I have gotten away from doing a Sunday wrap up post. However, I wanted to do one this week. I know I am writing this on Monday afternoon, but it's still focused on Sunday.
Sunday started very early as I was awake before 6 am. There was a spiritual tension building for the day. That tension is not anything new. I know it well. I'm glad I do. Every pastor should be familiar with it. The tension should always be there, though there are days when it is stronger than others. This was one of the stronger ones.
We had a great time of praise with music led by my favorite leader. She happens to be quite beautiful too! :) (for those who weren't there, I am talking about my wife of course.)
The board presented myself and the pastoral staff with a very generous gift for pastor appreciation. We have a tremendous group of men who serve our church as board members. It is a privilege to work with them. On behalf of the staff and my family, Thank you everyone for the kind words and expressions. It is truly our honor to serve God at Capital City.
Sunday kicked off our missions convention. I love this event! This is when we get to cast vision for our partnerships with missions around the world. It is also when we get to highlight and tell the wonderful stories of what God is doing. We'll take faith promises in two weeks. A good friend and missionary to eastern Africa will be with us on November 1. We are showing the documentary "Beyond the Gates" about Jim Elliot and his friends who gave their lives in Ecuador 50 years ago. We will wrap all of it up with a banquet on the 8th.
Yesterday, I spoke out of Romans 10 and Philippians 2. Our theme for this coming year of missions is "Every Way." Jesus did whatever needed to be done to accomplish the work of God. We need to have the same attitude. We must be willing to do whatever it takes to fulfill the great commission. People are living and dying without hope all around us and around the world. We have the hope and peace and answer they need in Christ. "How can they believe if they have not heard?"
There was a tremendous response at the end of the service. Several indicated a move to commitment without reservation. One person took the step of accepting Christ into their life! That is what it is all about for us.
In the middle of our convention we also have two community connection opportunities. For Halloween we have homes throughout the community handing out candy bars and hot chocolate along with an invite to CapCity where three lucky guests will receive a gift card. On Saturday, November 7 we are hosting a tailgate party around the OSU @ Penn State game.
I can't wait to see what God is going to do in these next two weeks!
Showing posts with label Capital City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Capital City. Show all posts
Monday, October 26, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Coming Up
Let me tell you, I am PUMPED up about what is next for Capital City Church!
Today is a vision planning/focus day for me and already (10 am) I am ready to jump up and get going on these things!
Here's a few of the things that have me so excited right now:
Today is a vision planning/focus day for me and already (10 am) I am ready to jump up and get going on these things!
Here's a few of the things that have me so excited right now:
- THIS SUNDAY! I have great expectations for every Sunday, that is never more true than it is for the next one coming up. This Sunday, we launch our missions convention. I love this event as we dream and prepare for how God wants to use us to touch souls around the world.
- The rest of missions convention - Sunday, November 1 missionary Jim Thacker from Burundi will be with us. Wednesday, November 4 we will be watching the powerful missions documentary "Beyond the Gates." Sunday, November 8 we wrap it all up with a banquet and we are going to be announcing the 2010 missions trip!
- The 2010 missions trip! It's quite difficult for me to not spill the beans on this trip right now!
- TAILGATE PARTY - Saturday, November 7 we will be hosting a community wide tailgate party in out parking lot. OSU plays @ Penn State that day and we will have big screen TVs games for kids, cornhole, and of course, lots of food!
- Our new Saturday night service! This will be launching early in 2010. Again, I want to share everything that is in the works for this, but it is not time yet.
- Christmas Eve service - I love this event. It is one of my favorite traditions at Christmas. We will have a candlelight service with carols, stories, and family coming together to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Staying Focused
My last post gave a run down of last week and some of the unexpected it entailed. Let me tell you, it is very easy to get off track when things get busy and surprises happen. How do we stay focused in these times?
Great question and one I have struggled with over and over again. Today is another great example of having a certain flow in my mind when I came into the office and it all blows up with unplanned and unexpected issues and directions. It is 1:20 pm and I am just now getting to what I had planned as my projects for today. On this front, an agenda and having things organized and well planned out is one big key.
There is a bigger issue along this line also. Sunday morning when we were scrambling around trying to get the computer stuff straightened out, I was aggravated. It had been a less than smooth weekend and we had been dealing with the computer for a couple of days. Also, my girls had been less than cooperative that morning. The tendency would be to let it get to me and lose focus for the day. I have grand experience with letting that happen.
We must remember the big picture and what is truly important. Fact is, if the computer had not been able to work, so what. That is not a needed element. It is a nice touch and wonderful tool, but not an element. God's Spirit and Presence do not rely on technology or even on things going smoothly. It is important that the leader stay focused with a right heart attitude.
Sunday morning, I had to stop and make the decision not to get upset and not to lose my focus. It takes a big picture mindset. How insane would it be for me to preach on prayer and that very day have let little things get me off track and not pray?
We all face scenarios that will try to distract us from what really matters. There are things every day that come in and demand attention away from the truly significant. Little things can seem so big when they are immediate. The old saying, "the devil is in the details," does apply here. I believe the details matter and that we must be aware and attentive to them. However, there comes a point where the details can actually take over. This is usually at a critical mass moment and the details seem to be falling apart. Sometimes we must let them go and get back to the basics and focus in on what it is really about.
Staying focused takes discipline, intention, and resolve.
Great question and one I have struggled with over and over again. Today is another great example of having a certain flow in my mind when I came into the office and it all blows up with unplanned and unexpected issues and directions. It is 1:20 pm and I am just now getting to what I had planned as my projects for today. On this front, an agenda and having things organized and well planned out is one big key.
There is a bigger issue along this line also. Sunday morning when we were scrambling around trying to get the computer stuff straightened out, I was aggravated. It had been a less than smooth weekend and we had been dealing with the computer for a couple of days. Also, my girls had been less than cooperative that morning. The tendency would be to let it get to me and lose focus for the day. I have grand experience with letting that happen.
