marthafry

Celebrate Freedom!

It's hard to believe that Fourth of July weekend is here again.  I love this time of year as we celebrate and remember the many brave men and women who have sacrificed for our country's freedom.  As thankful as I am for them, I am more grateful for Jesus, the One who sacrificed everything, so that we could live everyday  in His freedom!  It is because of His freedom that we live!

This weekend at C3 we are celebrating with God & Country Weekend!  You aren't going to want to miss this weekend or the opportunity to  bring your families, friends, neighbors, and co-workers as we celebrate together in the Freedom of Christ. We have a Saturday night service at 6:30pm and two Sunday services at 9:30am and 11:30am on our Clayton Campus.  On our C3 Raleigh Campus, you can join us at 9:00am and 10:30am on Sunday morning.  

In addition to our Weekend Celebration, we will have lots of fun additions on both our campuses, including (hope I get this right) Jeff Gordon's #24 car, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s #88 car, the Durham Bull's mascot, Wool E. Bull, and more.  Also, we will be blessed to have special guest, Amanda Watson, Miss North Carolina 2008 ,on our Clayton campus as well. Like I said, you aren't going to want to miss it!

Also, our church family has been part of a very special project called "Operation We Care" and we've been filling up boxes of special items to send to the North Carolina National Guard stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.  This weekend all the boxes will return to our campus to be loaded up and sent off to these brave men and women. It's not too late to partner with us - if you are interested in getting a box to fill, come by the church office or stop at the Information Center Saturday evening for a box and list of items, then bring it back on Sunday.

As we celebrate our country's freedom, may we be even more thankful for the freedom that we have in Christ, and more than ever, may we have the desire to proclaim His freedom to those around us.

Luke 4:18 " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free..."

Happy 4th of July!

Martha

Weekend Get Away

This past Sunday night, I got the chance to go on a special two-day trip with our middle daughter, Caroline.  It was such an awesome time to get away together and talk and have fun. If you haven't ever  spent time with your children one-on-one, I strongly encourage you to do it!  Time goes by so quickly, and before you know it, your kids grow up and begin lives of their own.  As parents, we have the awesome privilege and responsibility to teach and train our children. 

 

While we were away, we did a program called Passport to Purity, which is a weekend experience that allows parents the opportunity to talk with their children about topics like dating and relationships.  There are teachings by Dennis and Barbara Rainy on CD's with a place to take fill-in-the-blank notes.   There are questions you ask your child and questions they ask you.  (Scary - just kidding)   Then there are activities you do together to drive the point home.  

 The Bible teaches that, as parents, it is our responsibility to teach our kids Biblical perspectives on everything especially relationships, dating, sex, marriage, etc.  It is not the schools responsibility or even the church's - it is our responsibility and privilege to teach and train up our kids. This was my second and last time to do the Passport to Purity weekend, but it will not be my last get-away with my daughters one-on-one.  I want to be somebody they can come and talk to and I want to be the one teaching them how to be a godly woman.  I want to teach them, and to do that there has to be a relationship and time invested in them.  Time away together is a great way to start!

Gloria and Caroline, I love you both and am so proud of the Godly girls you are!

Martha 

I Do...

Today is a special day as my assistant, Katie Buss, is marrying Lee Chatham.  

Katie is an amazing assistant - she serves me so I can do what God has called me to do.  She not only does what I ask her to do, but she thinks ahead and does things before I even ask her.  She has a heart for God and lives her life wholeheartedly for Him.

One of the many things I love about Katie is she let God write her love story.  She is 27 and just now getting married, however, she lived her life as a content single girl for God.  Waiting on God to bring her a godly man and just focusing on serving God while He put the pieces of her love life together.  

Lee is a man who has a heart for God.  He is 21 and has wisdom beyond his years and he has let God write his love story, and when God brought Katie into his life he treated her as the precious gift God had given him.

They were great friends before they started dating.  Most people didn't even know when the friendship turned to  courtship because they honored each other in how they treated each other.   They put boundaries in their lives so that even in dating their lives would honor Christ.   They never stopped doing ministry while they were dating.  Actually they got more involved in ministry as their relationship grew because God was at the center of their dating relationship.  They never got so focused on each other that they pushed God to the side.  

