Hello Rock Bridge!!
I want to ask all of you who consider Rock Bridge "your" church to be at First Wednesday on October 5th (that's next week). As your pastor, I have some things I really need to share with you. We are at an exciting place in the history of our church as we approach our 10-year anniversary. We are also at a crucial place in the life of our church. I believe with all my heart that Rock Bridge was created and positioned by God "for such a time as this"; therefore, we must steward this time and the opportunity it presents for the glory of the living God.
I look forward to sharing God's Word, worshipping, praying, and taking the Lord's Supper with you, my family in Christ!
Matt
Rock Bridge Calhoun
Dinner at 5:30; Service at 6:30
Gordon Hills Shopping Center*
Message will be LIVE STREAMED!
Rock Bridge Chatsworth & Dalton
Dinner after 5 pm in Stage 123
Service at 6:00 pm in the Wink Theatre*
*Child care provided through 1st grade; 2nd graders & up attend service w/parents.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Weekly Rundown (9.26.2011)
- Pray for our team in Honduras this week as they dig a water well for a local village and share Jesus with villagers.
- We are starting the process of elder selection for 2012. We have 4 elders rotating who are rotating off at the end of this year. This New Testament position within the local church is very important and serves a critical role in helping our church stay on mission with wisdom and integrity. Any church member may submit a nomination.
- First Wednesday in October is a little over a week away. I'll be sharing some things on my heart for Rock Bridge and I'm asking all group leaders (adult, student, and children), all ministry team leaders and captains, all members, etc to make a special effort to attend this special edition of our First Wednesday time of worship, prayer, & the Lord's Supper.
- If you attend our Chatsworth campus, please attend in Dalton (Wink Theatre at 6 pm).
- Dalton campus will meet in the Wink Theatre at 6 pm (dinner before in Stage 123 after 5 pm).
- Calhoun campus will meet in the new building (at the Gordon Hills Shopping Center) and we are planning to 'live stream' parts of the service from Dalton SO all our campuses will be connected together for this one night ... one church in multiple locations with one mission and one vision from one AWESOME God!!
- Remember: next week in Chatsworth starts one service at 10:30 am in Bagley Middle School.
- Please consider being part of our $10-$50 Plan to help us meet and exceed our 2011 budget goals!!
- An update on Beth:
- She is supposed to come home this week for about 8 days.
- We are awaiting a couple of important test results that could "map out" what the next few weeks/months look like ... so please pray we are still on track!
- She feels stronger and overall better everyday. Truly amazing to see how much better she looks and feels. Check out her 'Foto Friday' blog from this past week!
- Have a great week and remember: "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." {Psm. 118:24 NIV}
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Elder Selection
Rock Bridge is now entering into a process of nominating, screening, and selected new elders who will begin serving in 2012.
Elders are mentioned numerous times in the New Testament. Throughout Paul's writings he charges elders to guard the church from false teachings, shepherd and care for the members, address and oversee matters of church discipline, correctly teach the Word of God, govern the overall affairs of the church, and display the fruits of God's work in their lives.
At Rock Bridge, we put these various functions in three broad categories: discerning, shepherding, and guarding. Elders discern God's will for the church and help determine our overall direction. They shepherd God's people in the church through prayer, care, and accountability. Finally, elders guard and protect our unity, teaching, vision, and resources.
Rock Bridge Elders come from our church's membership (elders must first be a member of the church for 1 year), live out our church's values, model a life devoted to Christ, and are approved by the Church and therefore, authorized by the church to be the "leading servants" for the church. They serve a three-year term and may serve 2 consecutive terms. The Elders cannot call a new Lead Pastor, approve the church budget, or appoint new elders. Those decisions are made by a vote of the church membership.
To read more about the selection process or submit a name for nomination, please click here.
Elders are mentioned numerous times in the New Testament. Throughout Paul's writings he charges elders to guard the church from false teachings, shepherd and care for the members, address and oversee matters of church discipline, correctly teach the Word of God, govern the overall affairs of the church, and display the fruits of God's work in their lives.
At Rock Bridge, we put these various functions in three broad categories: discerning, shepherding, and guarding. Elders discern God's will for the church and help determine our overall direction. They shepherd God's people in the church through prayer, care, and accountability. Finally, elders guard and protect our unity, teaching, vision, and resources.
Rock Bridge Elders come from our church's membership (elders must first be a member of the church for 1 year), live out our church's values, model a life devoted to Christ, and are approved by the Church and therefore, authorized by the church to be the "leading servants" for the church. They serve a three-year term and may serve 2 consecutive terms. The Elders cannot call a new Lead Pastor, approve the church budget, or appoint new elders. Those decisions are made by a vote of the church membership.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Weekly Rundown (9.19.2011)
- Amazing baptisms yesterday! I really believe baptism not only blesses the one being baptized, but those watching and welcoming the new Christ-follower. Baptism is a public and bold reminder of what God works inside the heart of man. My faith grew larger yesterday, and I was reminded that God is indeed mighty to save.
