General
24 Hours of Prayer
Our 24 straight hours of prayer and worship is THIS Wednesday & Thursday, 6 pm to 6 pm in Stage 123. How we need what only God can provide!! How Satan quakes at united, corporate prayer! How God longs to hear His children call out to Him! Let’s give God no rest for 24 hours …
One of the most important prayers we can pray right now is: Lord, make us hungry to pray! And then as we pray …
- We will know His power
- Unbelievers will be converted
- Sinful habits will be broken
- Families and marriages will be restored
- Boldness for Christ will increase
- Hardened hearts will become tender and sensitive to God
- Prodigals will return home
- Giving will be joyful and generous
- The sick will be healed
- Worship will be intense and passionate
- AND, CHRIST WILL BE GLORIFIED!!!
Weekly Rundown (10.31.2010)
- Very excited about the next 40 days in our church: reading through the Gospels & Acts together, 24 hours of solid prayer & worship, and a special offering. God is honored by our commitments and persistence … let’s keep the faith!!
- Final message to the Follow Me series is next weekend!!
- We start a new series on the end of times November 18/21 … great opportunity to bring a guest to church!
- Worked on outlining our message series through Memorial Day 2011.
- Lots of talk and interest in taking a mission trip. Exciting to see a new commitment to global missions emerging in our church!
- The FIRST step to going on a global trip: complete and turn-in your application
- Hoping to learn dates for Bolivia and Ethiopia trips by mid-November.
- First Halloween with the boys — Eyasu wanted to be a horse “with a tail”; Abreham was “Nemo” [the fish from the movie I've now seen 74 times!] … thanks K-Mart for putting all your Halloween stuff on sale this weekend — the one time procrastination has paid off
- Have a great week!
Weekly Rundown (8.8.2010)
- Our new web site is launched … WOW!!!!!! Go to www.rockbridge.cc
- A Rock Bridge team left for Haiti on Saturday. Please pray for them EVERY DAY this week!!
- Several staff transitions … crazy but excited about God’s plans for those leaving our team and for those joining it!!
- Quick summary of staffing changes:
- Alfred Turley is our new Executive Pastor; Brian Holt will become our new Director of Group Life.
- Details here.
- We are now seeking to hire a new Technical Director.
- Now seeking to hire a person to manage our church database and coordinate our IT/Media administrative work.
- Details and job description here.
- See tomorrow’s post for information on the new Children’s Minister!!
- Alfred Turley is our new Executive Pastor; Brian Holt will become our new Director of Group Life.
- Quick summary of staffing changes:
- Had a great conversation this week with Chris Marlow from our mission partner, HELP. We partner with them in Zimbabwe to help with orphan care. We are currently supporting 5 children. Excited about the current progress and future possibilities!!
- We finalized the “American” side of Abreham & Eyasu’s adoption. Here are their full names:
- Eyasu David Evans — my dad and Beth’s dad are both called “David”
- Abreham Barry Evans — in honor of Beth’s brother who died when Beth was in middle school
- We wanted to keep their “called” name given to them by their birth parents to honor their heritage.
- First non-family babysitter for the kiddos this past Friday night. First time someone other than Beth or myself put them to bed … they did great!
Have a great week!!!!
New Job Opening
Recently our office manager/database coordinator, Gail Waters, decided to step down to focus more on helping with our Chatsworth Campus (her husband is Gus, our Campus Pastor). Gail has faithfully served on our staff for 3+ years. Her hard work and “get it done” attitude will be missed but we are excited that she will have more opportunities in Chatsworth to serve God’s work there.
As we continue to work through staffing changes, along with staff restructuring (new organizational chart, new job descriptions, new departments), we are ready to announce the following job opening:
IT and Media Coordinator
Summary of Position: Responsible for data entry, website, IT strategies and media services as they relate to the administrative functions of the church in order to connect people from all walks of life to life in Christ.
Primary Duties & Responsibilities
Maintain church data systems including training and assisting others in utilizing data system
· Manage church contacts and follow-up processes
· Responsible for church media services and resource area
· Lead and equip volunteers to serve in resource and IT functions
· Responsible for all information technology relating to administrative functions
· Maintain website to ensure its accuracy with current information
REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLYING
-High school diploma or GED; strong database and computer skills, including web site maintenance; strong people skills, including the ability to recruit and train volunteers
SEND RESUMES to jessica@rockbridge.cc
Weekly Rundown (7.25.2010)
- This has been one of the craziest & busiest summers! Trying to hire two new staff members for children and groups, gearing up for a great fall season, working out more details of short-term mission trips, a new web site, etc. etc. Really proud of our staff and volunteers for keeping the momentum rolling during the summer season!
- Pumped about LIES OF THE DEVIL. Some of these lies are so subtle but so deadly. Praying the truth sets us free!!
- Can’t wait for our new web site to launch!!!!!
- Already praying for a BIG, GOD-GLORIFYING BAPTISM in September!!
- Had several conversations this week that have confirmed that I have failed to do a good job explaining the biblical basis for church membership. I’ll post a blog on that subject later this week and we’ll discuss it in a message in the future. Thanks so much for those who talked to me about this!!
- We have a team leaving for Haiti in 2 weeks … pray for them and for this country!
- Great meeting with Chattanooga-area church planters last Friday. We need more people to plant churches!!
- Have a great week!