 I love that they can say to the students they serve, "follow me as I follow Christ."

Katie and Lee I am so proud of the both of you.  I love how you guys do ministry together and have a whatever it takes attitude.  Lee, I am so glad to have you become a part of mine and Matt's team. I love how you never have gotten frustrated at all that Katie does for me, but have jumped on board and served along with her.    I love the fact that we all not only work together, but we love to hang out together.  This is only the beginning - the best is yet to come!!!

I pray today is everything you have dreamed it would be, but more importantly I pray  your life is everything you dreamed it would be and exceedingly more.............

We Love you guys,

Matt and Martha

Like I promised here are the ABC scripture memory verses.

Scripture ABC’s

A     All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Rom. 3:23

B      Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved – you and your household.  Acts 16:31

C      Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  Ephesians 6:1

D     Do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.  Matthew 7:12

E      Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.  Proverbs 20:11

F      Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.  Isaiah 43:1

G      Give thinks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  1 Thessalonians 5:18

H     Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.   Exodus 20:12

I      “I am the vine, you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart form me you can do nothing. “  John 15:5

J      Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.   Hebrews 13:8

K      Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Psalm 34:13

L      Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else. Isaiah 45:22

M     Marvel not that I say unto you, you must be born again. John 3:7

N     No one can serve two masters.   Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.   You cannot serve both God and money.   Matthew 6:24

O     O Lord God Almighty, who is like you?  You are mighty, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds you.  Psalm 89:8

P      Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.   Ephesians 6:11

Q     Quench not the spirit.  I Thessalonians 5:19

R      Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  Six day you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.   Exodus 20:8-10

S      Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  Matthew 6:33

T      Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6

U     Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder:  and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, and Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6-7

V      Vengeance is mine;  I will repay, saith the Lord.  “Therefore if your enemy is hungry feed him, if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.   In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.   “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  Romans 12:19-2 

W     Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.   Psalm 27:14

X     He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.  Ephesians 3:20

Y      You are the light of the world…Le your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven.  Matthew 5:14-16

Z      Zion hears and rejoices and the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments, O Lord.   For you, O Lord, are the Most High over all the earth;  You are exalted far above all gods.  Psalm 97:8-9

Learn one a week just by saying it everyday.  The next week review those you have already learned and then learn a new verse.

You can also help your child learn their ABC's and the letter sounds during this time.

There are so many fun creative things you can do - have fun teaching your kids the Word of God

Psalm 119:11 

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Reaching the Next Generation Together,

Martha

Here's Side Two!

This weekend I have had the great opportunity to answer your questions on Parenting as we continue going through our "You Choose" series.  

If you joined us tonight for the 6:00pm service, you know we made it through the first side of the notes.  So, for all you melancholies who have to have all the blanks filled in (ha, ha) I am going to do that for you here!  And, if you didn't get the chance to join us this weekend, I'll include both sides of notes and you can watch the sermon on our live feed on www.c3church.com.  

You Choose:  Questions on Parenting

1.  How do I raise Godly kids?

Prepare your kids for life.

Provide your kids the right environment.

Protect your kids in the storm.

Play with your kids for fun.

Point your kids to God.

2.  What if my attempts seem to fail?

Don't expect others to raise your kids.

Don't compromise your values.

Dont' give up too easily.

Be consistent.

Be courageous.

3.  How does God expect me to treat my parents.  

Honor them by valuing them.

Honor them by loving them.

Honor them by forgiving them.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there.  I am believing this is going to be the best year ever for you and your family!

Martha

Happy Mother's Day!

I just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there (including my mom)!  Being a mom is one of the greatest joys and greatest responsibilities that God has ever blessed me with.  I am so thankful for my husband, Matt, and my 3 amazing kids.  I can't imagine doing life any other way than side by side with my family!

This weekend at C3 we want to celebrate Mother's Day with you as we continue our You Choose series.  I am getting the awesome privilege of speaking on parenting.  

Join us for one of our three services this weekend as we kick off our NEW SUMMER SCHEDULE!  We will have a Saturday night service at 6:00pm and two services on Sunday at 9:30am and 11:30am at our Clayton Campus. And, if you are in the Raleigh area, join us at 9:00am or 10:30am for one of our Sunday services at C3 Church Raleigh at our North Hills Campus.  

