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Weekend highlights

   

This past weekend was Worship and the Word . . . a service we starting doing about four years ago and every time gets a great response. Here are some highlights . . .

   

      People love just hearing the reading of scripture . . . they say things like . . . that was powerful . . . I love just hearing God's Word . . . we need to do this more often . . . we need to do this every month . . . to which I said it would sure make my job a lot easier but then I probably wouldn't have a job much longer

   

      Loved the songs Scott selected . . . I think we did nine songs . . . the band and singers must have been worn out by the end of the weekend . . . I couldn't get enough . . . the band rocked for Jesus and the sound was great . . . thanks to all of you singers and instrumentalists . . . you made it happen!

   

      Absolutely loved the last song we did . . . the new version of How Great Thou Art . . . that was awesome!

   

      I love Mike and Dave's enthusiasm when they read . . . not that the rest of us don't have enthusiasm but their personalities, along with their scripture selections, just kind of get you clapping your hands and saying YEAH!

   

      We had to turn people away at the 10 and 11:30 am services . . . the highlight is we had a lot of people . . . the bad news is . . . well, people got turned away

   

      Saturday evening services were pleasantly full . . . there is always more room, however, for more people in these two services

   

      Can't wait until next year's Worship and the Word . . . it will be here before you know it

Christmas Services Highlights

We had 11 amazing Christmas services at Abundant Life's Campuses over the past week . . . 8 live and 3 video venues . . . they were beautiful . . . powerful . . . encouraging and hope filled

• We saw nearly 5,000 people come through our doors . . . how awesome to see so many new faces and to meet so many new people

   

• The hot chocolate out on the patio is always a warm and welcoming touch . . . and great surprise

 

• Our theme was snow so the snow flakes as people entered the building, the snow covered trees in the lobby and on the stage . . . highlighted with the snow flake gobos were awesome

 

• Why snow? Jesus' coming to earth made it possible for our sins to be covered by His blood and to be made as white as snow

 

• When we accept God's gift to us . . . His Son . . . our sins are covered instantly . . . completely . . . and forever

 

• How awesome was it to have Bruce Sussman from Channel 6 to interrupt my message and give us (me) a bit of a lesson on snow . . . way to go Bruce . . . that was awesome!

 

• What a great worship set . . . I looked forward to hearing our band every single time . . . O Holy Night and Not Guilty Anymore were incredible

 

Weekend service highlights

 

• Even though the weather kept a lot of people away . . . like half it seems . . . we had a great time together . . . be sure to catch the message online at www.coolchurch.com

 

• Always awesome celebrating baptisms . . . whether it is one, two, a dozen, or a hundred . . . it is always a celebration

 

• So good meeting people who are checking us out for the first time . . . love having those conversations with people and love hearing things like . . . "I think we've found our home!"

 

• Cool that Dave video-streamed the message . . . my son in Spain was able to join us and share the service with us . . . how awesome is that?

 

Awesome volunteers at Abundant Life Church . . . at both campuses . . . that make it possible every weekend to do what we do . . . thanks to all of you who braved the cold and ice this weekend

Message highlights

This weekend I finished up a series based on Isaiah 9:6 called More than a Baby. Here are some highlights from that message…

• Jesus talked a lot about peace and often extended it to many He came in contact with

 

• How ironic that the season when we celebrate the Prince of Peace often finds us more stressed and harried than any other time of the year.

 

• Jesus is the one who is in charge of peace . . . Sar Shalom . . . only Jesus . . . no one else

 

• The ultimate peace that Jesus came to give us was peace with God . . . His coming to earth and His death on the cross made it possible for us to be reconciled to God

 

• Peace is not the absence of conflict without . . . it is the presence of Christ within

 

• When we worry, we are trying to take over His job . . . instead of worrying He asks us to ask Him to help us . . . worry about nothing . . . pray about everything

 

• When it comes to being at peace with others we simply have to allow the peace of Christ to control us . . . not selfishness . . . not ego . . . not pride . . . not having to have the last word

 

• Yes . . . our neighbor did call the Police on us . . . a couple of times . . . we're not throwing things at each other or anything like that . . . but not going out of our way to be friends either . . . hmmm . . . sounds like something we need to work on

 

 

Message highlights from Isaiah 9:6…Everlasting Father

• I did have a great dad . . . I'm dedicating this weekend's message to him.

