Getting Ready for Worship

We start our new teaching series, called Stimulus, this weekend!  Needless to say, I'm pumped about working through the Old Testament book of Nehemiah because this is a timely message for our nation and community as we deal with a tough recession -- wrestling with how God can use these times in our lives and for His purpose.  Here's a few things you can do to get ready for Sunday:

1) PRAY!!  Pray for our worship teams & leaders, our Host Team, Children's workers; pray for me as I teach; pray for our services to be filled with God's presence; pray for our guests to experience the living Christ in a whole new way!!

2) READ NEHEMIAH CHAPTER 1.  You can read it at Bible Gateway here.  Here's some things to think about as you read: Why was Nehemiah so hurt and broken by the news he received? What was his response? When he prayed, what did he specifically pray about?

3) INVITE! INVITE! INVITE! There are lots of people around us who need a church and more importantly, need Jesus!!  Try to invite them to join you for this new series.  We've created an easy way to invite people: an email "invite" complete with the series logo, information about the series, service times, and links to our website.  You can invite someone to church on our website right now  ... from our homepage, click the series logo, and then scroll to the bottom of the page to send out invitations!!

4) BE EXPECTANT!! In faith, we can expect God to do something everytime we worship Him and open His Word so get ready!!

Weekly Rundown (2.22.09)

• Nothing broken on my body = successful ski trip for me :)


• Seriously, hanging out with our students and some incredible adult volunteers was awesome! Not to mention 5" of fresh snow AND I made it down a "Black Diamond" slope without falling!


• I'm pumped about our new series, Stimulus (love the graphic!!) which starts next week ... (read Nehemiah 1 and get ready!!).


• I'm going to miss "date day" with Beth tomorrow since I'm at a conference near Atlanta ... we'll have to make it up!!


• I feel like God is really asking to pray for some "intangible" things that are big.  It's weird because the things I'm sensing from God are things that I can't put my arms around, don't know what it looks like, but I do know I'm supposed to pray for them.  Things like an unleashing of God's power, a "drawing" of lost, hurting, & broken people to RBCC, a "quickening" or awakening of Christ and for Christ, and for God to be glorified through us.


• It is real easy for a church or church leader to become all about the church or themselves.  We must stay focused on Jesus and must continually remind ourselves that we exist for His glory and His glory alone.


• Some important dates coming up: VISION SUNDAY on March 15th and DISCIPLE NOW for 6th-12th grades on March 20-22.


• I'm really thinking about how do we spread the Gospel of Jesus to more people.  What can we do that we are not doing?  When do we start a third campus?  Should we do more "advertising"?  The one thing I know we MUST do is to PRAY for God's Gospel to spread and bear fruit as Paul writes in Colossians 1.


• I have a confession to make: I got a ticket in downtown Dalton running the red lights that never change.  I know it was wrong but if I didn't run it I'd still be sitting there and would have missed the ski trip and church today and not eaten or gone to the bathroom in about 5 days! 

Weekly Rundown (2.16.2009)

• At Rock Bridge we put a lot of effort into "the weekend" (our worship services).  This is when we get to impact the most people, worship Jesus, share salvation, and preach the Word to build faith.  Because of the potential we have on the weekend, we don't do a lot of other "services" like Sunday or Wednesday nights.  SO when a weekend service hits the mark, we get excited and thankful.  This weekend was one of those weekends!! (That took me a long time to say ... sorry!)


• Every time I'm in Calhoun, I'm even more convinced of the power and potential of the multi-site church. 


• One of the things God has been impressing upon me in Scripture is a sense of urgency to share Jesus with as many people as possible.  I really believe multi-site is one of the ways God has opened up to speed up the spread of the Gospel.


• Going skiing tomorrow!! 


• The "stimulus" bill passed Congress this past week.  We'll be looking at God's version of a "stimulus" starting in 2 weeks ... don't miss this series and bring some friends with you!


