of hurts between.

Whatever their source, however legitimate or not, these people, these hurts don’t just exit our lives.

We carry them around with us, in our heads and in our souls. They haunt us, returning again and again out of the ether to drag us through the past, to relive history, to reopen old wounds.

The problem is we don’t know what these ghosts want. We don’t know how to resolve their business and get them to leave us. We can’t escape their haunting – especially if the person who hurt you is still a part of your life.

If we want to escape our ghosts, if we want to be free from the haunting of our hurts, we must learn the difficult art of forgiveness.

Join us Sunday as we learn how to forgive and find healing.

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