I want to introduce you to a family that our church has come to know as ‘The Bandys’. They are a couple that was recently flooded out of their home. I don’t know about you but I cannot even imagine losing everything and having to start over. To make matters worse, the Bandys have been told by the emergency officials that their house is not in bad enough condition to be condemned. They cannot live it due to the mold and water damage; yet, they can’t get the assistance to fix their home. Some might argue that they should have had flood insurance but I know a lot of people who don’t have flood insurance, including me. So, I could easily be the Bandys. They simply don’t know what to do.

Our church took up an offering for the Bandys. We have never met them and probably never will. I know them through my parents and I think we can all sympathize with their plight. Starting over would be difficult but imagine doing it at 84. I took the check by their house the other day and they were not there so I left it for them as a gift from our church. My father just called me and told me that he went to visit them after church and she just cried and cried when she told him about the check. She said that it was just a reminder to her that God would provide. For many of us, it was such a simple gesture. For the Bandys, it was a powerful reminder of God’s love and grace.

I was reading this afternoon in the book of 1 Timothy. In the final chapter, Paul gives a final challenge (you know how I love the word challenge) to Timothy for him to always pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Paul goes on to challenge Timothy to fight the good fight of faith. (1 Timothy 6: 11-12)

Planting a new church can be one of the most difficult callings in ministry. I am not trying to diminish any other calling as I am sure that we all have days where we feel like our call is possibly the most challenging. There are days that I would read this passage and feel like I dont even have the energy to fight the good fight. Today is not one of those days.

I read a little further and the passage says that God gives life to everything. (vs 13) That phrase is what caught my attention as I read the scripture today. I received more emails today than I have ever received about a message. Apparently, God really moved in our church yesterday as we talked about God’s grace being sufficient for all things. One person wrote that the message really challenged them to examine how they looked at the difficulties that they were facing. Another person wrote that they could affirm everything that I preached as God have given them strength to walk through a struggle that would seem impossible to many of us. Another person wrote that they were simply thankful that we could be a place that was not afraid to talk about the difficult sides of life and they felt more accepted as a result of the message. I could literally go on and on.

So, my energy is not the typical Monday energy level. No, today – I am extremely thankful. I am thankful that I get to be a part of such an incredible group of people who are striving to come to understand what they believe. I am thankful that I am part of a group of people who are learning to not be afraid of talking about difficulties and also willing to share their joys. I am thankful that I serve alongside people who are willing to sacrifice in order to build the Kingdom of God. I am thankful that I am witnesses God giving life to The Well.

Should church be something that we WANT to attend? I had someone come up to me after my message and introduce themselves. They told me that they were at church for the very first time. They told me that they came because someone who visited for the very first time last week had called them and told them that they had to come with them this Sunday. The guy went on to tell me that his greatest observation was that it was amazing that people seemed excited to be at church. He said that he had never seen that. He plans to come back because he said he was leaving WANTING to return and that was an unexpected experience.

Should church be a place where people feel like their voices are heard? I had another person come to me after the message that has been coming to The Well since we started. They told me that they had been at another church prior to The Well and that my message really spoke to them. They said that they had approached their previous church with the same things that I preached about and no one would listen. Now, I have no idea how the conversations took place but this person’s perception was that they were not being heard. Perception is often reality to most people. This person was so excited because they felt like even though the people in the church had not heard them – God had and that The Well was an answer to their prayer years ago.

 Should church be a place where we are not afraid to look at other religions? We gathered last night to look at the Hindu faith and what are some of there main beliefs. We compared their beliefs to the basic beliefs of Christianity. Our reasoning was simple – if God calls us to reach out to everyone – shouldn’t we know what they believe. After the study, I had someone mention that they really enjoyed the study because we were not afraid to examine other faith traditions. They said they felt more prepared to engage someone of the Hindu faith – maybe not in a purely theological discussion – but they would not be afraid to talk about what they believe as a Christian.

I am constantly amazed at God. I was walking yesterday down a street in Staniard Creek on Andros Island in the Bahamas. As I walking and thinking, I was reminded that it was the actual anniversary of our church holding weekly services. Last year at this time, my focus and efforts were just on having weekly services and all of the energy that would take. I had never been to Andros Island – let alone heard of Staniard Creek.