• Finished the talk I'm giving at ChurchPlanters.com Conference next Monday on "Big Impact in a Small Town."  Preparing this made me realize how much I do love being in a "small" town area and about the huge potential a church on fire for Jesus has.  We can be "salt & light" and really see big changes in our local culture.


• Please take a few minutes and PRAY this week for God's work at Rock Bridge.  Here's my most recent "prayer request" blog entry.


• 24 starts in 2 minutes ... gotta run ... have a great week and see you Sunday!!

How You Can Pray

Lately we on staff have really been convicted about the need to increase intentional prayer in our church.  We've got a group of people who pray for me before I preach and a group that prayers during our services.  We've also asked all our teams just to make sure they don't neglect prayer when they get together.

Our approach to prayer as a church is "organic" versus "organized".  Paul said to "pray without ceasing" so we just want to infuse prayer into the life of our church and not just be a ministry of the church.  So I would just like to ask you to pray when you can and as God leads.  Here are a few things you can pray for:

• The church's vision -- our vision is to "connect disconnected people" back to God, but vision can leak, vision can be attacked, vision can lose purity, and vision can get blurred.  Pray for us to be laser focused on the reason God created RBCC 6 years ago.


• The church's members -- remember WE are the church.  Our members are positioned strategically throughout NW Georgia by God's sovereignty.  They have opportunities to live for God in dark places but they also face obstacles in those places.  Pray that God gives our people favor at work and in the community to live as "salt and light", to extend grace, and to invite others to church.  Pray that God would strengthen our families and marriages.


• Our Sunday guests -- every week we have an opportunity to plant "seeds" in the hearts of people disconnected from God, His love, His purpose, and His people.  Pray for God to prepare hearts and to use us for His redemptive purposes.


• Our Staff -- these people are amazing!  Pray for their families and the ministries they lead.  Pray they receive encouragement, ideas, and inspiration that spurs them to serve God with passion and excellence!


• Me -- as Rock Bridge has grown, I feel the need to pray and receive prayer more than ever!  I know nothing good comes from me but am amazed that God still wants to use my body, my leadership, my mouth, my time for His glory!  Pray for my purity, my passion, and my preaching.  Also, pray for my own personal relationship with God to be vibrant and alive!

Thanks so much!  Your prayers accomplish much!

Weekly Rundown (2.08.2009)

• The flu bug hit us hard today, myself included.  Our entire band in Stage 123 was sick.  But we played hurt and had a good day.  Ended the service completely different than ever before which was kind of cool and I think really drove home the point we were trying to make as we kicked off "Frequency."


• Our worship & tech teams are really taking things to a whole new level!!


• We've made a few changes and "upgrades" to our Inquirer's Class (now called "Connect") that we'll try out this week.  I think the changes will really help us better connect people into "body" life at Rock Bridge.


• Construction on the back of the Wink and our new ministry center is well underway and can't get finished too soon ... we need the space!


• National Signing Day came and went.  The Dawgs finished with a top 10 class but so did LSU, Florida, and Alabama.


• I rarely listen to preachers on TV but last night I listened to Charles Stanley.  He is man with a true passion for God's Word and for preaching about Jesus.  I admire his consistency, endurance, and authenticity.


• My dog (Sammie) is asleep at my feet ... snoring loud!! 


• Got some great comments today on well our Host Teams do making people feel welcome.  I can't praise or thank these teams of people enough.  They brave the wind, the rain, the cold, the heat ... all to communicate a big value of ours -- Christ-like acceptance. 

Help Needed!!

ATTENTION ALL WHO CALL ROCK BRIDGE "MY CHURCH"--

Our attendance is up by about 200+ people across all our venues and campuses in 2009 compared to just one month ago  (which is a good and a "God" thing)!!  More importantly, we have had some of the most powerful, God-filled services in our history ... and people are coming and bringing new people with them to connect to Christ and His community!!

