It's been a little bit since I've blogged, but things are going awesome! I've been busy working on our legal stuff with startchurch.com and Life Church Rome. We've got our bi-laws and constitution done (amen). All of our systems are getting done this month. Anyway enough with the boring stuff. Easter was awesome! Jason hit it out of the park! The band took it to the next level...the house was packed, and people got saved! I gave our launch team the week off, but were back on this week. God is really blessing the process. People are having spiritual awakening in their lives. They are sacrificially giving, and they are FAITHFUL! I'm bragging on our group because they really are incredible, and I consider it a privilege to serve them.
I'm challenging our people to double. We want 10 more families. One of our core values is that we want to do things with excellence, and to "do" church with excellence we are going to need about 40 adults. We've got over half of that now, but I'd like to see us double and get people locked in before summer is in full swing. The church is doing great, and every step I have learned something new. Anytime I think I know it all God blows my mind with how much bigger his vision is than mine.
If you want to be apart of something that will out live you, and if you want to invest in something that will change your city for Jesus come check out Life Church Canton, and be apart of what God's doing!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
This week is a big deal !
So this week has already been awesome and is only going to get better. First, our Life Group was incredible. We have great people with great discussion and insight to God's word and His church. Then when I took the offering we actually had people who tithed. (last week I called for commitment) It was awesome to see God's people giving sacrificially and obediently to His church. Even though our people are awesome we are small so money is of course coming in, in much less increments than at a big church. Well, we needed to pay our bill to start church. They are a company were using to handle all of our legal stuff. After last week we were short a couple hundred dollars of what we needed...Then God provided! A check was handed to me on Monday for enough to cover our bills, and then some! God knew our need and met it. That is the awesome God we serve!
After that quick praise, on to the BIG DEAL:
This week Life Church Canton is heading up to Life Church Rome. We are going to worship with our extended family up in Rome this week. They are going to be able to put faces with their prayers, and we are going to get to see the bigger picture. Life Church Rome has been used to win over 300 to Christ in less than 3 years...That's the kind of church I want to be hanging out with!
Then if that wasn't cool enough Pastor Jason is going to come and join our Life Group Sunday night. I'll be teaching on Simple Church, and he'll be talking about how his church grew from just a few families to a church over 400. He'll also be challenging us, and encouraging us. It will be an incredible Sunday for Life Church.
It's not too late to get involved! If you are interested in being a part of the launch team for Life Church you should come Sunday night. Contact me if interested.
After that quick praise, on to the BIG DEAL:
This week Life Church Canton is heading up to Life Church Rome. We are going to worship with our extended family up in Rome this week. They are going to be able to put faces with their prayers, and we are going to get to see the bigger picture. Life Church Rome has been used to win over 300 to Christ in less than 3 years...That's the kind of church I want to be hanging out with!
Then if that wasn't cool enough Pastor Jason is going to come and join our Life Group Sunday night. I'll be teaching on Simple Church, and he'll be talking about how his church grew from just a few families to a church over 400. He'll also be challenging us, and encouraging us. It will be an incredible Sunday for Life Church.
It's not too late to get involved! If you are interested in being a part of the launch team for Life Church you should come Sunday night. Contact me if interested.
Monday, April 4, 2011
The 1000 lbs gorilla
So this was the week that we talked about it. He's been lingering in the room for a while now, but I've chosen to ignore him for a while...last night was the time to address him.
1,000 Gorilla ='s money if you weren't sure...
We've had 3 amazing weeks with Life Church. Our life group has already bonded really well together, and we've tackled some tough biblical issues together, but last night was the night I outlined some expectations. See anyone is welcome to attend life group time. In fact anyone is welcome to attend our launch meeting sessions, but from now on things are going to change. Up until this point nobody was officially on the launch time. I wanted to give everyone ample time to feel me out, and see if the Holy Spirit was leading them to our church. This past Life Group I ask for 3 things:
1. Commit to help launch for a year (...ish)
2. Commit to serve in a ministry of the church
3. And...dun, dun, DUN!!!!....Tithe The reality is that ministry takes money, luckily God has an awesome plan for that! Man get's to keep 90% of what is really God's anyway, as long as he or she gives back to God 10%. Though the church needs money to do things like rent space, pay pastors, keep the lights on etc. The tithe is more about the faith position of the believer. The believer will receive much more from tithing than the church does (though this is a tough concept because money seems more tangable). However, God talks A LOT about money in the Bible. In fact in Malachi He actually asks us to test Him. Jesus and Paul visit the issue as well. The reality is that God promises to take care of us if were obedient to Him. So that's what I did last night. I addressed the 1000 lbs gorilla, and asked for those who are committing to be on a launch team to tithe starting next week. What's even crazier is that some people already started tithing! While were starting small God is already using our people to BE the church. People in the early days of Life Church will very much understand the tangable applications of their tithes. They will see God use their sacrifice to transform lives! They will see it turn into supplies to do church with, they will see a space transformed into a worship center with their sacrifice...So the reality is that the church isn't just after your money. The church is here to help you stay in good standing with God. His economy is very different from man's economy, and reguarless how our economy is doing he can bless with out condition...though I often only witness him blessing those who are faithful to Him...
