New Series: FUEL

We start our new series, FUEL, this weekend!! I always get both nervous and excited about kicking off a new series.  I wonder if it will connect with people yet I'm excited because God ALWAYS teaches me some new things through the process and I hope & pray He does for ya'll as well!

So what is FUEL going to be about?  Well, fuel is what gets us where we're going -- whether gas for your car or food for your body.  We're going to be talking about the BEST kind of fuel that will get you where God wants to take you.  We'll discuss how to get better mileage in life, how to deal with and view tough times, and why sometimes in life we feel like we're just out of gas.  This series is going to cover A LOT of ground and hopefully by the end we'll all be energized (or reenergized) and heading in the direction God wants us to head.

By the way, the survey is still available if you haven't taken it yet.  You can complete it here. 

See you Sunday ... bring a friend!

Getting Ready!!

The progress on Stage 123 is simply amazing!!  We are hoping to open this new worship center sometime after Labor Day.  We'll be using this space as a second worship venue on Sunday mornings, for student ministry, as a cafe, for Inquirer's Lunches, etc.  We had a great meeting last night on creating the right environment and experience that fits our culture and helps us achieve our vision of connecting more people to Christ & His community. 

As far as Sunday mornings go, we'll need hundreds of Rock Bridgers to choose to worship in Stage 123. The main reason for this is we are simply out of space in the Wink (especially at 11:00) and cannot reach new people (which is a big part of our vision).  However, we want the experience in Stage 123 to be as good as if not BETTER than what happens in the Wink Theatre.  That way we can easily encourage people to worship in the new space AND reach a new wave of people through the new environment and the additional seats that will be available.  Our goal is that you will either not care which space you worship in or that a good number of you might prefer to worship in Stage 123.

Here's a few reasons why someone might PREFER Stage 123: 

• smaller space


• easier to hang out and fellowship with others


• larger cafe/lobby


• Starbucks type coffee (expressos, etc.)


• easier to "get in & get out"


• closer to Children areas


• the space is simply cool (built in the 1920's ... used to shape eternities!)


• better view of me :)

To help us plan and get ready, if you are a Rock Bridge regular attender, please take a couple of minutes and complete this survey.

The Rundown (5.18.08)

• Great finish to our COMMITTED series today with Communion this morning and baptism celebration this afternoon!


• Today was what Rock Bridge is all about -- life change, hundreds of "git r' done" volunteers, BBQ, fellowship, and 100% thankfulness that God lets us be part of His church.


• Our new "all things" Tech guy, Brian Holt starts Tuesday!! Brian will oversee all audio, visual, lighting, IT, and production elements for the entire church -- Sunday worship, Children's production, Student Worship, and multi-site.  We're pumped to have Brian join our team all the way from Ohio ... welcome to sweet tea, Waffle House, and SEC football!!


• The high school senior girls just invaded my house to "wake up" my wife (yes I was in on their little prank) ... it's 1:15 am!! 


• I can't sleep because I'm still so pumped about today ... the stories told at baptism were absolutely amazing -- young people saved through our Student Ministry, children who learned about Jesus from our Children's Ministry, (there are some AMAZING volunteers & staff in our Student/Children Ministries!!), people who were help captive by addictions but set free in Christ, people who were in jail, people who had been away from church for years, and people who know what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus ... WOW!!


• American Idol finals are this week: David vs. David.


• I actually baptized myself today trying to move a rock that my foot kept hitting and slipping on in the creek ... I wonder if that is a first??


• The progress in Stage 123 is so exciting!!  Now we've got to start getting ready to use this facility for God's glory and for the vision He has given us.


• Date with wife on Monday + American Idol finals on Tuesday/Wednesday + new Indiana Jones release this weekend = LIFE IS GOOD = GOD BLESS AMERICA = THANKFUL

Committed Series Resources

Here are some of the books that we used for the Committed series of messages:

• Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs -- the central idea and main applications of the series came out of this book and the author's commentary on Ephesians 5 (especially verse 33)


• The Book of Romance by Tommy Nelson -- great commentary on the Song of Solomon! I went through this book via video when I was single and right out of college.  Awesome study!


