Weekly Rundown (5.30.2010)

• Playing catch-up on the "Rundown" this week!!


• 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!!

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.

Weekly Rundown (5.9.2010)

• 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".
  
  
  
  


• Can't wait for Part 4 of Rx for Relationships ... bring a guest!!


• This was Beth's FIRST Mother's Day ... she is amazing :)

Obey God No Matter What

Obeying God no matter what is one of the principles that I would love to be the basis for my life and am seeking to model & teach to my boys.

As I seek to "obey God no matter what", I've discovered that obedience is not limited to what we don't do (the thou shalt not's), nor is obeying God is not always black & white or as simple as the 10 Commandments and the Golden Rule.  There are perhaps four types of obedience we must be aware of to actually "obey God no matter what" --

OBVIOUS OBEDIENCE: this probably gets the bulk of our attention & most of us know if we are obeying or disobeying God in this category because it is obvious.  Either we feel good about ourselves ("I don't drink or smoke or chew, or hang with guys who do!") or we feel guilty because we don't measure up.  Obvious obedience includes things like the Ten Commandments and treating people right.

OPPORTUNISTIC OBEDIENCE ... this is when a door opens and we have an opportunity to live for God that we did not have before.  Things like inviting a friend to church, praying for someone in need, being generous (more than the tithe, the tithe is obvious) with extra money, and taking the initiative to do the right thing (see James 4:17).  This type of obedience requires being alert, being prepared, and being bold.

We must look for God to open doors (see Colossians 4:2-4), be ready to go through them (i.e. When God opens the door for a single to begin dating, is their character ready? When God opens the door for you to share Jesus with someone, do you have the knowledge to explain why your hope is in Christ?), and we must have courage because opportunistic obedience requires us to seize the moment for God.

LIGHT YOU HAVE OBEDIENCE-- Often times we will never have all the facts, all the information, or the level of certainty we would like.  But God always gives us enough light to take the next step of obedience.  Sometimes God works like a flashlight does on a dark trail.  We have enough light to take two, maybe three steps but as we take those steps the light moves ahead of us and so we keep moving.  This means we don't need to worry about all the things we don't know, just respond to the light we have.  This keeps us moving and keeps us from regret.  The underlying principle here is that the amount of light we have at any given moment is not nearly as important as what we are doing with that light.  (Psalm 89:15)

ENDURING OBEDIENCE is being consistent in your walk.  We can't be hot and then cold.  We can't seize opportunities and walk in the light today and tomorrow be afraid to obey and drawn to darkness. We can't love our neighbor (obvious obedience) on Monday and curse him on Tuesday (obvious disobedience).  Enduring obedience is obeying God in "all of the above" categories which ultimately leads us closer and closer to God, God's best, and God's blessings.

Monday is for Missions

In 2011 we will have the opportunity to go on short-term missions trips with Living Water International. We are excited about this partnership with an amazing Christian organization seeking to bring physical and spiritual water (see John 4:14) all over the world.

These trips will involve both physical work (building or repairing a water well in a community) and relational/spiritual connections with the people.  We will be getting more information out very soon about dates, costs, and how to sign-up.  Please begin praying now for this trips and our long-term partnership with Living Water.

Weekly Rundown (5.2.2010)

• Teaching on the Golden Rule this week rocked me personally and forced me to ask, "How much I am asking God for so I can spend my life giving to others?" (see Matthew 7:7-12)
  
  
  
  • Anytime we talk about relationship issues, problems, and areas of relational neglect come to the surface.  This is happening to many people across our campuses right now.  While this is often painful, it is ultimately healthy.  When God shines a light into a dark place, go there with Him! Let Him correct, comfort, change, heal, and restore!!
  
  
  
  


• First Wednesday is THIS week!!


• Baptism is coming up on May 23rd!!


• Glad our team to Haiti returned safe ... and changed! They are excited about their experience and the opportunities we have in front of us as a church.


• Eyasu & Abreham came to church on Thursday night!! Great to see them at Rock Bridge.  Even better was seeing how excited Eyasu was about his projects.  Heard he loved the worship time too! Praying they both grow in the knowledge of God and His love and that this leads them to find their life in Christ alone.


• Have a great week :)