We must remember the big picture and what is truly important. Fact is, if the computer had not been able to work, so what. That is not a needed element. It is a nice touch and wonderful tool, but not an element. God's Spirit and Presence do not rely on technology or even on things going smoothly. It is important that the leader stay focused with a right heart attitude.
Sunday morning, I had to stop and make the decision not to get upset and not to lose my focus. It takes a big picture mindset. How insane would it be for me to preach on prayer and that very day have let little things get me off track and not pray?
We all face scenarios that will try to distract us from what really matters. There are things every day that come in and demand attention away from the truly significant. Little things can seem so big when they are immediate. The old saying, "the devil is in the details," does apply here. I believe the details matter and that we must be aware and attentive to them. However, there comes a point where the details can actually take over. This is usually at a critical mass moment and the details seem to be falling apart. Sometimes we must let them go and get back to the basics and focus in on what it is really about.
Staying focused takes discipline, intention, and resolve.
Flexibility - the word of the week
I have written here about flexibility before. This past week has been a real opportunity to live it out.
It started early on Sunday, October 4. We had a schedule for the morning to get things ready for the day. Jacob's Road was with us as special musical guests. A couple of things happened to throw that schedule off. No problem, adjustments were made and it all came together. At about 9:40 or so I was in the sanctuary and the lights literally went out. My first thought was a breaker had blown, then I heard the fire doors coming down with a loud crash in the kitchen. This was more than a breaker. After the initial check of the building, we learned from the power company that over 1700 in our area were without power due to an incident. (We later found out the "incident" was "animal contact at a power pole.")
You can imagine, this caused a bit of scrambling to take place. Everyone involved did fantastic. Jacob's Road rolled with it and put together a fully acoustic song set for a time of praise. Our children's workers adjusted and kept the children in the lobby where we receive the most natural light in the building. We got everyone to sit as close to the front as possible in the center of the sanctuary and we opened the doors around the sides allowing sunlight to come in. We had church! It was a great time!
I have received so many positive comments about the day. People really connected with the time of praise and just got into the feel of the day. No technology, no hype, no pretension, just simple. Just awesome. I greatly enjoyed it.
Monday brought a couple more surprises that changed my schedule a bit for the week. No big things, just had to flow and adjust. Monday night an opportunity arose to spend some time with other pastors in serious iron sharpens iron time. It was late and unexpected, but it was very cool. Having it take place over wings and Monday Night Football didn't hurt! :)
Tuesday night had me out unexpectedly at 1 am helping a group out that was in from out of town. Wednesday brought schedule changes as appointments shifted and plans were changed. Thursday, Friday, & Saturday welcomed an outside group of Korean churches using our building for evening rallies. This was planned, but these events always involve a surprise or two and this one did as well. Friday morning brought an inspection to our HVAC and Fire Alarm system that we weren't aware was going to take place. Friday also brought with it a good amount of rain which was a problem for the men's campout that night. We held it anyway and just made some adjustments.
In the middle of all this our main computer that runs the projection in the sanctuary had a serious virus issue that rendered it unusable. Sunday morning we were loading software onto a different computer to make things work for the day.
It was a great week in so many ways. God moved and spoke. People contacts were made. Lessons were learned. Much was accomplished.
All of that to say, when you speak of flexibility, be willing to live it. :)
It started early on Sunday, October 4. We had a schedule for the morning to get things ready for the day. Jacob's Road was with us as special musical guests. A couple of things happened to throw that schedule off. No problem, adjustments were made and it all came together. At about 9:40 or so I was in the sanctuary and the lights literally went out. My first thought was a breaker had blown, then I heard the fire doors coming down with a loud crash in the kitchen. This was more than a breaker. After the initial check of the building, we learned from the power company that over 1700 in our area were without power due to an incident. (We later found out the "incident" was "animal contact at a power pole.")
You can imagine, this caused a bit of scrambling to take place. Everyone involved did fantastic. Jacob's Road rolled with it and put together a fully acoustic song set for a time of praise. Our children's workers adjusted and kept the children in the lobby where we receive the most natural light in the building. We got everyone to sit as close to the front as possible in the center of the sanctuary and we opened the doors around the sides allowing sunlight to come in. We had church! It was a great time!
I have received so many positive comments about the day. People really connected with the time of praise and just got into the feel of the day. No technology, no hype, no pretension, just simple. Just awesome. I greatly enjoyed it.
Monday brought a couple more surprises that changed my schedule a bit for the week. No big things, just had to flow and adjust. Monday night an opportunity arose to spend some time with other pastors in serious iron sharpens iron time. It was late and unexpected, but it was very cool. Having it take place over wings and Monday Night Football didn't hurt! :)
Tuesday night had me out unexpectedly at 1 am helping a group out that was in from out of town. Wednesday brought schedule changes as appointments shifted and plans were changed. Thursday, Friday, & Saturday welcomed an outside group of Korean churches using our building for evening rallies. This was planned, but these events always involve a surprise or two and this one did as well. Friday morning brought an inspection to our HVAC and Fire Alarm system that we weren't aware was going to take place. Friday also brought with it a good amount of rain which was a problem for the men's campout that night. We held it anyway and just made some adjustments.
In the middle of all this our main computer that runs the projection in the sanctuary had a serious virus issue that rendered it unusable. Sunday morning we were loading software onto a different computer to make things work for the day.
It was a great week in so many ways. God moved and spoke. People contacts were made. Lessons were learned. Much was accomplished.
All of that to say, when you speak of flexibility, be willing to live it. :)
Monday, August 31, 2009
Yesterday & Tomorrow
The yesterday is literal, the tomorrow is more figurative.