• Going All the Way by Craig Groeschel -- how to date biblically and have a marriage that "goes all the way." (Good book for singles and people who are dating)


• Covenant vs. Contract by Dave Brown & Phil Waugh -- on the parallels between God's covenants and the marriage covenant

Breaking Through

The other day I felt really dried up spiritually and I was just (for lack of a better word) struggling.  Beth sensed it.  Some on staff saw it.  And I knew it ... This morning I sort of had a breakthrough with God where I believe He showed me something (really He has been showing me but I finally woke up to the implications of this truth):

*PERSONAL HOLINESS is proportional to SPIRITUAL FULLNESS*

This means that to be full spiritually I must also pursue personal holiness and vice versa.  As one increases, so does the other.  Here is where this has been hitting me:  I cannot go farther, get closer, grow tighter with Christ without paying attention to my personal holiness.  Jesus said that "Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God."  Paul said in 2 Cor. 4:10-11 that he constantly gives himself over to death so that Jesus' life may be revealed in him.  I think what Paul is saying is that this is a constant process of dying to self so that Christ can live in us and through us.  And that as we increase our level of holiness we increase our level of usefulness to Christ.

Another perspective on this is when you think of exercising.  Eventually as you exercise you hit a plateau where your body has grown accustomed to the routine and challenges and seizes to grow.  If I can run an 8 minute mile and bench press 250 lbs but I want to run a 7 minute mile and bench press 300 lbs, I'll have to vary my program.  Same way with God.  God is always calling me to go higher, farther, and deeper with Him and to do that I have to be willing to die more to self and become more holy so that He becomes more visibly evident in my life & I become more "full" of Him.

This spiritual insight is not just about the absence of sin.  Holiness is much more than sin avoidance ... in it's full meaning it means being set apart for God.  The more I set myself apart for Him, the more full I am of Him.  Here's some ways this is hitting home with me:

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  The level of holiness I have right now won't last a lifetime.


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  God will never let us get complacent about our relationship with Him.


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  Sometimes this is painful and confusing.  Some days we'll wake up and wonder what's wrong and where did God go when God may have just raised the bar and said "It's time to vary the workout so we can go to the next level in our relationship."


• God will never meet us on our terms because we are sinners ... only on His and He is holy.


• I can't be holy on my own ... I must have Him -- His blood, His death, His Word, His Spirit.


• Check out this verse!!

A Way to Do Life

For many of us growing up in church, church may have been a place to go once a week or a few times a year.  However, at Rock Bridge we really believe that church is a way to do life as God intended.  When church is not a place but rather a part of your life, then and only then are the benefits and blessings of church fully realized.

This why at Rock Bridge we use the word 'CONNECT' a lot to describe our mission and goal (that's what a bridge does -- it connects).  Life flows through connection.  We connect to Christ through the Cross and through faith.  We connect to the church through involvement and participation. 

One of the major goals of Rock Bridge and the major job of the staff is to help people get involved and to make participation in the "life" of the church easy, purposeful, and rewarding.  The purpose of the church is not to produce church attenders but rather Christ-followers ... and the true mission of the church is beat of Christ's heart.  So when our mission is right we should have no problem challenging people to get involved ... to get connected.  We should hold our staff accountable for enlisting, equipping, and empowering Christ-followers who want to contribute to His cause in a way that fits their passion and personality.  In fact, at Rock Bridge we would love to see 80% of our attendance involved or connected beyond Sunday worship. 

Wouldn't that be amazing to see that many people participating in what God is doing through His church??  What if we all got involved personally and passionately with the mission of the church?  What if that is what we were created to do ... and saved to do  (see Ephesians 2:10)???