 

• It is not easy being a dad . . . even the best of dads fall short . . . looking at Jesus through the lenses of our earthly fathers can cloud our picture of Jesus

 

• Jesus is everlasting . . . Jesus will never be absent . . . Jesus will never abandon me

 

• Looking at His life through the lenses of scripture we can discover lots of fatherly qualities in Jesus

 

Compassion when I'm hurting
Correction when I'm misguided

Understanding when I'm wrong

An example when I'm watching

Strength when I'm tired

Confidence when I'm uncertain

Encouragement when I'm down

 

• I really do have HUGE biceps . . . it just that the shirt I was wearing this weekend hid them pretty well . . . really! Seriously!!!!!

Weekend Highlights

· There were volunteers at the church at 7:30 am this morning cleaning windows, preparing coffee, setting stuff up, and doing all sorts of things making things ready for services . . . we are so blessed to have such committed people who love God and serve His church in seemingly small but invaluable ways . . . you volunteers make it happen! Every week!

 

· Awesome worship set . . . I’m the lucky one who gets to experience it five times every weekend . . . way to bring it Scott, Dustin, and the whole team . . . you guys rock!

 

· Loved the new song Scott introduced to us this weekend . . . Hosanna . . . Hosanna . . . You are the God who saves us . . . Worthy of all our praises . . . And the people sounded awesome singing it, too.

 

· Great video catching just a glimpse of how Abundant Life Church is making a difference in the lives of so many people . . . way to go Dave and all of you who helped out . . . dude, it was hot off the press, wasn’t it?

 

· Love the posters used in the video displayed where people can show where they have been helped out by Abundant Life Church . . . be sure to stop by and let us know.

 

· Caught one of our volunteers serving at Guest Services texting someone . . . asked who they were writing . . . and they were actually inviting someone to church . . . yeah, I love it . . . invite people anyway and anytime you can!!!!!

 

· Loved meeting all the new people and having folks say they have found their church home.

 

· Lovin’ teaching about Jesus from Isaiah 9:6 and how He is so much more than a baby.

 

Weekend Reflections

This past weekend, we began a new series called More than a Baby . . . Here are some of the highlights…

At Christmas we look forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus but we do Him an injustice and ourselves no good if we leave him in the manger

If we keep Jesus in the manger we can keep Him out of our lives . . . If we keep the baby in the crib we can keep Him out of our business

Jesus came to be more than a baby . . . Isaiah starts by saying Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor

Jesus came for sick people . . . Broken people . . . Needy people  . . . That's all of us . . . We all need help somewhere

As our Wonderful Counselor . . . Jesus understands every hurt we feel . . . Every problem we face . . . Every part of us that is broken . . . And He still loves us  . . . No judgment . . . No condemnation . . . We come to His thrown of grace and find mercy and grace

We have to be willing . . . To carve out time to meet with Jesus every day or what good is His wisdom, His knowledge . . . His perspective

We have to be brutally honest with Him . . . Besides, He already knows . . . Nothing we "let Him in on" will be a surprise

We have to listen . . . Not just talk . . . There is a time for talking . . . But at some point we have to be willing to sit quietly before Him and listen

We have to be willing to obey . . . Consistently . . . Not just selectively

Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor  . . . We can see Him anytime . . . Any place . . . For any reason . . . Awesome!

Weekend Reflections

What an awesome weekend at Abundant Life!

We just finished up our Unbelievable series on the book of Jonah.

There is so much in this story that is mind boggling- but you know what's really unbelievable? God . . . that's right . . . God.

As much as this book reveals to us about the character of Jonah and his disobedience . . . it reveals much more about the heart of God...