What an incredible day we had at Capital City Church yesterday! It's always a blast to have the children open our service! The rest of the praise time was great. My favorite worship leader of all was up there. She's got a fantastic voice, awesome heart, and she's beautiful too! :-)
We wrapped up our vision & direction series with a look into James chapter 2. Faith without action is dead. Action without faith is dead. I don't remember where I first heard this quote, but it is very good, "Faith without action leads to narcissism. Action without faith leads to despair." The two cannot be separated successfully any more than a man can be cut down the middle and continue on. Action, works, deeds, whatever word you use, are a result of our faith. They are born out of it. The fruit of faith if you will. Action does not earn us salvation or God's favor, He has given freely to us. However, action does prove that our faith exists.
I announced yesterday a couple of things in our future. The move to cross-generational ministry is one that I have been talking about in this blog already. We are going to take some aggressive steps to pay off our debt and to make major increases in missions and outreach monies and resources. Very soon we will be announcing the details for adding a second service. The time frame is not yet set, but when I say VERY soon, I mean it. It has been burning in me for a while and the time is about here for it.
We ended the service a bit differently, I had people write their names on an offering envelope and then, after some prayer, had them write on that envelope what their "action" offering was going to be. What was it they were committing to obey God in by putting feet to their faith. This included opportunities to serve in the church as well as serve people outside the church in the community. Then everyone came forward and laid those envelopes on the front of the stage. I can't wait to process through the responses.
After a little time of relaxing in the afternoon, we had our church picnic. Fantastic turnout! Great food, great conversations, and lots of fun. Nearly perfect weather, too. I was a bit nervous after announcing no rain and then have a light rain falling as I am greeting people in the lobby at the end of service. But, it cleared up and was beautiful by the time for the picnic. Nathan and I did go down to a couple of teams in cornhole. Our undefeated streak is over. We had a blast with some good clean competition.
Well, I'll post more later, but I have some training to do to reacquire our position atop the CapCity cornhole whatever. :-)
P.S. Breawnn took some great photos of the picnic. You can find them by clicking here.
What an incredible day we had at Capital City Church yesterday! It's always a blast to have the children open our service! The rest of the praise time was great. My favorite worship leader of all was up there. She's got a fantastic voice, awesome heart, and she's beautiful too! :-)
We wrapped up our vision & direction series with a look into James chapter 2. Faith without action is dead. Action without faith is dead. I don't remember where I first heard this quote, but it is very good, "Faith without action leads to narcissism. Action without faith leads to despair." The two cannot be separated successfully any more than a man can be cut down the middle and continue on. Action, works, deeds, whatever word you use, are a result of our faith. They are born out of it. The fruit of faith if you will. Action does not earn us salvation or God's favor, He has given freely to us. However, action does prove that our faith exists.
I announced yesterday a couple of things in our future. The move to cross-generational ministry is one that I have been talking about in this blog already. We are going to take some aggressive steps to pay off our debt and to make major increases in missions and outreach monies and resources. Very soon we will be announcing the details for adding a second service. The time frame is not yet set, but when I say VERY soon, I mean it. It has been burning in me for a while and the time is about here for it.
We ended the service a bit differently, I had people write their names on an offering envelope and then, after some prayer, had them write on that envelope what their "action" offering was going to be. What was it they were committing to obey God in by putting feet to their faith. This included opportunities to serve in the church as well as serve people outside the church in the community. Then everyone came forward and laid those envelopes on the front of the stage. I can't wait to process through the responses.
After a little time of relaxing in the afternoon, we had our church picnic. Fantastic turnout! Great food, great conversations, and lots of fun. Nearly perfect weather, too. I was a bit nervous after announcing no rain and then have a light rain falling as I am greeting people in the lobby at the end of service. But, it cleared up and was beautiful by the time for the picnic. Nathan and I did go down to a couple of teams in cornhole. Our undefeated streak is over. We had a blast with some good clean competition.
Well, I'll post more later, but I have some training to do to reacquire our position atop the CapCity cornhole whatever. :-)
P.S. Breawnn took some great photos of the picnic. You can find them by clicking here.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Sunday Thoughts
Today was powerful!
I had a real sense early this morning that God wanted to do something special during the service today. In my prayer and prep time in my office it was very clear that God's Spirit was stirring.
The songs "Mighty to Save" and "How Great is Our God" have become modern anthems of the church. I love the energy of corporate worship. Today that energy was high!
At what seemed like just the right moment we gave people the opportunity to come forward to seek God for Him to move mountains in their life. Incredible response. We have a couple of people dealing with cancer, some facing surgeries, others with family issues, and the list goes on. I firmly believe that this morning was a breakthrough point for some. Fantastic time of prayer and very moving. Looking forward to hearing the testimonies of God's power working in lives and answers to prayers from this morning.
We continued our series "What I Wish Someone Had Told Me" today. Life is too short to let the pain and tough situations dictate how we live. We can't take ourselves too seriously, but must learn to trust God and His design for our lives. This is the key to living a joyous and fulfilled life. The podcast is here.
Facing a very busy and quite diverse week. Some great things with VBS and the Teen Challenge project. Some things are more challenging as a couple of people face serious surgery. Expecting God to work mightily in all of it.
I had a real sense early this morning that God wanted to do something special during the service today. In my prayer and prep time in my office it was very clear that God's Spirit was stirring.
The songs "Mighty to Save" and "How Great is Our God" have become modern anthems of the church. I love the energy of corporate worship. Today that energy was high!
At what seemed like just the right moment we gave people the opportunity to come forward to seek God for Him to move mountains in their life. Incredible response. We have a couple of people dealing with cancer, some facing surgeries, others with family issues, and the list goes on. I firmly believe that this morning was a breakthrough point for some. Fantastic time of prayer and very moving. Looking forward to hearing the testimonies of God's power working in lives and answers to prayers from this morning.