NW Georgia Celebrity

Last night we honored our graduating seniors at Youth.  Here I am being interviewed by the local "weatherman", my good friend, and fellow Football Friday host, Cedric Haynes. 

 

The Rundown

• We looked at some potential office space in Calhoun.  The location is right downtown and the uses for this space are countless -- students, office, Inquirer's Lunch, etc.  Downtown Calhoun has a great feel to it and some neat places to eat :)


• We've made a bunch of resources available on the marriage front.  Counselors, 7-week marriage seminar on Sundays or Wednesdays, Divorce Care and a local conference at Fellowship Bible Church.  For more info. email connect@rockbridge.cc


• Baptism is next week!  I got in the creek yesterday (yes it was cold ... very cold) to check the depth in the a few spots and let's just say we're good to go!!  {If you are being baptized and haven't turned in your Information Form you can complete it online here.}


• They are installing the heat & air ducting in Stage 123 ... lots of progress every week.


• Next week is the final part of "Committed" ... we're hoping to do something pretty cool to end the series.  Final plans will be made Tuesday during our Creative Team meeting.


• Started work on our next series, FUEL, this past week (it has nothing to do with gas prices, the Middle East, or going 'green'). 


• Great trip to Mountain Lake Church to meet with Shawn Lovejoy.  He's a great leader and encourager whose church is doing big things for the Kingdom!


• We had to put Bear back in his dog kennel to prevent him from "marking" his territory.  He hates it and has already successfully escaped once.  We made necessary adjustments but he is cutting his nose/snout trying to pry open the kennel bars or something. 


• Jason Castro finally got voted off American Idol ... I think it was 2-3 weeks late coming.  (Can you believe I actually voted for American Idol???)


• The vision and dreams in our Children's & Student's Ministry is really cool & inspiring right now.  Part of me wishes I could be a kid/teen again!! Parents, our staff LOVES loving your child and helping them learn about Jesus in the most understandable, relevant, and exciting ways ... thanks for sharing them with us a little bit each week!!!


• Our Sea Doo has been de-winterized and is ready for the lake!!

Convicted & Challenged

I'm in the Book of Isaiah right now and "holy cow" is it scary!!  It is scary for two main reasons:  1)  It convicts and 2) It challenges.  I think these are two ways we need to be scared.  We need to be convicted of sin and challenged to live for God's glory.  Here's some highlights:

• Isaiah 1:11-16 -- God hates empty religion and "evil" assemblies.  In other words, going to church ain't the goal!


• Isaiah 2:11 -- Ultimately, only God will be praised.  How much time do I spend trying to get people's praise when I should be giving God His praise!


• Isaiah 3:10 -- righteous living produces fruit (God is all about fruit!)


• Isaiah 5:13 -- Lord give me an understanding of Your ways!!


• Isaiah 6:8 -- God's servants need vision/revelation; purity; a willingness to "go"


• Isaiah 12:4 -- how passionately do I tell what God has done?!?


• Isaiah 20:3 -- Isaiah preached naked for 3 years!! That would be challenging.


• Isaiah 26:7-8 -- when we walk in righteousness we have a right to actively seek & wait for God's renown


• Isaiah 30:1-2 -- my greatest fear is doing something that is not of God and expected Him to bless it.


• Isaiah 31:1 -- where we place our trust is the most critical choice we have!


• Isaiah 45:8 -- PRAY THIS FOR OUR COMMUNITY!!


• Isaiah 49:6 -- our focus can be too small!!  God wants us to DREAM BIG!!

My prayer:  God, thank you for not wanting me to settle for anything less than Your best.  This means You will not ignore my sin or let me be content with anything but living abundantly for Your glory.  God give me a greater passion for You, a greater burden for righteousness, and a greater ability to serve You.  Here I am! Send me!

