Search Results

We're here to support you every step of the way! See what your next steps are.

As a member of a church, the culture within that spiritual community significantly impacts your personal growth, sense of belonging, and overall well-being. Here's why it's particularly essential: Personal Growth and Well-Being A positive church culture nurtures your spiritual, emotional, and even mental health. It provides a space for you to connect with God and deepen your understanding of your faith. Sense of Community Humans have an innate need for belonging. A welcoming church culture gives you a community where you're accepted and valued, not just as a member but as an individual with unique gifts and needs. Network of Support Life's challenges are inevitable, and a supportive church culture offers a reliable network. Whether you're going through highs or lows, you know you have a community that stands beside you. Opportunity for Service A vibrant culture encourages talents and gifts to flourish. It provides avenues for you to serve, leading to a fulfilling experience that goes beyond Sunday worship. Moral and Ethical Framework Church culture often serves as a moral compass, providing guidelines that help you navigate complex issues in your day-to-day life, grounded in shared values and beliefs. Keeps Faith Alive Being part of a community with an active and positive culture keeps your faith dynamic. It discourages spiritual stagnancy and promotes continuous growth in your relationship with God. In sum, the culture in your church significantly affects your spiritual journey and quality of life, making it an essential aspect of your overall well-being.

Now that you have ARRIVED at your destination and BELONG to God’s Spiritual Temple, your heart should be to get INVOLVED! You might ask: 1) Where can I be of service? 2) Where can I get involved? 3) Where can I make a difference? Everyone has a gift, a talent, or a skill given by God to be used in the work for our Father’s Kingdom. There is so much to do in the world, and the best place to start having a global impact is by getting involved in your local church. If you are making Scarlet Note your home church, then CONGRATULATIONS! No more formalities- let’s get to WORK. Philippians 2:1-8 “Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”

Matthew 9:35-38 “Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields’.” When we read this story, Jesus’ compassion was NOT for his disciples. His compassion was for the CROWDS. Jesus saw that the crowds were confused and helpless. Jesus did NOT say the crowds needed food, shelter, clothing, or money. Jesus said they are like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus likened the “Shepherd” to a worker. Jesus said the crowd is too big and full of people but not enough workers. Jesus did NOT say that the helpless crowd needed more food banks, clothing distribution centers, or shelters. Those things are all good, but Jesus did not say they needed these things. Jesus said the need is so great, but there are NOT enough WORKERS! Jesus pointed out an obvious shortage of workers in the field. Jesus doesn’t instruct us to pray for the crowds or their needs. Jesus tells us to pray for more FIELD WORKERS. My friend, Jesus, wanted his disciples, then and now, to recognize that there is so much work to do, but there are not enough workers or field agents. It has been estimated that in an average church, only 20% of people are actively involved in their local church. There are many things to do in your local church to help reach the helpless and the confused.

The word “devotion” means love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause. In this 4th step, “Devotion,” we will cover ways for us to demonstrate our love, loyalty, and enthusiasm to God, His work, and the cause! Acts 2:42-44- “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.” The Church of Acts was the very first church after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into Heaven. This church had no liturgical (ceremonial) systems in place, no mention of a worship team, or ushers, or any other structure other than these 4 very simple steps: 1) Devotion to the Apostles Teachings During our weekly services, you will hear solid biblical teachings that include the teachings of the Apostles. (You can listen to a library of teachings online at scarletnote.org and on our podcast). We also provide seasonal ministries for men and women to help continue your path to growth, a comprehensive children's ministry, and a developing teen and young adult ministry as well. 2) Devotion to Fellowship Fellowship is fostered by way of our seasonal small groups. You’ll have many opportunities to meet and connect with wonderful, great people that are on the same journey to grow closer to God, just like YOU. 3) Devotion to The Lord's Supper Just about once a month, we join together to share in the Lord's supper or Communion, and NO ONE is excluded, regardless of where you are in your walk with God. No one and I mean NO ONE, is excluded from having a seat at our heavenly Father’s table. The DEVOTION to the Lord's Supper of the first church was far more profound than just breaking bread and gathering for services. They would meet daily, weekly, and monthly with each other and have meals together to remember Jesus. We encourage our families here at Scarlet Note to connect with other families outside of these four walls of our church building and have meals TOGETHER and share time TOGETHER remembering Jesus. This time TOGETHER is about opening your home to others, cultivating an environment of hospitality, and growth together. 4) Devotion to Prayer Lastly, we are DEVOTED to prayer. We pray together on Sundays and throughout the week for any of your needs, in-person or submitted online, or in the FREE Scarlet Note app. You can submit your prayer requests at any time during the day or week, and those requests come to me directly. I pray for each of those and respond personally to each submission.