Monday is for Missions
We are excited to announce our Mission Trip dates and opportunities for our church!! We’ve got 4 trips planned (so far) over the next 18 months. You can sign-up by emailing missions@rockbridge.cc
- Living Water: Honduras
- Well construction to provide clean drinking water
- Relational opportunities to meet needs and share Christ
- May 21-28 and November 6-13 (both in 2011)
- Total cost: $2000
- Haiti Trip
- Church construction
- Food distribution at “tent city”
- August 7 -14 and November 6-13 (both in 2010)
- Total cost: $800
Each trip will involve about 5-12 people who sign-up, complete an application process, and go through some basic training. Each individual will need to raise their support and our staff will assist you with this rewarding process (you will learn firsthand how God provides!!).
The following staff members are available to assist with questions, applications, raising support, etc.:
Alfred Turley, Operations Pastor (alfred@rockbridge.cc)
Carll Converse, Calhoun Campus Pastor (carll@rockbridge.cc)
Jeremy Owens, Worship Leader (jeremy@rockbridge.cc)
Weekly Rundown (5.16.2010)
- Mandy the “Mannequin””s appearance in our services this weekend was real shocker. I think “she” helped us illustrate the importance of transparency and authenticity in our relationships!
- Spring Baptism is NEXT weekend!!! Praying big … please join me in praying for a big, amazing celebration of new life in Christ!!
- Our search for the Children’s Minister position has now begun. Click here for more details.
- The JOEL Team’s work continues to be very beneficial and fruitful for the long-range health of our church. I am a BIG believer in the power of this verse and this is an important principle for us to leverage as Rock Bridge moves into the future.
- Trying to get message series concepts laid out through the rest of the year … very exciting possibilities!
- Several membership classes/dinners/lunches in the next several weeks at all our campuses! I love this time of sharing about all things Rock Bridge! Always great to meet new people and share God’s vision for Rock Bridge with them!!
- Some of Eyasu’s latests words and phrases:
- It’s hot. It’s cold. (In the right context!)
- Art. School.
- Horse. Cow. Grass.
- Bicycle.
- Brother. Family.
- What’s that?
- It’s late on Sunday … kids are asleep … Beth is on her way home from Senior Night 2010 at Church … God is good … I am blessed … have a great week!!
Job Opening: Rock Bridge Children’s Minister
Recently, our current Children’s Minister (Amanda Welch) at Rock Bridge Community Church announced her resignation effective on July 31st. Her husband has received an amazing job opportunity so they will be leaving our area. Amanda’s service to children, our church, and God’s kingdom have been tremendous!
We are now ready to start looking for our next Children’s Minister. This person would have direct responsibilities at our Dalton campus but leads and coordinates children’s ministry efforts (birth through 5th grade) at all our campuses (Dalton, Calhoun, and Chatsworth). Specifically, we are looking for someone who …
- Is passionate about Jesus Christ and children with a calling to serve in the local church.
- Can recruit, develop, and shepherd staff and volunteers in a growing church.
- Can build, develop, and work through teams of people to accomplish goals and pursue our Church’s vision and mission.
- Knows how to create intentional environments and experiences for children that help them fall in love with Jesus, the Bible, and the church.
- Can multi-task by leading people and managing various details so that Rock Bridge Children’s Ministry is aligned with the church’s vision, executed with excellence, and glorifies Christ.
If you or someone you know (or know of) is interested, email a cover letter and a resume with references to our Operations Pastor, Alfred Turley.
What’s Next?
Guest Blogger: Jay Ashlock, Discipleship/Groups Pastor
In my position as Groups/Discipleship Pastor here at Rock Bridge Community Church I have the amazing privilege of connecting with different people from all walks of life. One thing I am learning is that God often works through the people in our lives — through our conversations, through community, through our relational connections.
Once I was talking to a friend who doesn’t attend Rock Bridge. He visited our church and asked me, “Is there something else to to this?” I asked him what he meant and he said that he has been to Rock Bridge worship service and was wondering what was the next step? On a larger scale he was asking, “What do we do with all of these people once they come to church?” These questions are powerful and have forced me to wrestle with the way I think of church.
We typically and traditionally have thought of church as a place to go and a spot on the weekly calendar. But church was given to us by God and is one of the main ways He works in our lives. How? Because true church is community, it is spiritual family, it is people. And God works through people to work in and on our lives.
One of the ways we try to leverage this principle is through small groups. I tried to explain to my friend that you haven’t really been to church unless you’ve experienced community in a small group. Small groups are where we leverage the teaching from our services and learn how to live out the Word of God in a practical way. Groups are not an addition to the worship service. Groups are where we can really BE the church, instead of merely “doing” one hour a week. This is what we see in Acts 2 — people joined together by the Cross and doing life together in Jesus’ Name.
So how about you? Are you really experiencing church? Are you being the church?
Thoughts on Worship
Guest Blogger: Jeremy Owens, Worship Leader
Worship has always been a misunderstood topic. I have heard people say “that was some awesome worship”, when they are actually just referring to the music. Even the term “worship service” is confusing because to many people worship is just the term used for the musical portion of the service.
Worship is so much more than a service, music, words and phrases. The God of Universe that created me and created you, the God that sent His one and only Son to this earth to die so that we could spend eternity with Him deserves a heart felt reverent response to His amazing love, mercy, compassion and grace towards us.
It starts in our heart.
If we really believed that God is who He says He is we would respond to Him how Abraham did when he took his only son Isaac up to the mountain to sacrifice him because God told him to. Or we would respond the way Noah did when he built a huge boat in the midst of ridicule & mockery because God told him to. The real truth we can pull from both of those stories from the Bible is that worship begins with obedience. If we really believed in our heart that God is who He says He is, then we like Abraham and Noah, would offer our lives to Him everyday. This is the heart of worship: we respond to God — both to Who He is and to what He has done.