So whether or not you're a part of Life Church, or some other church. See your tithe as what it is. A tangable way of telling God "I trust you". If you're simply tipping God. STOP! you heard me...whatever church you're at stop tipping them. God wants your best, not your left overs. In fact your pastor would probably advise you to do the same. See the scriptures say that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills (modern day translations God has more money than Bill Gates X McDonalds X Coke, he doesn't need your money, he WANTS your heart. We also talked about Biblical community and we discussed how we've lost some of that in America, and what the church can do to get that back. So whether or not your being led to our church or not. Please pray for us. Even if you're coming but aren't sure whether or not your in, please still keep coming. Our group isn't closed. And if your not going to be on our launch team it's ok...REALLY I love you and love just having you there :) and it's ok if you haven't decided yet. No cheesy sales pitch here, I only want you to commit if you've been led by the spirit. Thanks for all of you who are supporting us,and praying for us. YOU ROCK!
1,000 Gorilla ='s money if you weren't sure...
We've had 3 amazing weeks with Life Church. Our life group has already bonded really well together, and we've tackled some tough biblical issues together, but last night was the night I outlined some expectations. See anyone is welcome to attend life group time. In fact anyone is welcome to attend our launch meeting sessions, but from now on things are going to change. Up until this point nobody was officially on the launch time. I wanted to give everyone ample time to feel me out, and see if the Holy Spirit was leading them to our church. This past Life Group I ask for 3 things:
1. Commit to help launch for a year (...ish)
2. Commit to serve in a ministry of the church
3. And...dun, dun, DUN!!!!....Tithe The reality is that ministry takes money, luckily God has an awesome plan for that! Man get's to keep 90% of what is really God's anyway, as long as he or she gives back to God 10%. Though the church needs money to do things like rent space, pay pastors, keep the lights on etc. The tithe is more about the faith position of the believer. The believer will receive much more from tithing than the church does (though this is a tough concept because money seems more tangable). However, God talks A LOT about money in the Bible. In fact in Malachi He actually asks us to test Him. Jesus and Paul visit the issue as well. The reality is that God promises to take care of us if were obedient to Him. So that's what I did last night. I addressed the 1000 lbs gorilla, and asked for those who are committing to be on a launch team to tithe starting next week. What's even crazier is that some people already started tithing! While were starting small God is already using our people to BE the church. People in the early days of Life Church will very much understand the tangable applications of their tithes. They will see God use their sacrifice to transform lives! They will see it turn into supplies to do church with, they will see a space transformed into a worship center with their sacrifice...So the reality is that the church isn't just after your money. The church is here to help you stay in good standing with God. His economy is very different from man's economy, and reguarless how our economy is doing he can bless with out condition...though I often only witness him blessing those who are faithful to Him...
So whether or not you're a part of Life Church, or some other church. See your tithe as what it is. A tangable way of telling God "I trust you". If you're simply tipping God. STOP! you heard me...whatever church you're at stop tipping them. God wants your best, not your left overs. In fact your pastor would probably advise you to do the same. See the scriptures say that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills (modern day translations God has more money than Bill Gates X McDonalds X Coke, he doesn't need your money, he WANTS your heart. We also talked about Biblical community and we discussed how we've lost some of that in America, and what the church can do to get that back. So whether or not your being led to our church or not. Please pray for us. Even if you're coming but aren't sure whether or not your in, please still keep coming. Our group isn't closed. And if your not going to be on our launch team it's ok...REALLY I love you and love just having you there :) and it's ok if you haven't decided yet. No cheesy sales pitch here, I only want you to commit if you've been led by the spirit. Thanks for all of you who are supporting us,and praying for us. YOU ROCK!
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