Really pumped and excited to kick-off FOLLOW ME today!! I think this series has been “brewing” inside of me for quiet some time as I myself have wrestled with several things that are pretty clear for us in God’s Word.
Today’s two big questions: Who is Jesus? How do I follow Him?
These questions will guide us through the rest of this series.
Our “endzone” or where we want to be at the end: Matthew 28:19-20
Some of the books that have helped me get ready for this series:
Radical by David Platt
The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearns, President of World Vision
Exponential by David and Jon Ferguson
Fresh Power and The Church God Blesses both by Jim Cymbala
Really making good progress on our overall “missions” strategy for Rock Bridge. I can’t wait to see how it all comes together for God’s glory. Below are some of our partners/potential partners and links to their web sites:
We are really working to make prayer more intentional, focused, and organized throughout our church. Be looking for more information or you can email Alfred (alfred@rockbridge.cc).
Celebrated Abreham’s 1st birthday!! He loved his cupcake!!
Finished with LIES OF THE DEVIL this weekend. New series starts next week: FOLLOW ME.
I really believe this new series will be an epic one for our church. We are going to examine what it really means to be a Christ-follower. I am praying hard that we all see Christ more clearly so we can follow Him more closely!! These are great opportunities to understand exactly what it means to follow Christ and live for Him. Please pray!!
Having several exciting conversations about missions opportunities before our church. Getting a more “global” perspective of Christianity has been an incredible learning process for me.
Remember in 2011 we will seek to DOUBLE our budgeted missions giving!! This is a big step of faith-based generosity but one I am confident God is calling us to take as we seek to do our part to both demonstrate and declare the Gospel locally, regionally/nationally, and globally.
Great First Wednesday service this week!
Our Calhoun Campus is prayerfully working and preparing to move into a long-term lease at the old Piggly Wiggly location on Highway 41. I am so pumped about this opportunity!! Building decisions are so much more than money, bricks and mortar. It is an intense spiritual process of seeking God on many different fronts. There are multiple decisions to make and details to work out but the ball is rolling and we are praying.
Dawgs looked good in the opener. Next week (@ South Carolina) we’ll know more …
This week was my last week doing Football Friday for awhile. I’ve done it for 4+ years straight now but being a dad comes first and it is hard to be out so late on Friday night when my kids get up so early (with so much energy) on Saturday!! Seriously, that show has been a great way for me to be involved with something I love (high school football and young people) and try to represent Christ and our church in a different setting. I am grateful to have had the opportunity.
Always exciting to share the Gospel as we did in all of our weekend services … trusting its power to save and produce radical disciples!!
Baptism on September 19th!!
First Wednesday this week … we’ll be hearing from one of our missions partners about the global orphan crisis.
Great conversation this week about potential missions partnership with Compassion International.
We were also able to help the flooding in Pakistan from our missions giving!! (See this blog post.)
Loving the spiritual energy in our church right now!!! I think it could only grow as we continue to pray and deepen our commitment to be THE church Christ created and represent Him on this earth.
High school football is back! College football starts this week
We’ll be announcing several staff changes over the next few days (check this blog tomorrow for more info). We are very excited about these changes!!
This has been a very busy time for our church and our staff has been in a state of flux. We’ve had 3 resignations in the past few months, plus the need to redefine our organizational structure. So lots of thoughts, discussions, and prayer have been occurring. We are excited to be moving past this season of adjustment and transition, and into another season of exciting ministry.
Great kick-off to LIES OF THE DEVIL. Loved the “Devil Went Down to Georgia” and the fiddle player was awesome!!
This is going to be a high impact series. We are praying big things and the first prayer was that God would break the spirit of ‘mammon’ in us so we find more of God and do more for Him and others.
Today’s big application point: Make a “less is more” decision between now and Christmas. Intentionally, do/spend less on yourself so you can do more for God and more for others.
This offering will set our church to DOUBLE our missions giving starting in January 2011. (Missions are efforts to spread the compassion and message of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.)
First Wednesday services this week in Dalton & Calhoun!!
Our next group leaves for Haiti this Saturday. Please pray for them!!
Great to be back from vacation! It was great to get away for the first time with our family … but it always AWESOME to be with my church family!!
Last week we lost A/C in the Wink. This week we lost the video feed in Stage 123. We are very sorry for those in Stage during the 11 am service!! We have had this happen only twice in the 3+ years of Stage 123 … but it really stinks.
We will work out a better redundancy system in case of this equipment failure happens again.
We will be unveiling a brand new web site VERY soon (end of the month … we hope). This site is going to be great and will be much more “multi-site” and “user” friendly.
Real excited about our next series called LIES OF THE DEVIL that starts in 2 weeks!!
During our services on August 26th & 29th we will have a very clear, very strong, and prayerfully very powerful presentation of the Gospel. Please begin praying NOW for these services and seeking opportunities to invite people who need Jesus to come to church with you that day!!
I finally made the switch from PC to Mac … and so far … I LOVE IT!! How could I have been so late to “see the light”??!!?? Better late than never!
Eyasu is really talking a lot. We can’t always understand him but it is amazing that in 3 months, he can communicate and understand so well. It is taking our relationship with him to a whole new level.
Love God & country type services but praying for the Gospel to transform our nation once again!
Our students got back (which means so did my wife!!) from a great mission trip. I remain convinced that the sooner we give young people an opportunity to “live their faith”, the deeper their faith grows, making it ever so harder for Satan to deceive them as they enter young adulthood. More importantly, God is always glorified when His people “go”!!
