Weekly Rundown (8.29.2010)

• 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 :)


• Have a great week!

Pakistan Flooding: Our Response

The devastating floods in Pakistan have dominated world news and it should burden our hearts as Christ-followers.

Isaiah 58:6-8

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard."

As we attempt to gain and reflect the heart of God into the world, these tragedies become opportunities for the Gospel to advance.  Because of your generous giving, we are able to seize this opportunity and help meet real needs ... both physical and spiritual during this tragedy.

Rock Bridge will be contributing to Samaritan's Purse which is a strong Christian agency that is currently working with 6 churches in 6 affected regions in Pakistan.  These churches will be able to minister to 2000 families. {To learn more click here.}

Your giving back to God enables God's love for all peoples and nations to be declared and demonstrated!!

Let God be glorified by our generosity.  Let His name be declared to the ends of the earth!!

Let us pray for Pakistan!!

Straight-up Gospel THIS Weekend!!

As part of our series LIES OF THE DEVIL, this weekend we will be defeating the lies Satan tells us about salvation and eternal life and sharing how to know for sure you are in God's eternal family.

THIS IS A GREAT WEEKEND TO BRING A GUEST TO CHURCH WHO NEEDS TO KNOW JESUS!!!

Here are some of my prayers:

For the power of the Gospel to accomplish salvation.

Romans 1:16 -- I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.

I Cor. 2:2-5 -- For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. ⁴My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, ⁵so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

For Christ to be seen clearly so He is received personally and glorified mightily!!

Acts 26:18 -- to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

Weekly Rundown (8.22.2010)

• Our new website is launched and looking good. Still working through some pages and links but we're pumped about it.
  
  
  
  • Check out the "Missions" section to see how we are currently handling missions in our church.
  
  
  • Also, look at the new 24-7 Prayer section!!
  
  
  
  


• Really sense a strong presence of God in our services lately ... humbling but exciting.


• NEXT WEEKEND we will plainly and clearly share about how to have a personal, saving, and eternal relationship with Jesus Christ.  INVITE/BRING A GUEST!!! Some areas we'll cover:
  
  
  
  • How Satan tries to give us false assurance about ourselves and our eternity.
  
  
  • How to know that you are really a Christian.
  
  
  
  


• We continue to hear amazing stories of how people are using the FUEL devotional that we handout to everyone attending our services.  If you want to start your own personal Bible study, this is a GREAT place to begin!!


• Please keep praying about what God is revealing to us during this series:
  
  
  
  • What "less is more" decision will you make? How will you spend less on yourself and more on God/others?
    
    
    
    • Remember the special offering in December ... pray, plan, and prepare now!!
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • What "excuses" do you need to eliminate so you can start executing God's plans for your life?
  
  
  • Are you being a "teacher"? Is Christianity spreading through you or stopping with you?
  
  
  • Are you looking for an explanation from God or a revelation of God? His revelation is far better!!!!!
  
  
  
  


• Eyasu is talking our head off, repeating almost everything we say, asking questions ... crazy how fast he has learned English and how much he understands!!


• Praying BIG for God's glory this week ... join me!!

My Prayers for Rock Bridge: August 2010

I've been saddened by how my prayers lack persistence which probably shows I lack the "desire" or the passion for what I am asking.  God promises to give us what we ask when our desires are real and for His glory.  So help me pray persistently for things that glorify God. Here are my current (not comprehensive) prayers for our church:

• For the spirit of mammon ("more" stuff) to be broken and a spirit of generosity unleashed
  
  
  
  • For an unprecedented special offering in December
  
  
  • Doubling our missions giving in 2011.
  
  
  
  


• For our people to take a risk in God's direction


• For the # of adults small groups in our church to double (~200)


• For several people in our church to become missionaries in another country


• For us to have an incredible baptism celebration with lots of changed lives and eternities on Sept. 19th


• For our church to make disciples (=people who follow Jesus; standby for next message series!) who make disciples.

New Children's Minister!!

We are excited to announce that our new Children's Minister is Allen Bishop.  Allen and his wife, Jennifer, along with their 3 boys, will be joining us from Smyrna, TN (outside of Nashville) around the end of August or first of September.  Allen's experience, vision, leadership, and passion for the local church will be tremendous assets to our church and God's work.

He will oversee all of our children's ministry programming in Dalton, Calhoun, & Chatsworth, providing leadership and direction to this ministry and its great staff & volunteers.

Let me add a word of thanks to the search team (2 staff members, 1 Elder, and 4 volunteers in Children's Ministry) who looked at dozens of resumes, interviewed many candidates, and prayed like crazy.  We had several very, very strong candidates.   Allen was interviewed multiple times on the phone, via Skype (internet video), and in person by our team. He took a personality assessment and completed a written set of questions. I spent several hours with him over a long lunch.  We checked references. And God gave all of us tremendous peace and unity; God also spoke to Allen and his wife ... and now we have a new Children's Minister!!!

Weekly Rundown (8.8.2010)

• Our new web site is launched ... WOW!!!!!! Go to www.rockbridge.cc


• A Rock Bridge team left for Haiti on Saturday. Please pray for them EVERY DAY this week!!


• Several staff transitions ... crazy but excited about God's plans for those leaving our team and for those joining it!!
  