Needless to say, this surge of growth has caused us to have some space challenges at our Dalton campus, in particular at the 11:00 service.  The need is greatest in our children's areas where we are slammed with kids (again a good thing and a "God" thing).  Well over 50% of our 2009 growth is happening at the 11:00 service (which is the most likely time for a guest to visit).  

Now, it's not yet time for us to add a 3rd service or a 3rd campus (I stress "not yet" because we will do whatever it takes to reach people disconnected from God).  We are building more space in Dalton but that won't be ready for about another 10-12 months.  So ...

Here's what YOU can do:

• STAY COMMITTED TO OUR VISION!!  The "cardboard testimonies" from Sunday says it all: lives are being changed as people connect to Christ!!  All of us must be committed that "it's not about us!" but it is all about Jesus and Jesus was all about "seeking and saving" those disconnected from Him!!


• COME TO THE 9:30 AM SERVICE (especially if you have k-5th grade children).  This would help our vision a lot as it frees up space for first time guests and newcomers.  Even coming to the 9:30 am service once or twice a month will help A LOT.

These are great challenges to have and I hope we always have them (even when our new building is finished) ... because these challenges mean people are coming to church and hearing about God's love for them.  One thing I LOVE about our church is how our members and attenders rise to the occasion and do whatever it takes to advance God's mission through Rock Bridge ... THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Always Room to Improve

A big part of me as a person and a leader is to always ask the question, How can we get better? Where is there room for improvement?   These are two questions we're always asking on staff as we do a weekly review and as we plan ahead.  This keeps us from taking things for granted and getting complacent.

Two areas that have really improved at Rock Bridge over the past few months are our pastoral care ministry and our small group connection process.  Pastoral Care is how we care for and minister to people in crisis.  We have a team of over 100 staff, elders and volunteers that are organized and mobilized.  6 months ago we had just me and some of the our elders ... that's improvement!!

One of our goals for people is to connect them to a small group community.  The process of finding a group that meets when you can meet and fits you can be difficult at best.  In the past couple of months, we've "personalized" the process so that anyone who wants to connect in a group will be personally assisted in the process.  Megan Hobby is doing a great job with this!  We're also working to make our Inquirer's Dinner a better avenue for people to connect in a group.  However, we're excited that we've seen 200+ people get in a group since last Spring ... that's improvement!

A few weeks we started working on identifying some other areas we need to improve. While the list could be endless, we've been focusing a lot of effort on increasing the amount of intentional prayer over our church.  For the past two weeks, I've had a group of people meet to pray over me before our services starts and WOW!  Alfred Turley is leading this effort and I think we'll see God's favor and glory on us in more amazing ways.

We're also thinking about how we develop leaders at our church.  We want to make sure we really do equip, empower, and encourage people to lead others and serve God well.  Leadership is one of the "lids" that keeps a church from growing to its potential.  We must keep raising up leaders because the "harvest" is so plentiful!!

Weekly Rundown (2.2.09)

• Finished up our series through the Book of Ruth.  I thought it was a very powerful time for our church. The end of the service was amazing!!


• First Wednesday is this week at both our campuses!!  We're celebrating baptism in Dalton.


• I'm getting pumped about our upcoming Ski Trip with our students to Snowshoe, WV!!  My good friend, Rob Taylor, is going to be speaking during our worship sessions.  I'm pumped about the snow, the cold, Starbucks on the mountaintop, skiing, and hanging out with students!!


• The SuperBowl was definitely "super."  The Steelers are a well-led, classy organization.


• Tomorrow (Tuesday) our staff has an area business leader coming to speak to us about teamwork and working together.  He's going to be using the "DISC" profiles. 


• I haven't worked out in a long time! I've got to get back on track.


• I'm still working on my breakout session for the Churchplanters.com Conference at the end of this month.  I'm speaking on being a growing church plant in a small town. 


• No more football ... ugh!