Really proud of our children’s ministry staff and volunteers! We are one staff member short but their hearts and passion and work ethic is awesome!
June surprise: attendance is down (no surprise … it is summer), but giving is actually UP! Only God!
Our worship leaders have revamped their entire creative planning process. I am pumped for what the Holy Spirit is going to produce through their efforts. Start looking for the fruits of their labors in August when we start a series called, Lies of the Devil!!!
I played Mr. Mom this week … had to switch from man-to-man to zone defense with the boys. Whew!! Thank God “mommy” is home
Starting teaching Abreham how to fall asleep on his own … which means we are putting him in his crib just before he falls asleep and letting him cry for a pre-determined period of time before we go check on him. First few nights, he cried for 25+ minutes; last night, only 7 minutes! He is figuring it out and sleeping for 10+ hours straight!!
Eyasu’s English continues to improve. He said “It’s cool” (meaning its good and awesome) in context this week!!
Wrapped up our Fanatic series today. What a profound impact this series has had on my own life. A few highlights for me personally:
We can enjoy God. It’s not a “duty” to be a Christ-follower, it is a delight.
God wants worshipers. The goal of worship is to produce more worshipers of God.
Everything, I mean everything, in history is about the glory of God. How can I/we/us be part of that?
We finished up “One Great Nation” [part 2] next week … can’t wait!!
My first Father’s Day weekend!! What a blessing to be these two boys’ father!!
We have 2 staff members wearing casts and one who got bit by a copperhead … should we be concerned?
I just finished reading Dr. David Platt’s book, Radical. WOW! This book along with The Hole in Our Gospel and our adoption journey has had a profound impact on my understanding of Christianity and forcing me to ask some tough questions for myself, my family, and our church.
What kind of service does the Gospel of Jesus Christ demand and deserve?
What kind of church does the Gospel produce?
What is my role as a ”global” Christian? What is our church’s role in the call to “make disciples of all nations”?
What is our responsibility as Christians for addressing evils in the world such as poverty, hunger, disease, disaster response, etc. etc. ?
Beth is away next week on a mission trip … I’m flying solo at home … thank God for family!!
Take the Rock Bridge “Snapshot” Survey. It’s only 10 questions and it will really help us better understand how we are doing as a church and what God is doing through our church.
We announced that we are not having the 2010 Fall Festival this week. For a detailed explanation please see the related blog post.
Great all-staff meeting this week. We gave out two recognitions that were pretty cool:
The WD-40/Duct Tape Award: for the staff member who held things together (duct tape) and kept things moving (WD-40).
The Giraffe Award: for the staff member who went above and beyond and really stuck their neck out.
Our Chatsworth Campus will be moving to Bagley Middle School in a few weeks as the new North Murray High School is moving into their new facility over the summer; however since the theater is not yet completed we can’t move with them. However, we are VERY excited about being at Bagley … great partnership emerging!
School is out and summer is officially here. When that happens two things tend to become inconsistent: church attendance and regular giving to God. We’ve got two options to help with that!!
Rock Bridge PM: if you’re gone a lot on the weekends, you do not have to miss church and what God might do or say!! {Thursdays at 6:30 pm in the Wink Theatre on our Dalton Campus}
E-Give: a simple and easy way to give online. This works like a bank draft.
Our Children’s Minister search will shift into first gear in the next week or so. Please be in pray for this process … and this person.
Hoping to get to the lake sometime soon with the boys!!
Baptism was amazing last weekend. The stories and testimonies of life change and redemption were totally a “God thing” and very very powerful!
After hearing the stories and seeing the faces of the baptized (in love with Jesus!), I am more passionate than ever about the need to lift up Christ, be a healthy church, and pray like crazy for His purposes to be fulfilled!!
Loved preaching ONE GREAT NATION-Part 1 on the need for godly courage!!
The full video of President Reagan’s 1984 D-Day anniversary speech can be viewed here.
Next week we start a 3-week series called “Fanatic” — we’ll be talking about worship. Preparing for this series has really challenged me, inspired me, and given me a greater understanding of God. I pray it does the same for our church.
All-staff meeting this week! Looking forward to vision-casting, celebrating, laughing, and praying with our full team.
Great job to our worship teams for learning American Soldier for this weekend’s services … awesome!!
We’re having some very healthy conversations right now about just being a healthy, unified, and well-led church!! I’ve noticed that these conversations have to take place regularly as the church grows and matures.
Eyasu and Abreham went to the lake for the first time on Saturday!! Eyasu loves the water and he even got to “tube” and ride the Sea Doo.
Have a great Memorial Day and don’t forget the price of our freedom is not free!!
Several of our staff went to the Drive Conference in Atlanta this past week. They came back pumped up!! Love their inspiration.
Great reports from our team that went to Haiti. We’re very excited about the partnership developing in that country. Check out the video here!
Be in prayer for our Baptism Celebration that is on May 23rd!! Time to celebrate new life in Christ with public obedience to Christ who commanded and modeled baptism!!
In the past 5 months we’ve added about 500 new people … WOW!! This has brought lots of opportunities, excitement, and challenges as we seek to connect folks to Christ and lead our church at this new level … and to the next level that God has for us.
After today’s message on “Word Power”, I’ve been trying to work on a few things myself:
I am better at assuming than communicating as a leader … when this happens and I get frustrated, I have no one to blame but myself!!
My tone of voice is not always full of “love and truth”.