We continued our series "What I Wish Someone Had Told Me" today. Life is too short to let the pain and tough situations dictate how we live. We can't take ourselves too seriously, but must learn to trust God and His design for our lives. This is the key to living a joyous and fulfilled life. The podcast is here.
Facing a very busy and quite diverse week. Some great things with VBS and the Teen Challenge project. Some things are more challenging as a couple of people face serious surgery. Expecting God to work mightily in all of it.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Sunday Thoughts
A-MAZING!
All week I have had a sense about what God was going to do today, and did He ever show up HUGE!
The picture is what the stage looks like in preparation for our VBS "Crocodile Dock". The team did an incredible job! I'm very proud of them. Looks like I will be preaching in the "bayou" for the next few weeks. :-)
Great day yesterday as we joined with Continuum Church to work at the Teen Challenge center. This is a summer long project that I am heading up trying to help them get moved into a new office building on their property.
This morning we had our typical video technical difficulties before service, but got through them. A change is coming real soon that will stop these issues, I guarantee it. With that and the fact that I left my power adapter at home for my laptop and didn't have a fully charged battery, I was fighting frustration early on. Thankfully, God is bigger than my frustration.
Once I got settled in to my office, the Holy Spirit really began to work in my heart as I had a terrific worship & prayer time.
We kicked the service off with my favorite video "Resurrection Injection." This was put together by Elevation Church this past Easter. I could just about start off every week with it. Powerful.
The band today sounded as good as they ever have. Today was one of our best times of worship since I've been here. Right from the start it was obvious that God wanted to do something. The flow, the sound, the energy, the connection of the congregation, all of it fell right in place. To grab a phrase from someone else, it was a Whole Nutha Level!
Even the announcement video clicked today. Great job to Nathan and his team in putting that together. A bit cheesy and fun, it was great.
Today was wrapping up the One Prayer series. I was going to show a clip from Dino Rizzo of Healing Place Church, but the aforementioned video glitches stopped me and I wanted to have full time this morning to share what God has been preppeing in my heart all week. I did leap frog off Dino's title though, "God is Here and Anything Can Happen."
Used my favorite story of Jesus as the text today, Luke 7:11-17. I am waiting for that to happen today. Stop a funeral procession and raise the person to life! That would cause a stir! If we would truly live our lives expecting God to be God and know that He is always with us and when He is around ANYTHING can happen, I believe lives would be changing at a tremendous rate! Imagine all that God would do through of us if we had that level of faith and audacity!
The response today was off the charts! People came to the altar and poured out to God and laid it out for Him to do His work. Knowing some of the situations I am fully convinced that miracles are happening right this very minute as a result of what God started this morning! Can't wait to hear the stories of life change and healing and restoration and the hand of God.
Just wait, I don't think we've seen anything yet! God is here and ANYTHING can happen!
The podcast can be found here.
We also have the Wednesday messages available here on Spiritual Gifts.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunday Thoughts
A few quick thoughts today:
Loved having the kids open the service with a couple of songs. They bring so much energy and life with them. No too mention we actually have a full room at 10 am. ;-)
Nathan and the band are moving forward well. Great worship today.
We announced today that Nathan is changing roles a bit. He is moving from youth to creative arts. Basically, it means he has more responsibilities. He will be overseeing music, video, drama, web & print, and the other creative aspects we do. He will be working with children, youth, and adults in these areas. His job will be to assemble teams of people in each of the areas for the projects and events and activities as needed.
For the youth this means a few things. Nothing will change until August. Then the volunteer leaders will start taking on a bit more responsibility within the ministry. We will move to a more small groups based format week to week on Wednesdays. Once or twice a month, I will speak to the youth. We will be giving the youth more opportunity to be involved.
There are a few reasons for the change. One, I believe this puts Nathan closer to his "sweet spot" in ministry given his giftings and passions. Also, it moves us closer as a church to where we need to go. This will help bring us closer to cohesive and continuous ministry across generations.
There is another reason. I believe that one of the reasons the church as a whole is losing 9 out of 10 of our youth when they graduate high school, is we don't effectively connect them to a church. They are connected to a youth group, but not a church. With the changes we are enacting and other things we will do in the future, I believe we can do our part to reverse this trend.
This is the direction we are going now and will adjust as needed along the way.
We also took time today to highlight missions and give those who are not currently giving to missions on a regular basis to partner with us. Great response!
Here is the podcast from today.
A quick side note:
The new AC units are in place and almost fully hooked up. We replaced the eight units which were still original to the building. The work on the parking lot has begun and should be complete in a couple of weeks. The ditch in the front of the building is being filled in to give that a nice finished look, and we will have a new sign in June or July. Finally, the work on the cafe should begin soon.
Loved having the kids open the service with a couple of songs. They bring so much energy and life with them. No too mention we actually have a full room at 10 am. ;-)
Nathan and the band are moving forward well. Great worship today.
We announced today that Nathan is changing roles a bit. He is moving from youth to creative arts. Basically, it means he has more responsibilities. He will be overseeing music, video, drama, web & print, and the other creative aspects we do. He will be working with children, youth, and adults in these areas. His job will be to assemble teams of people in each of the areas for the projects and events and activities as needed.
For the youth this means a few things. Nothing will change until August. Then the volunteer leaders will start taking on a bit more responsibility within the ministry. We will move to a more small groups based format week to week on Wednesdays. Once or twice a month, I will speak to the youth. We will be giving the youth more opportunity to be involved.
There are a few reasons for the change. One, I believe this puts Nathan closer to his "sweet spot" in ministry given his giftings and passions. Also, it moves us closer as a church to where we need to go. This will help bring us closer to cohesive and continuous ministry across generations.