- We are continuing to see people saved in regular frequency in our worship services. We praise God for this and ask for more! The greatest thing in the world is to be saved and satisfied by Jesus Christ!!
- Our new series "LIFE APPS" continues this week.
- Is there someone you are positioned to invite?!? Praying you do!!
- To all our amazing volunteers: THANK YOU!! You live out our core value of active participation.
- I'm excited to be able to hang out this week with our Tech/Production ministry team. They are true unsung heroes because 99% of people never know they are there unless something goes wrong. And >>>99% everything is right because of their hard work, service, and commitment to excellence!!
- Missions update:
- We have a team going to Honduras later this month to dig a well and present the Gospel.
- After one year of radically increasing our missions giving and going, our elders believe we will need to hire a missions/outreach pastor in 2012. I believe our church has unbelievable potential to impact our local communities and penetrate lostness & relieve poverty around the globe. Ask anyone who has taken a trip this year and you will discover how God enlarged their heart to match more closely His heart. This is what is happening to our church's collective heart as well. Psalm 67!!
- Beth has a scan this week to hopefully/prayerfully discover that all the EBV 'nodes' are gone from her body. Please join us in prayer. Once this hurdle is cleared, we should be able to talk more about moving her back home "full time"!!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Excelling in Giving
Last year our church approved a faith-based budget of $3.2 million dollars. This budget was born out of prayer and a vigorous pursuit of wisdom. We doubled the amount of money we invested in local and international missions. We sought to wisely and adequately fund our own ministries for worship, children, students, discipleship, and day-to-day operations.
Even with the troubles in our local economy, we have seen our weekly giving increase this year! However, we are still falling short of our budget by around $2000 per month. Because we have some reserve funds and some built-in margin, we are not in a crisis. We can easily adjust our spending to handle this shortfall, but that means cutting back on some investments to which we believe God has called us.
We believe this is an opportunity for us to "excel in the grace of giving" as Paul encourages churches to do in 2 Corinthians 8:7. So rather than back down and reduce our budget for the remainder of the year, our Elders believe we can rise up and exceed our budget by finishing strong in this last quarter of 2011! Here's how:
Our church currently has about 1400 giving units (a giving unit could be one person or an entire family). If each of those giving units increased their monthly giving by $10 to $50 we would easily meet and even begin to exceed our budget goals!
So we are asking anyone with an income to prayerfully seek to raise your current monthly giving by between $10 to $50.
Think about it this way: over 30 days that represents about 3-5 gallons of gas, 3 Starbucks' coffee drinks, or 1 movie ticket!!
If you have never given consistently to God's church, then would you prayerfully consider starting to give around $10-$50 per month? This is a simple way for you to begin giving regularly and begin to experience God's leadership over your finances.
Remember: it is simple and easy to set-up online giving directly from your checking account (called "E-Give"). You can sign-up directly from our web site by clicking here.
If we as a church take this step together, a few things will happen:
1-We will meet and could even exceed our 2011 budget!!
2-We will be more like Jesus by becoming more generous (2 Corinthians 8:9).
3-We will resist the pull of complacency, instead experiencing the thrill and joy of being open to God's direction and leadership in our lives (2 Corinthians 2:14).
4-God will be more glorified as we invest in His Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) and kingdom work locally and globally.
Thank you for being a part of what God is doing at Rock Bridge! We know God is moving and we know that He is providing through the generous hearts of His people!
**If you have no income, are unemployed or under-employed and need assistance, please allow your church family to help. Financial counseling and/or assistance with groceries or other basic needs are available and part of our budget to minister to those in our church family who are experiencing tough times.
Even with the troubles in our local economy, we have seen our weekly giving increase this year! However, we are still falling short of our budget by around $2000 per month. Because we have some reserve funds and some built-in margin, we are not in a crisis. We can easily adjust our spending to handle this shortfall, but that means cutting back on some investments to which we believe God has called us.
We believe this is an opportunity for us to "excel in the grace of giving" as Paul encourages churches to do in 2 Corinthians 8:7. So rather than back down and reduce our budget for the remainder of the year, our Elders believe we can rise up and exceed our budget by finishing strong in this last quarter of 2011! Here's how:
The $10-$50 Plan
Our church currently has about 1400 giving units (a giving unit could be one person or an entire family). If each of those giving units increased their monthly giving by $10 to $50 we would easily meet and even begin to exceed our budget goals!
So we are asking anyone with an income to prayerfully seek to raise your current monthly giving by between $10 to $50.
Think about it this way: over 30 days that represents about 3-5 gallons of gas, 3 Starbucks' coffee drinks, or 1 movie ticket!!
If you have never given consistently to God's church, then would you prayerfully consider starting to give around $10-$50 per month? This is a simple way for you to begin giving regularly and begin to experience God's leadership over your finances.
