Champion Life Church

Today we worshiped at Champion Life Church, mailing address is P.O. Box 1713 but meets at Blackhawk High School, 500 Blackhawk Road, Beaver Falls, PA 15010, 724.473.2213, www.mychampionlife.com, Larry & Kim Bettencourt, Lead Pastors.

Scripture – NIV

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

John 15:16

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

1 John 4:10

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Bob’s thoughts:

We were warmly welcomed coming in the door and it continued until we found our seats. The only way I could have felt more welcome would have been to find a cross on display.

The church meets in a school auditorium and I was really impressed with how many directional flags we saw at the street corners leading us in. A lot of work and time goes into preparing this space for worship.

I was proud of myself for remembering my ear plugs and pleasantly surprised not to need them. I wish I could have heard more of the vocals from the praise team, especially the females; I was pleased to see them smile.

One of the female singers spoke and I could understand every word but I experienced some difficulty understanding everyone else.

The message was part of a series on hashtags, admittedly something I know little about, but he was talking about the labels we wear, willingly or not. One of the best lines from the message: “Your value doesn’t go down based on someone’s inability to see your worth.” We have high value in Christ and the devil tries to make us believe that we are worth much less. We were instructed to find freedom and purpose and reminded that God believes in us, a personal message from God for me. The message was developed well and the congregation seemed receptive.

We enjoyed friendly conversations with the pastor, his wife, church administrator, and others after the service.

A number of people thanked me for my service, which I always appreciate, especially from young people.

Jan’s thoughts:

I was unsure for a while about visiting this church, but I’m glad we did. There was no one in the parking lot when we arrived, but it turned out we were just that early. The leaders were finishing their considerable work setting everything up.

A joyful gentleman opened the door for us as we approached the building and greeted us warmly, as did several others. We were invited to join the pre-service prayer with the staff and volunteers after which I enjoyed a cup of coffee while we wandered around.

The signage was excellent, and all the room signs hanging from the hallway ceilings, all the classrooms converted into Sunday School rooms, and many other accessories and trimmings were all the work of the volunteers.

As we entered the auditorium we were given small cups resembling the single serving creamers found in restaurants but which instead contained a small amount of juice covered with a peel-away lid and on top of that was a small wafer covered with another lid. These were individual servings for Communion.

We found seats toward the back in anticipation of a volume issue, but there was no issue…the volume was perfect.

The message series was entitled “Hashtags: they can’t define us…” and he began with a video clip of Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon using hashtags, including the gesture, in a conversation. He pointed out that hashtags are labels, and in that sense we use hashtags to define ourselves when we tell ourselves we are not liked, not needed, and the like. He said several things I thought noteworthy:

• Life gives us labels but God gives us identity.
• Your value doesn’t decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth.
• God chose our times and He picks us for a purpose and assignment.
• Getting a new picture of who we are in Christ will change the way we see the world.
• We must encourage ourselves in the Lord and speak what God says about us (positive self-talk).
• We must try something new or take a next step…it’s important to move forward.
• Especially we must remember that God believes in us even when we don’t believe in ourselves.

We all need encouragement…we all get off the track and beaten up by the world…life has never been easy nor will it ever be. I am grateful for today’s reminder of God’s love and for the opportunity to participate in Communion.

We appreciated an extended conversation with staff members following worship.

Our prayer for this church:

God, we pray this congregation believes the most important hashtag on them: Redeemed in Christ. Amen.