There is another reason. I believe that one of the reasons the church as a whole is losing 9 out of 10 of our youth when they graduate high school, is we don't effectively connect them to a church. They are connected to a youth group, but not a church. With the changes we are enacting and other things we will do in the future, I believe we can do our part to reverse this trend.
This is the direction we are going now and will adjust as needed along the way.
We also took time today to highlight missions and give those who are not currently giving to missions on a regular basis to partner with us. Great response!
Here is the podcast from today.
A quick side note:
The new AC units are in place and almost fully hooked up. We replaced the eight units which were still original to the building. The work on the parking lot has begun and should be complete in a couple of weeks. The ditch in the front of the building is being filled in to give that a nice finished look, and we will have a new sign in June or July. Finally, the work on the cafe should begin soon.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sunday Unwind
It never gets old! I love what I do! I love the people of Capital City Church!
Our new pattern of service prep for the worship team is settling in. Great time of prayer before service and great time of worship during. We've got an announcement coming soon regarding our music and arts program. Looking forward to what God is going to do in this area.
I always anticipate baptism days. It is one of my favorite things I get to do as a pastor. We had three baptized today. Awesome! Great testimonies of God working in their lives.
We started a new series today called "Third Person." This series about the Holy Spirit will address some myths and some misunderstanding about who the He is and His purposes and workings in us. We will be looking at what the Bible says and hopefully bring some clarity. Ultimately, each person must decide how much they will allow the Holy Spirit to work in their lives.
The question comes down to, do we trust God to do everything He wants to do in us?
Too many have taken the things of the Spirit and caused confusion and division with their own goofiness. The Holy Spirit is not weird or goofy or scary. He is real and very much a relevant part of our practical and daily lives.
We discussed two major purposes the Spirit has in our lives:
The first is to glorify God. Everything the Spirit does is for this. If something is bringing glory to a person, it is not the Holy Spirit's work. He brings glory to Jesus and the Father.
The second is to guide us into truth. He brings understanding and clarity as we read the Bible and He guides us in our daily lives. The Holy Spirit is God. If we follow Him, we follow God.
Several responded to say yes to God today. Some to something that the Holy Spirit has been guiding them in already and they have not fully surrendered, others were giving their lives in surrender to God to follow His journey for their lives.
You can hear the full podcast by clicking here.
I can't wait to see what else God is going to do over the next few weeks!
Our new pattern of service prep for the worship team is settling in. Great time of prayer before service and great time of worship during. We've got an announcement coming soon regarding our music and arts program. Looking forward to what God is going to do in this area.
I always anticipate baptism days. It is one of my favorite things I get to do as a pastor. We had three baptized today. Awesome! Great testimonies of God working in their lives.
We started a new series today called "Third Person." This series about the Holy Spirit will address some myths and some misunderstanding about who the He is and His purposes and workings in us. We will be looking at what the Bible says and hopefully bring some clarity. Ultimately, each person must decide how much they will allow the Holy Spirit to work in their lives.
The question comes down to, do we trust God to do everything He wants to do in us?
Too many have taken the things of the Spirit and caused confusion and division with their own goofiness. The Holy Spirit is not weird or goofy or scary. He is real and very much a relevant part of our practical and daily lives.
We discussed two major purposes the Spirit has in our lives:
The first is to glorify God. Everything the Spirit does is for this. If something is bringing glory to a person, it is not the Holy Spirit's work. He brings glory to Jesus and the Father.
The second is to guide us into truth. He brings understanding and clarity as we read the Bible and He guides us in our daily lives. The Holy Spirit is God. If we follow Him, we follow God.
Several responded to say yes to God today. Some to something that the Holy Spirit has been guiding them in already and they have not fully surrendered, others were giving their lives in surrender to God to follow His journey for their lives.
You can hear the full podcast by clicking here.
I can't wait to see what else God is going to do over the next few weeks!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Sunday Unwind Mother's Day Style
I trust all the moms reading this had a good day. And, I also trust that everyone who could called their mom or saw her today. Moms take a lot from us and deserve honor and more than just on a designated day!
Quick run down of the day:
- Proud of Nathan and the worship team. They are taking some good steps forward. We have changed a few things up in their preparation (mentioned that last week) and there are a few more changes in the works and they are stepping up.
- Great spirit of worship in the room today. Seemed like much of the congregation was connected. It was quiet and peaceful and very real. I like it both ways. The loud and driving and exuberant is great; so was this. Both are important and good.
- Through a couple of curve balls at the tech crew by changing up a bit, but they rolled with it. Those guys do a great job! They are usually only recognized when something goes wrong.
- We dedicated a baby today. That is always a treat! This one happens to be the first CapCity baby born after I moved here. I think we had been in town just a week or two when she came along. Beautiful family that God is definitely working in. The dad is going to baptized next Sunday! I love baptisms!
- Gave everybody a treat today, I didn't preach! Instead, I turned it over to Elena. She brought a great message about being a Proverbs 31 woman and used Ruth as an example. There were even some words in there for the men! ;-)
- One guy told me after service that he took more notes from her than he does from me. Thought that was funny.
- I am very proud of my wife! She did a great job today! More than that she is more than I deserve and she keeps me grounded. She is a Proverbs 31 woman.
- The podcast can be found here.
- Next week we not only have our baptisms, but we will begin a new series called "Third Person" about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Until...
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Yes & Amen
But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No." - 2 Corinthians 1:18
I was going to share this with our staff this morning, but circumstances changed our plans a bit.
Paul is addressing a change of plans himself in this passage. (To be honest the irony of this just dawned on me. You'll have to trust me that this was not thought out this way. I'm not that clever.) Anyway, there were some that were questioning Paul's integrity or at least his sincerity when he had shared his planned itinerary to be there at a certain time. He wanted to make sure that they understood the truth and that the message that was preached was true.