  
  
  • Quick summary of staffing changes:
    
    
    
    • Alfred Turley is our new Executive Pastor; Brian Holt will become our new Director of Group Life.
      
      
      
      • Details here.
      
      
      • We are now seeking to hire a new Technical Director.
      
      
      
      
    
    
    • Now seeking to hire a person to manage our church database and coordinate our IT/Media administrative work.
      
      
      
      • Details and job description here.
      
      
      
      
    
    
    • See tomorrow's post for information on the new Children's Minister!!
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• Had a great conversation this week with Chris Marlow from our mission partner, HELP.  We partner with them in Zimbabwe to help with orphan care.  We are currently supporting 5 children. Excited about the current progress and future possibilities!!


• We finalized the "American" side of  Abreham & Eyasu's adoption. Here are their full names:
  
  
  
  • Eyasu David Evans -- my dad and Beth's dad are both called "David"
  
  
  • Abreham Barry Evans -- in honor of Beth's brother who died when Beth was in middle school
  
  
  • We wanted to keep their "called" name given to them by their birth parents to honor their heritage.
  
  
  
  
• First non-family babysitter for the kiddos this past Friday night.  First time someone other than Beth or myself put them to bed ... they did great!

Have a great week!!!!

New Job Opening

Recently our office manager/database coordinator, Gail Waters, decided to step down to focus more on helping with our Chatsworth Campus (her husband is Gus, our Campus Pastor).  Gail has faithfully served on our staff for 3+ years.  Her hard work and "get it done" attitude will be missed but we are excited that she will have more opportunities in Chatsworth to serve God's work there.

As we continue to work through staffing changes, along with staff restructuring (new organizational chart, new job descriptions, new departments), we are ready to announce the following job opening:

IT and Media Coordinator

Summary of Position: Responsible for data entry, website, IT strategies and media services as they relate to the administrative functions of the church in order to connect people from all walks of life to life in Christ.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

Maintain church data systems including training and assisting others in utilizing data system

·      Manage church contacts and follow-up processes
·      Responsible for church media services and resource area
·      Lead and equip volunteers to serve in resource and IT functions
·      Responsible for all information technology relating to administrative functions
·      Maintain website to ensure its accuracy with current information


REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLYING

-High school diploma or GED; strong database and computer skills, including web site maintenance; strong people skills, including the ability to recruit and train volunteers

SEND RESUMES to jessica@rockbridge.cc

Announcement: Staffing Changes

We've been working through major reviews of how our church is staffed and organized since early 2010.  We realized we were operating based on a model that no longer fit our church's size and composition. Then this summer we have been working to address several resignations of team members, notably Children's Minister and the Groups Minister.

After much discussion between staff, elders, and church members we have a few decisions to announce that will greatly help our church become more effective at our mission of glorifying God by connecting people from all walks of life to life in Christ!!

Alfred Turley is now our Executive Pastor

Alfred now officially oversees all of the day-to-day operations of our church and staff.  He is tasked with executing and coordinating the vision & mission of the church.  Personally, this helps me to remain focused on strategic vision, preaching & teaching, and seeking God in prayer.  For the rest of our staff, Alfred becomes their chief advocate, working to resolve challenges, maximize effectiveness & efficiency, and get things done.  In a church our size, it had become very difficult for me on a day-to-day basis to supervise & assist our staff, but also to coordinate the various "moving parts" between multiple departments and campuses.  This approach underserved our staff and overburdened me (see Acts 6:1-7 for a biblical example).  We were not operating very efficiently or effectively to advance God's mission or serve our church.  This move puts our church and our staff in a better position to fulfill our mission.

Alfred is a man of God who seeks God daily.  He is a servant leader who loves Jesus radically.  I believe our church, our staff, our mission, and God's kingdom will be well served with Alfred as our Executive Pastor.

Brian Holt will move from Technical Director to Director of Small Groups

For some time Brian has been sensing God calling him out of technical work and into ministry/pastoral roles where he can help disciple and develop people to live for Christ.  For some time, myself and others have been impressed with Brian's leadership capacity, ability to empower volunteers, and his desire to learn.

When the Groups position opened, Brian expressed his interest.  We have seen Brian do a great job of recruiting and equipping people to serve and serve with passion, excitement, and excellence in our technical areas.  As several people prayed about this and discussed it, we began to sense that Brian had the call from God, the passion for God's work at Rock Bridge, and the strengths needed in our Groups ministry.

Additionally, our church was facing a lengthy and expensive search process to locate a Groups Pastor at a point in time when we do not the luxury of time and money.  We need strong leadership over groups now. Brian is a strong leader who loves helping people experience God through ministry & community.  We need someone who is 100% committed to Jesus and Rock Bridge; Brian's commitment is probably more like 120%!!

However, because of the importance of our technical ministry to our church's mission, Brian will not begin his new role until his replacement is hired onto our team.

Please pray for our staff.  None of us has ever been a part of church that has grown this rapidly or seen such amazing life change.  We know it is all God and we love the journey with Him.  Our inexperience keeps us dependent on God and protects us from pride & arrogance.  We know we don't know ... so we seek to know Him, live for Him, and serve Him by the power He so graciously gives.

Weekly Rundown (08.01.2010)

• Busy week ... but very productive.


• 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!!


• Lie #2 exposed this Thursday or Sunday!!


• Have a great week :)