You should really take a moment and give yourself if you’re watching this alone, a pat on the back, and if you’re with someone else, take a moment and give each other a quick high-five as you’ve made it this far. By now, you should be very well-informed about your new church home and family. Many of you are hopefully already involved in some capacity in your home church. If not, what are you waiting for? Get Involved! We pray that you are or have already started on your way to living DEVOTED. Well, here we are on our last and final “PATHWAYS TO GROWTH” Are you ready? ECHO! Is STEP 5. Yes, that’s correct. You heard correctly, ECHO! Echo means to repeat or reverberate an original sound. “Pastor J, how is this a pathway to growth?” Allow me to explain. Jesus wants us to continue to tell and echo His words and teachings to others. We are not Christians just to gather in a church building on Sundays and sing worship songs. We have been given an assignment by Jesus to ECHO his words and his ways to others.

In this first step, we will look at the God-given GPS in our lives, which helps us navigate the wilderness and the deep unknowns of our lives. For thousands of years, all mankind had looked to the skies for navigation. Whether in the Arabian Desert of the Middle East or in the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean, mancould count on the positioning of the stars and their constellations in the sky to help them navigate the terrain below. Today, we do the same, but we use satellites, about 30 of them, to be exact. Those 30 satellites circle the perimeter of the earth's span, providing us with detailed information about where we are and where we are going: all in the palm of our hand. GPS, which is short for Global Positioning Systems, help us avoid the pitfalls of uncertainty. If you have ever been on a road trip to an unfamiliar destination and you're being led by your car's GPS, it seems that we're all washed over with a sense of relief and a feeling of comfort when our GPS announces "ARRIVED". Any sense of anxiety, as a result of not knowing, subsides, and we are put to ease again because we have finally arrived at our destination. We know where we are, and now, we know where we are going. Nothing is more unsettling than not knowing where we are but even scarier than not knowing is the feeling of not knowing where we're going no matter how picturesque the sites may be or unfamiliarity can dampen that splendor. We've all seen movies where a protagonist (a good guy) is blindfolded, hands and feet are bound, rendered helpless in the back of a vehicle of some sort, and we are all on the edge of the seat, feeling the weight of anxiety as if it were us in that position. We empathize, and we put ourselves in that position, and our anxiety levels go through the roof! Many of us today are wrestling with this same unsettling feeling. as we navigate through our daily lives. For some of you today, this feeling may be a result of a career, relationship(s), investment(s), health, relocation, or parenting. The point here is that for all of us, uncertainty disrupts our peace. So how do we overcome these feelings of uncertainty and live life navigating in the direction God wills for us? Imagine waking up one day at 75 years of age to a voice you've never heard before telling you to pack your stuff and relocate from your country of origin, leave your parents behind, and rely solely on this voice you've never heard before as your GPS. Well, this happened to a man in the Bible we would later come to know as the father of faith, Abraham.

The Devotions of the early church provided the followers of Jesus a place of accountability in their walk. It provided the early church with an extended family that would encourage and lift each other up when it mattered most. These DEVOTIONS weren’t laws or rituals. They were real-life opportunities that they would extend to one another. Also, these DEVOTIONS helped foster an environment of inclusion, regardless of gender, ethnicity, race, or status. These DEVOTIONS help us keep our church menu short and sweet so we can specialize only on the things we know will yield the greatest return while NOT consuming much of your time with extra stuff during the week. Your family time should be the central focus of your family, not a flood of church activities. So, we want to encourage you to continue to get plugged in and continue to grow, BUT at the end of the day, YOUR HOME, whether you are married, single, or a widow, is where WORSHIP and PRAISE to God BEGINS! When we come together during our gatherings, we are ALL bringing something from our homes into the gatherings on Sundays. I am EXCITED for this step in your life and can’t wait to see ALL God will continue to do along this journey of DEVOTION!

Jesus’ attitude about service is the model by which we are all to imitate. Jesus, while here on earth, he didn’t cling to his status as God as an excuse not to be involved. Jesus could have considered himself royalty, but he didn’t. The Bible says Jesus humbled himself and served others to the point of death! For sure no one here is asking you to serve to the point of death or be involved to the point of death as Jesus did. BUT if being INVOLVED mattered to Jesus, then being INVOLVED should matter to YOU! Matthew 20: 25-28- “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus didn’t lead by force, control, and manipulation, BUT by taking off his robe in the presence of all his disciples, tying a towel around his waist and filling a pitcher with water, and bowing to his knees to wash the feet of His disciples. If serving was good enough for Jesus, then serving and being INVOLVED should be good enough for you! Jesus doesn’t want us to remain idle, but to be fruitful to His work and in his Kingdom and do our part to be INVOLVED.