So many times in life we send conflicting messages. While there are times this is unavoidable, as in the case of Paul, most of the time it is simple carelessness or a looseness on our part that causes this. I'm not going to touch on the side where intentional deception comes in, we know that lying is clear cut sin. We can be very flippant with our promises and our words so easily. If we are not careful, we can even do this in spiritual matters. "I'll pray for you," yet, we never get around to it. "I was thinking of you recently," yeah, the moment we saw them or their name popped up on caller ID. "I felt God leading me..." the second we wanted to do something else or got uncomfortable with a situation. On and on it goes.
So quickly our lives and our message becomes "yes" and "no". Our message should be the same as Christ's. His was "Yes." Meaning, His message was sure and it was consistent, and it brought hope and life to all who heard and accepted. Paul continues in this passage and says that our message is to be "Amen". Most of us know that "amen" means "so be it." It is not actually a statement of completion or ending, it is a statement of agreement and alignment.
"Amen" became the ending to prayers out of a desire to express agreement with the prayer just prayed by another. It is an affirmation of what has just been proclaimed or petitioned. The word also means "believe" or "truly". Amen is not a conclusion it is a declaration of faith and faithfulness. When our words and our lives are "Yes" and "Amen" we are aligning ourselves with the Word of God, the message of peace and salvation, and with great faith in the sovereignty of an Almighty God. May our words and our actions consistently portray this to the best of our ability as we live intentionally for Him and for His glory.
I was going to share this with our staff this morning, but circumstances changed our plans a bit.
Paul is addressing a change of plans himself in this passage. (To be honest the irony of this just dawned on me. You'll have to trust me that this was not thought out this way. I'm not that clever.) Anyway, there were some that were questioning Paul's integrity or at least his sincerity when he had shared his planned itinerary to be there at a certain time. He wanted to make sure that they understood the truth and that the message that was preached was true.
So many times in life we send conflicting messages. While there are times this is unavoidable, as in the case of Paul, most of the time it is simple carelessness or a looseness on our part that causes this. I'm not going to touch on the side where intentional deception comes in, we know that lying is clear cut sin. We can be very flippant with our promises and our words so easily. If we are not careful, we can even do this in spiritual matters. "I'll pray for you," yet, we never get around to it. "I was thinking of you recently," yeah, the moment we saw them or their name popped up on caller ID. "I felt God leading me..." the second we wanted to do something else or got uncomfortable with a situation. On and on it goes.
So quickly our lives and our message becomes "yes" and "no". Our message should be the same as Christ's. His was "Yes." Meaning, His message was sure and it was consistent, and it brought hope and life to all who heard and accepted. Paul continues in this passage and says that our message is to be "Amen". Most of us know that "amen" means "so be it." It is not actually a statement of completion or ending, it is a statement of agreement and alignment.
"Amen" became the ending to prayers out of a desire to express agreement with the prayer just prayed by another. It is an affirmation of what has just been proclaimed or petitioned. The word also means "believe" or "truly". Amen is not a conclusion it is a declaration of faith and faithfulness. When our words and our lives are "Yes" and "Amen" we are aligning ourselves with the Word of God, the message of peace and salvation, and with great faith in the sovereignty of an Almighty God. May our words and our actions consistently portray this to the best of our ability as we live intentionally for Him and for His glory.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
I am getting pumped about the new series we kick off on March 29 - "HiStory." This is our Easter series as we look at the life of Christ in a mix of ways. Each Sunday will bring some surprises I am sure!
March 29 we are starting the service in a unique and very fun way. You don't want to be late. If you show up at 10:10 you might just catch the end of it, 10:15 you won't even be aware of what just happened. Point - be here and in the sanctuary on time on the 29th. :-)
On Sunday, we are going to have postcards of the series promo available for you to send or give to your friends, families, etc to invite them to Capital City.
God is going to change lives this Easter season!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Feedback
Two things you can help me out with:
First: I'm doing a sermon on regrets soon and would like some feedback on this issue. If you have a story you could pass along to me about a regret, a picture that depicts regrets, link a video that fits, or something else you think may be relevant, it may just show up on an upcoming Sunday morning. The regrets can be serious, funny, or somewhere in between.
Second: I am in the process of completely rethinking and overhauling Capital City's web presence and would love to have some thoughts and input. This is wide open for ideas and serious outside the traditional norm of a website type of thinking.
Email me or comment right here your feedback.
Also, if you are not yet following me on Twitter or Facebook, swing by and see if it is for you.
Thank you.
First: I'm doing a sermon on regrets soon and would like some feedback on this issue. If you have a story you could pass along to me about a regret, a picture that depicts regrets, link a video that fits, or something else you think may be relevant, it may just show up on an upcoming Sunday morning. The regrets can be serious, funny, or somewhere in between.
Second: I am in the process of completely rethinking and overhauling Capital City's web presence and would love to have some thoughts and input. This is wide open for ideas and serious outside the traditional norm of a website type of thinking.
Email me or comment right here your feedback.
Also, if you are not yet following me on Twitter or Facebook, swing by and see if it is for you.
Thank you.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Sunday Unwind
UNBELIEVABLE! That is my word for the day. I mean it both directions.
I'll deal with the good first:
I'll deal with the good first:
- This morning was absolutely incredible!
- The worship team had so much energy; even before the service. That energy came out on stage.
- The congregation was really connected in worship.
- The Holy Spirit broke into the service in the middle of "How Great Is Our God." Love that song, it is the new anthem of the modern church.
- God was calling someone or someones to make a serious life change today.
- Great spirit in the room all day. People came in with passion and anticipation and it showed.