A Big Priority

We've always made it very clear that the primary mission we have as a church is to connect disconnected people to Christ and His community.  We started Rock Bridge because 50k++ people in Whitfield County did not regularly attend church.  While that priority has not changed, we are also working hard to make sure that our church is not just producing church attenders, but Christ-followers ... and there is a BIG difference!!  In the past we've gotten real excited whenever we have cleared a certain attendance mark (150, 200, 1000, etc.).  We'll still celebrate those, we also want to be more intentional about celebrating steps a person makes to become a more devoted Christ-follower like personal Bible study and prayer, serving/volunteering, tithing, being in a small group, etc.

Numerous times in Acts we see Paul "encouraging the believers" long after they had received Christ and started "attending" one of Paul's church plants.  In other words, Paul was intentional about helping people continue to walk closer to Christ long-after their salvation.  We want our church to be very encouraging to people to pursue a lifestyle of following Jesus. 

Our approach is described by the phrase "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink."  Like salvation the decision to follow Christ is a personal one and must be made daily.  However, our church should be an oasis not a desert.  The opportunities to drink should be plentiful, simple, and easy to find for the person who is thirsty.  This is why ...

• We created CONNECT which is open after every service for ANYONE to speak to me, receive prayer, sign-up for events, interact with staff, or get a resource.


• We started a new group environment called STARTING POINT for people seeking, starting, or restarting a relationship with Jesus.  This group is always open and anyone can jump in at anytime.


• We will be re-launching an environment called GROUPLINK to help people join a small group environment ... which is one of the best environments to receive "encouragment" in their Christ-walk.


• We are adding more "Bible study" type groups like Experiencing God that are finite in duration but infinite in their impact.


• We have restructured the staffing of our Connections Department to make sure we track and help people find meaningful connections to the Body of Christ.


• We are creating a broad and intentional process for providing "pastoral care" to Rock Bridgers and our community which includes marriage enrichment, recovery assistance, divorce care, hospital care, grief/bereavement, financial crisis, addicition, benevolence, and even parenting.  (We had a GREAT meeting this past week and I believe this will really bless and encourage people as they go through tough times in life).


• Our Student Ministry is committed to launching more "ABS" (Area Bible Studies) for students throughout Whitfield, Murray, and Gordan counties.  These are fun & relational environments for Bible study discussions with teenagers.


• We are going to be more intentional and frequent about teaching people how to study the Bible using the S-O-A-P method.  (For more information, listen to Part 5 of the Boot Camp series here.)  We'll teach this at Inquirer's Lunches, Baptism Orientation, etc.

Our mission is to CONNECT people to Christ and His community with a bond so strong that nothing can pull it apart.  As Larry Osborne said, "We want to velcro people" to the Word of God and the community of God's people.  I believe when we are connected like that we will be filled with COURAGE to live the abundant life God has for us!!

Weekly Rundown

• Our series on "COMMITTED" is going great.  My prayers are real big for this series and for marriages and families in NW Georgia.  Here's some feedback from one of our small group leaders about his group's meeting:
  
  
  
  • "Last night we saw Jesus strengthen some marriages and open up some lines of communication in couples."
  
  
  
  


• Next week, we it is the men's turn to get uncomfortable as we talk about how to love your wives!


• The Baptism on May 18th is shaping up to be our LARGEST NUMBER EVER!!  I can't wait :)


• This Sunday (May 11th) we are collecting non-perishable food items (canned goods) for some local food pantries in Dalton & Calhoun.  Just bring some items to church with you as we seek to provide for those in need during these tough economic times in our area.


• I started re-reading A.W. Tozer's The Pursuit of God --- WOW!!!  In church we are not supposed to pursue programs or purposes but the Person of God!!


• I had some ladies in our church who have been married for 50+ years tell me I was doing better when talking about sex during the sermon!!  I better listen :)


• Our dogs Bear & Sammie stay in an unfinished part of our basement when we are gone.  For some reason Bear has reverted back to "marking" his territory ... he hasn't done that for 2 years ... why now?  Why do dogs do that at all???


• First Wednesday is this week ... I LOVE what this monthly service has become!!


• I have a gift certificate to P.F. Changs!!!!