• His nature
• His character
• His love
• His persistence in pursuing us… even when we run from Him

 

God's desire is to have a relationship with us and He patiently waits for us to come to Him with compassion and forgiveness, ready to hear our prayers and answer the cries of our heart.

What about you…are you like Jonah?

• Are you a runner?
• Do you think you know better than God?
• Do you question His plans for your life?
• Do you struggle with believing He has your best interest at heart?
• Are you up against a wall with no place to turn…no way out of your situation?

 

Maybe it's time for you to say, "Lord thank You for not giving up on me . . . I persist in running . . . but You persist in love, grace, mercy, compassion, kindness, and second chances."

I hope you hear this loud and clear . . . God is absolutely crazy about you . . . He loves you . . . but He is deeply concerned for you if you have not surrendered your life to Jesus Christ.

He would do anything to prove His unbelievable love for you . . . and in fact He did when He gave His Son to die on a cross as payment for our sins.

Revelation 3:20 (New Century Version) "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in . . ."

He's waiting for you…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy to be home . . . sad to be away

With about any trip I take, it is always good to be home. Like they say . . . there's no place like it.

But I have to say that as good as it is to be back home, it's sad to be away from Israel. I'm already looking forward to going back in about 5 months.

Ann and I had already scheduled a trip prior to this one so this gracious opportunity provided by the Israel Department of Tourism was a God-thing. Wow! How it prepared us for our own trip next year.

And what a great group to travel with . . . and they were all Pastors and their wives. We had a ball together . . . we laughed . . . shared stories . . . shared ministries . . . shed tears . . . and even joked with each other. Thanks to all of you for making it a fantastic group.

I love Mark and Susie . . . what great leaders for our team. Hearts of gold and wonderful insights at the various locations we visited. Thanks guys for being so loving.

Our guide . . . what can I say . . . "Follow me please . . ." will be etched into my mind for a long time. Tsion was just awesome . . . a walking encyclopedia . . . a very fast walking one at that. How one guy can know so much . . . I'm amazed. I really hope we can connect again in the near future.

And thanks to the Israel Department of Tourism for providing this wonderful journey. What a gracious gift! It prepared us for the trip we will lead and it gave us a great platform from which to speak more intelligently to the people we will be leading.

Every Christ follower should visit the land of Israel. Here are my top 3 reasons:

1. The Bible will come alive. As I read the Bible and resume my responsibilities to teach God's Word, the places and events will jump off the page at me and add a whole new dimension.

2. You get to see what Jesus saw and walk where Jesus walked. You are transported back into time. For example sitting on the Mt. of Beatitudes and seeing what Jesus saw as He taught . . . you get the picture!

3. You'll never be the same. I'm such a fallible human being but being in Israel has opened the door of my heart just a bit wider to God's work in my life. What He did there in my heart I'll carry for a long time and I'm sure He'll use it to continue His work in me.

It's good to be home . . . I can't wait to go back.

 

Radical Shift #4

The fourth radical shift the church in America needs to make today is the shift from comfort to sacrifice. Don't get me wrong I'm not opposed to comfort. I remember my childhood days of going to church and having to keep cool with those little paper fans on a wooden stick . . . that really dates me and some of you remember what I'm talking about . . . because we didn't have air conditioning. . . sitting on hard pews . . . and then when I was old enough to drink really, really bad church coffee. So I kind of like having air-conditioned buildings, soft cushioned chairs, and Starbucks coffee.

 

But I think our comfort has a way of causing us to become selfish. We're not quite as eager to "give up" for the sake of others. Sacrifice for us in America could be something as simple as parking further away from the main entrance, giving up our favorite seat, sliding to the center of a row, or attending a less popular service time.

 

Sacrifice could look more like giving up daily espresso, not buying your second or third flat screen TV, being content in your 2000 square foot house rather than moving to 4000 square feet, or any number of things and start channeling those resources toward eternal, kingdom purposes.

 

So radical shift number four . . . from comfort to sacrifice. Ask yourself, what could I sacrifice today that would help to advance God's purposes for eternity?