- We continued our "What if...?" series this morning. Spoke on taking risks. Shared one of my favorite stories from the Bible; when Jonathan and His armor bearer attack the Philistines by themselves. I truly believe that God is calling people to step out in big faith and do some radical things for Him. It is going to involve risk and will require overcoming fear, much like jumping out of an airplane. (I will go skydiving very soon, by the way.) :-)
- There was a powerful response at the end of the service as folks came forward seeking God and saying "yes" to Him.
- We also had some of our closest friends come in for the weekend. It was wonderful to have them here. Mike & Pam, thanks!
- On top of that, three of our former youth from Youngstown came to service today. They were in town for the weekend as well. We had a blast with Jess, Kara, and Danielle.
- Lunch at Las Margaritas was a riot! We completely took over that place.
- It seems we may have had a glitch and this morning's sermon may not be available for podcast. I'll know for sure tomorrow. If we can get it, I'll send out a separate link for it when/if it becomes available.
- Shortly after I got home I heard the news coming out of Maryville, IL.
- My heart and prayers go out to Pastor Winters family and First Baptist Church.
- Tragic is not the right word; atrocity is closer.
- It's time for the church to start taking security seriously.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Sunday Unwind
WOW!... WOW! What a fantastic day! God is moving and speaking.
A few thoughts while they are fresh:
A few thoughts while they are fresh:
- I had a real sense of anticipation for today. I just new God had somethign in store for us.
- The message for today got changed late friday night. Was going to speak on compassion and ended up speaking about Passion. I had been struggling a bit with the preparation of the message that was planned for today. Friday night late I got a stirring in my heart to switch things up. Saturday morning, before playing racquetball, I spent soem time letting the new direction for today burn within me. Then after playing, I spent a couple of hours getting things ready for this morning with the new direction.
- The band was ready this morning. Before the service they were bouncing around and full of energy, I told them to let that energy translate on stage; it did. There was a great spirit in the room and the congregation engaged in the worship.
- We took communion this morning. That is always a cool thing. It isn't about the tradition or the ceremony, it is remembering what Christ did for us. Today, even more than normal, there was a noticeable significance to the moment.
- We also had a couple of kids being baptized today! I love that! I know it was meaningful for Pastor Staci as she was able to conduct the baptisms. The rest of Kids Ignited joined us in the service for the baptism. That was cool having them in there for a few minutes. I'm very glad they got to experience it and cheer on their friends.
- In speaking about passion today, I evoked some in the room when I displayed the Michigan "M". It always cracks me up the reaction that brings, but it made the point. David was willing to be humiliated in his own eyes for God's name and glory. Jesus lived His life with passion and strength. He was passionate about people and passionate about the things of God. We need more passion in our lives! The world would be very different if more of us lived with the same passion Jesus lived His life with.
- I was spent at the end of service today. My voice is still not recovered a couple fo hours later. I don't mind a bit.
- Had some wonderful conversations with people today. I love what I do and I love the people of Capital City!
- We've got a couple of things in the works that will be pretty cool when they come about.
- I said it at the end of service today, "You ain't seen nothin' yet!"
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Sunday Unwind
This is going to be a different post, because, well, it was a different day.
It could be the subject, it could just be one of those days, it could be a number of things, but I never felt "the groove" this morning. It is always tense to deal with the subject of giving and money. It probably shouldn't be as the Bible has much to say on the subject. It always seems to be. Could be it is more on my end then on the other end. Either way, it is what it is. I felt very compelled in my spirit to say what I did this morning. I did receive some good comments and encouraging words after, which, while not necessary, is always nice to hear. :~)
To be honest the whole day had a "plowing" kind of feel. That is natural and normal in the life of a church. Not every day can be "off to the races." That isn't healthy and it isn't real. It was a good day, but just seemed to take a little more effort than some days do. Some Sundays just flow and everything is smooth and feels "in the groove."
Don't get me wrong, I am not disappointed with today by any stretch. There are a couple of technical things that we will work to improve as always. I am just being honest and open. Truth is, those that were there probably felt at least some of it as well, so why be any other way about it?
I did have the privilege of praying with a couple of people. That is always a great honor as a pastor. We said goodbye to three individuals today who have been studying here in the US for the past four months. They will return to Indonesia on Saturday.
Next week, we will continue the "What if...?" series. We also have a couple of people getting baptized, which is one of my favorite things I get to do as a pastor. I am greatly looking forward to next Sunday! It is going to be off the hook!
It could be the subject, it could just be one of those days, it could be a number of things, but I never felt "the groove" this morning. It is always tense to deal with the subject of giving and money. It probably shouldn't be as the Bible has much to say on the subject. It always seems to be. Could be it is more on my end then on the other end. Either way, it is what it is. I felt very compelled in my spirit to say what I did this morning. I did receive some good comments and encouraging words after, which, while not necessary, is always nice to hear. :~)
To be honest the whole day had a "plowing" kind of feel. That is natural and normal in the life of a church. Not every day can be "off to the races." That isn't healthy and it isn't real. It was a good day, but just seemed to take a little more effort than some days do. Some Sundays just flow and everything is smooth and feels "in the groove."
Don't get me wrong, I am not disappointed with today by any stretch. There are a couple of technical things that we will work to improve as always. I am just being honest and open. Truth is, those that were there probably felt at least some of it as well, so why be any other way about it?
I did have the privilege of praying with a couple of people. That is always a great honor as a pastor. We said goodbye to three individuals today who have been studying here in the US for the past four months. They will return to Indonesia on Saturday.
Next week, we will continue the "What if...?" series. We also have a couple of people getting baptized, which is one of my favorite things I get to do as a pastor. I am greatly looking forward to next Sunday! It is going to be off the hook!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sunday Night Unwind
AWESOME! AWESOME! AWESOME!
I really felt "in the groove" this morning as we kicked off the series "What if..." this morning. God was speaking and moving as only He can. The vibe and energy in the room were, to borrow the phrase, OFF THE HOOK! There is no end to the possibilities if we really would live our lives actually believing the words of Jesus in John 14. He promised that if we lived by faith we would do the same kinds of things He did, and even greater things. What an incredible thought!
