2 Dates 1 Thought (from Douglas Poole)

Dear Cypress Family and Friends,

2 dates to lock in and 1 thought to reflect on...

This Sunday – August 22- Cypress will have only one service at 11 AM. It will be “family-style”, so the kids will join us and participate in the service as we wrap up the “Orange-explosion” family camp we have been doing this week. It should be fast-paced, fun and food will follow in the courtyard. My apologies to the 9:15 crowd...but please don’t duck out on the day (10-10)...studies show that these kind of intergenerational opportunities significantly impact a child’s faith for the good. So let’s all join together and invest in the next generation. Deal? Deal!

Save the Date – On Sunday October 3 we will host a service on a topic I am chomping at the bit to address: The Path...the undeniable life principle...getting from where I am to where I want to be. If you have people in your life that you would like to introduce to your Lord and/or your church this is one service you will definitely want to invite, beg or bribe them to attend. Really...so save the date now and get your friends to do the same.

Thought for the Day- (from: The Path...the undeniable life principle)

“When happiness points in one direction while wisdom, truth, integrity and common sense point in another, that’s when really smart people start doing really stupid things.”

Blessings,

Douglas

PS. Remember....1 service Sunday at 11

This Sunday - Authentic Community

God created us to experience His presence in relationships here on Earth.  So why is it so difficult to live in authentic community?  There are a lot of things working against us but this Sunday we will spend some time reflecting on how to live in missional community in the relationships God surrounds us with in our neighborhoods, at our jobs, and beyond.

This Sunday - Who Are You?

This weekend, Jan Cox, will be continuing our Summer Reflections series with a teaching entitled Who Are You?. Here's a little bit about what you can look forward to.

I recently watched and became a huge fan of the Tim Burton version of Alice and Wonderland. I love the movie for a few reasons but mostly because it started a conversation in my relational world about our identity.

In the movie the very wise caterpillar, Absalom, asks Alice a very simple question, "Who are you?" And through a series of events (I won't spoil the end for you just in case) she is challenged to discover the answer to that very important question.

It sounds simple enough but I wonder how many of us, if we were really honest, could answer it. In the blink of this life, in the scheme of our human existence who are we really?

We have labels of course - mom, dad, plumber, computer analyst, wealthy, poor, healthy, sick - but is this really where our identity should lie?

Adam and Eve were the first two people that had to answer this question and the journey they took to find the answer transformed human history forever. This Sunday we're going to spend some time asking ourselves who we really are and why it matters so much.

We have arrived back in Miami. What a trip. What an experience. Awesome team awesome experience. I just want a pizza now!!