Remember: it is simple and easy to set-up online giving directly from your checking account (called "E-Give"). You can sign-up directly from our web site by clicking here.
If we as a church take this step together, a few things will happen:
1-We will meet and could even exceed our 2011 budget!!
2-We will be more like Jesus by becoming more generous (2 Corinthians 8:9).
3-We will resist the pull of complacency, instead experiencing the thrill and joy of being open to God's direction and leadership in our lives (2 Corinthians 2:14).
4-God will be more glorified as we invest in His Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) and kingdom work locally and globally.
Thank you for being a part of what God is doing at Rock Bridge! We know God is moving and we know that He is providing through the generous hearts of His people!
**If you have no income, are unemployed or under-employed and need assistance, please allow your church family to help. Financial counseling and/or assistance with groceries or other basic needs are available and part of our budget to minister to those in our church family who are experiencing tough times.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Weekly Rundown (9.13.2011)
- Excited to kick-off a new series called "Life Apps". If you have a smartphone, you love the "apps" or applications it has to tell you the weather, find a location, check your bank balances, etc. etc. ... in this series, we'll learn that God has some "apps" to help us navigate life.
- Baptism is this weekend!!!! Life change, going public for Christ, obedience, the wonderful illustration of salvation ... not to mention the BBQ and fellowship ... can't wait!!
- At our Dalton campus this weekend, we are experimenting with a new environment called, Meet the Pastor. We'll meet in the Gathering after every service (Thursday 6:30 pm, Sunday 9:30 & 11:00 am) on announced weekends.
- This will be an informal and easy way for me to meet guests and newcomers as well as for those looking to connect more with our church family.
- We'll have other staff members and ministry leaders there as well, plus refreshments!
- If you know someone who is new to our church, then please invite them to this!!
- Beth has been home for the past week!! She's done great and it is awesome to see her energy returning and her start to feel so much better!!
- She'll head back to NYC later this week. The next big check is a repeat PET/CT Scan to check for Epstein-Barr "nodes". She had a few left (reduced in size) last time and the doctors.
- Last conversation with her doctors gave us some indication that she could be home permanently by early to mid-Fall!!
- Your grace and prayers to us continue to be tremendous blessings!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
A Sincere Apology
I need to apologize to our entire church family.
Today during one of our services I inappropriately 'called out' and corrected two teenagers who I felt were being a distraction. My comments were off target, made in anger, and reflect poorly on the values of Rock Bridge. There is no excuse for this from me or from God's pulpit. I have spoken with and apologized to the specific family but now I need to do so to our entire church.
Our church has a core value of Christ-like acceptance and my words and their tone violated this foundational principle of Rock Bridge. Additionally, they created an "unwelcoming" atmosphere and uncomfortable moment in our service. We strongly believe that only the Spirit-brought conviction of God should make anyone ever feel uncomfortable at RBCC, not our actions or words. I apologize to all of you and any guests who may have been with you.
A second core value our church shares is radical dependence on God and His Word. We believe that only God can change people and author salvation in their lives. We believe He does this in large part through the sharing and teaching of His Word. Today, I incorrectly believed that my particular method of presenting and communicating God's Word was more important and more powerful than the simple message of His Word. My dependence was not on God or His Word but on myself and my presentation; that is sinful. As a result, I took the attention off God and His truth. I apologize for the negative effect on your worship experience.
I am deeply sorry for my words and the anger behind them. Along with our elders, our staff, and my wife, I will seek to repent, resolve anger biblically, choose words wisely, and rest in the sufficiency of God's grace.
Today, I need to ask for your forgiveness.
Matt Evans
Today during one of our services I inappropriately 'called out' and corrected two teenagers who I felt were being a distraction. My comments were off target, made in anger, and reflect poorly on the values of Rock Bridge. There is no excuse for this from me or from God's pulpit. I have spoken with and apologized to the specific family but now I need to do so to our entire church.
Our church has a core value of Christ-like acceptance and my words and their tone violated this foundational principle of Rock Bridge. Additionally, they created an "unwelcoming" atmosphere and uncomfortable moment in our service. We strongly believe that only the Spirit-brought conviction of God should make anyone ever feel uncomfortable at RBCC, not our actions or words. I apologize to all of you and any guests who may have been with you.
A second core value our church shares is radical dependence on God and His Word. We believe that only God can change people and author salvation in their lives. We believe He does this in large part through the sharing and teaching of His Word. Today, I incorrectly believed that my particular method of presenting and communicating God's Word was more important and more powerful than the simple message of His Word. My dependence was not on God or His Word but on myself and my presentation; that is sinful. As a result, I took the attention off God and His truth. I apologize for the negative effect on your worship experience.
I am deeply sorry for my words and the anger behind them. Along with our elders, our staff, and my wife, I will seek to repent, resolve anger biblically, choose words wisely, and rest in the sufficiency of God's grace.
Today, I need to ask for your forgiveness.
Matt Evans
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