We are going to start offering our sermons as a podcast. I have already uploaded today's sermon here. We will be working out some glitches and the actual host site name may change, but the link on the main website will always be updated. Also, you can listen online or download it into iTunes by clicking the sunbscribe link on the page. This works easily for both Mac and PC. We are working on this to be as compatible as possible and will be improving it more all the time. Thank you for your patience as we work out the kinks and issues.
Elena sang a song this morning that was written by some youth in Steubenville a couple of years ago. She rocked it. I love her voice and the power and passion she puts into her singing. It was the first time many in the church heard her sing, very cool response. Sorry, I like to brag on my wife, she deserves it.
After service, Elena hosted an open house for the ladies of the church at our house. She said it was a very good turn out and a lot of fun. She also wants to convey her thanks for all those who came and for the very nice expressions and gifts. She cooked and prepared for 12 hours or so yesterday. I say she is insane when she is getting ready for a party, but she loves it. The food was incredible. I had to check it out first of course, and then I had to help "clean up." :~)
Due to the number of females in the house, I was no where near here this afternoon. So, I took the girls out for a daddy/daughters' date. We went to Bravo's for lunch. (Bre lost a front tooth in the middle of the meal which is always exciting.) Then we went to the church and hung out for a little while. We played some pool and ping pong. Before coming home, we hit the Chocolate Café for dessert. Yummy to say the least. We arrived to find that our house was still not quite empty. The ladies were having way too much fun.
It's getting late, until...
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Sunday Night Unwind
What a privilege!
Today was definitely a God day!
The band sounded good today and "How Great Is Our God" was powerful in worship! There was a good sense of expectation from the get go!
We had a guest speaker today, Mike Froitzheim. He is a missionary who provides glasses and other eye care in some of the poorest areas of the middle east into Asia. He shared his story of the grace and power of God throughout some extraordinary circumstances in his life. All I can say, is in the 1980's it was not a good idea to be in a car with this guy as many serious accidents as he was in! Wow! The miracles God performed saving his life over and over again! Since a life changing encounter with God 15 years ago, he and his wife have been a part of some incredible adventures as they have seen so many miraculous healings around the world. A couple of dozen people came forward to be prayed for and a few committed their life to Christ today! I NEVER get tired of that! It is what we are about!
I am looking forward to hearing the results of what God was doing today in that time of prayer.
Before service someone shared with me a great account of the blessing and provision of God. This person is struggling financially, as so many are. They were trying to figure out how they were going to give their tithe and still be able to put gas in their car for this week. In the middle of their dilemna, a perfect stranger provided for them a full tank of gas! God takes care of every detail when we trust Him!
This afternoon we enjoyed a great lunch with some friends from out of town. I recommend the Philly Cheesesteak at the Rusty Bucket. :-)
Then we had our annual members meeting at the church followed by a wonderful meal. We elected four new board members: Ove Fladburg, Allen Markarian, Christopher Minter, and Don Rowles. I am honored to have these men join the three that are remaining on the board; Jim Barnett, Scott Crawford, and Frank Howse. A huge "THANK YOU" goes to Dave Ewing, Cori LeMasters, and Adam Scheetz for their service on the board.
Looking forward to a fantastic week and I'm already getting pumped about next Sunday as we start the series, "What if...?
Today was definitely a God day!
The band sounded good today and "How Great Is Our God" was powerful in worship! There was a good sense of expectation from the get go!
We had a guest speaker today, Mike Froitzheim. He is a missionary who provides glasses and other eye care in some of the poorest areas of the middle east into Asia. He shared his story of the grace and power of God throughout some extraordinary circumstances in his life. All I can say, is in the 1980's it was not a good idea to be in a car with this guy as many serious accidents as he was in! Wow! The miracles God performed saving his life over and over again! Since a life changing encounter with God 15 years ago, he and his wife have been a part of some incredible adventures as they have seen so many miraculous healings around the world. A couple of dozen people came forward to be prayed for and a few committed their life to Christ today! I NEVER get tired of that! It is what we are about!
I am looking forward to hearing the results of what God was doing today in that time of prayer.
Before service someone shared with me a great account of the blessing and provision of God. This person is struggling financially, as so many are. They were trying to figure out how they were going to give their tithe and still be able to put gas in their car for this week. In the middle of their dilemna, a perfect stranger provided for them a full tank of gas! God takes care of every detail when we trust Him!
This afternoon we enjoyed a great lunch with some friends from out of town. I recommend the Philly Cheesesteak at the Rusty Bucket. :-)
Then we had our annual members meeting at the church followed by a wonderful meal. We elected four new board members: Ove Fladburg, Allen Markarian, Christopher Minter, and Don Rowles. I am honored to have these men join the three that are remaining on the board; Jim Barnett, Scott Crawford, and Frank Howse. A huge "THANK YOU" goes to Dave Ewing, Cori LeMasters, and Adam Scheetz for their service on the board.
Looking forward to a fantastic week and I'm already getting pumped about next Sunday as we start the series, "What if...?
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
New Series
We are starting a series on February 15 entitled, "What if...?"
We are going to explore the ramifications of this question from a few different angles and see what God has for us. Get ready for your faith to be stretched, your thinking challenged, and your journey to move closer to God.
The question "What if...?" is a powerful question. What if you suddenly received a million dollars? What if you could start over? What if you knew then what you know now? What if you got that new job? What if you could hear God speak to you every day? What if your prayers were answered? What if your dreams came true?
Also with this series we are going to begin podcasting our messages. This is something I have wanted to do since arriving and we are going to get it up and running. You will be able to subscribe through iTunes or from our website. More details to come.
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