So, moms bring your families.  Families, bring your moms!  It is going to be an awesome weekend!  

See you there!

Martha

All Access Was Awesome!

Wow!  Yesterday afternoon we wrapped up the All Access Conference.  There aren't words to express what an amazing week it was!  Three days full of powerful messages delivered by ARC lead team pastors; a campus full of college-aged interns; hallways lined with vendors from across the country; relationships formed that will bear fruit for years and years to come, and the list goes on and on....

For three days, we got to be a part of the largest conference that ARC has ever hosted.  I couldn't help but get emotional when I saw how many brand new church planters there were and how many interns were there who had totally surrendered their lives to Christ.  What an awesome testimony for our next generation!

Another highlight for me was having so many of the ARC lead team pastor's wives come.  It was a great chance for all of us to reconnect.  During lunch on Tuesday, we had a ladies' lunch and each of the wives got a chance to say a little about what they do at their home churches.  It was great!

We praise God for giving us the opportunity to host such an awesome conference.  We could never have dreamed all that God would do when we planted C3 11 years ago.  

Matt and I are so proud of the C3 team and want to express our gratitude to all of you, from the staff to our amazing volunteers. We are so proud of each of you and we heard nothing but positive feedback from our guests!  Our team displayed a 'whatever it takes' attitude from the time the conference started to after it was all cleaned up.  We are so proud of our C3 family!

If you missed the conference, we are going to podcast the sessions, so watch for them on the C3 website. 

The best is yet to come!

Martha

Vision in the Morning!

This morning I got up early to go speak at North Garner Middle School to their A/B Honor Roll Students.  This was such a great privilege and honor.  And, one of the coolest parts was seeing several of our C3 students and their parents there being honored.  

I got the chance to speak to the middle school students and their parents about the importance of having a vision for their life and how having a vision, even at a young age, affects our decisions and choices in our everyday lives.  

God is so faithful to open doors for C3 to reach out to our community and it is our desire and passion to serve our community as God opens doors.

Principal John Wall and his staff were so inviting and there were lots of middle school students honored for their hard work.  

Thanks again, North Garner Middle SChool!

Martha

A New Pair of Jeans!

It's that time of year again...Easter!  Which, for our family, means we all go out and get a new pair of jeans!   But, in all seriousness, this is such an exciting weekend!

We have four services to choose from at our Clayton Campus...4:30pm and 6:30pm on Saturday night and 9:30am and 11:30am on Sunday.  At our C3 Raleigh Campus we have two services...9:00am and 10:30am.  

Easter Weekend is always a big weekend for first time guests, so I want to encourage you and your family to join us for one of the Saturday night services if possible.  We want to save as many seats as possible on Sunday morning.  And, if you are attending at the Raleigh Campus, join us for the 9:00am service if you can to free up seats at 10:30am.  

Also, invite friends, family members, neighbors, co-workers, and anyone that God brings across your path to join us.  It is going to be an incredible weekend as we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior.

See you this weekend!  Happy Easter!

Martha

C3 Church Raleigh Launched!

This past weekend was an incredible weekend as C3 Church Raleigh launched with two powerful services.  Once again, as C3 is faithful to provide more seats for hurting people, God fills them up! 

We knew that God was going to move in a big way, but not knowing exactly what to expect, were blown away at the number of people that came out for Grand Opening Weekend!  Both the 9:00am and 10:30am services were packed with new faces.

Be praying with us as we are getting ready for the second weekend of being one church with two locations.  As we are faithful to grow and expand as God calls us to, we know that more and more people will be reached for the cause of Christ!

Also, this Saturday, April 4, we invite you and your family to join us for the C3 Church "Neighborhood Block Party" in the Quail Hollow Subdivision in Raleigh.   We will kick it off at 11:00am with lots of games, lots of food, and of course, lots of fun!  For more infomation about C3 Church Raleigh or the Neighborhood Block Party, click here or call the C3 Church office.  

Have a great weekend and look forward to seeing you at one of our campuses!

Martha