Yet, God led us as a church to this small settlement and to a community that is starving for Jesus Christ. I think about the community that we live in Bartow County and how 66% of the community do not have a relationship with Jesus. I think about the passion that is growing in our church to reach those outside the church. Then, I think about how 95% of the people in Staniard Creek have no active relationship with Christ. If that is not frightening, 100% of the settlement down the island (which is 15 minutes away) are not connected to Christ. In the midst of the difficult situations that these people are living, they have no desire to be in relationship with God Almighty. To make matters worse – very few are trying to reach them.

Think about that. A short plane ride away is a community that is completely in need of Jesus’ love and mercy. One year ago, we had no idea they existed. Today, we do. We can no longer ignore them. We can no longer only worry about the unchurched in Bartow County. Our mission field has been expanded.

I continued to walk down the small road in Staniard Creek in order to get me a coke from J&J Foodland (not as impressive as it may sound – but a wonderful luxury) and found myself anticipating the miracle that God is bringing together. Will someone from our church be called into fulltime ministry on Andros Island? Will we put together some teams that will be able to build a camp to host larger mission teams? Will we return this summer and see adults come to know Christ. Only time will tell. The only thing that I am confident in is that I will certainly continue to be amazed at God.

When I have a birthday, I dont think that a year is that big of a deal. In fact, I often downplay the need of any mention or festivity.  However, my little girl is the exact opposite. She gets excited and anticipates it months in advance. She tells everybody she knows that her birthday is approaching. Of course, she is fishing for more gifts but the excitement is real.

The truth is that she is right. A year is a big deal. We should celebrate. If we believe that life is a gift from God, we should be joyful that we have another day to serve Him. We have another year to reach out and help people see the love that God has for them. It is truly a blessed opportunity. Our church is turning one year old this Sunday. As I think back to the past year, I am overwhelmed with emotions because I see the possibilities that exist within the life of our church.

Every person that has come into our church in the past twelve months represents a life that God is working on. I am a realistic person and I realize that not everyone has stayed at The Well. Some drifted in for a few weeks and some were quick to decide that we were not the church for them. But, many have stayed. Many have began to get plugged in. Many are beginning to understand the vision we have for reaching people in Bartow County as well as the vision to be focused on mission. Many have professed their faith in Jesus Christ. Many have traveled to another country to shine the light. Many have served. Many have worked together on community causes and acts of kindness. Many have invited friends. Many have grown in their understanding of God. Many have grown in their understanding of their neighbor. We should celebrate. Yes, the truth is that God has even greater things yet to come; however, we should not diminish the great things He has done in our midst already.

Sunday is going to be a great day. It will be a great day because we get to worship the Lord Almighty. It will be a great day because we will see friends and family. It will be a great day because we will get to sing out and praise Jesus. It will be a great day as we look forward to the coming year. As I think back to what a year it has been in our church, I am even more hopeful for what God is going to do in the coming year. 

My prayer is that we are just simply faithful. Sunday is going to be amazing – for no other reason than the fact that we will experience God’s love, mercy, and grace.

Sunday was unbelievable. First, Kyle was great and the service ended with such enthusiasm. You never know when you end a service with such a upbeat song like Broadcast by Steve Fee but it worked. I think everybody was rocking out and you could see that people were excited about worshiping God. Hands were up in the air and clapping and people were singing. It was great to see people not worried about what others think and just focused on praising God.

For me personally, Sunday was also a great reminder of God’s ability to provide strength in the midst of weakness. Just before the service – I was notified that my uncle had passed away. Focused on my aunt and mother, I was somewhat distracted. However, God poured out his Spirit and gave me the ability to focus on Him and his message when I needed to.

It was also great to see so many people stepping out on faith to share the message with the world. We had domestic, international and local mission opportunities for people to get involved. I think it was thirty minutes after the service and there was still people looking over the different ministries and getting involved. It is so cool to see people getting excited about serving God and leaving their comfortable surroundings in order to reach new people for Jesus. It was a great way to end the first full year of weekly services. I cannot wait to start another year of ministry at The Well.

I received a text late last night from someone who ended their text with the phrase – ‘God is Amazing!’  The person shared that God had got a hold of them over the last couple of days and would not let go. After surrendering to God, they shared with some other people what God had laid on their heart. As a result of this person’s faithfulness, two people came to profess their faith in Jesus Christ.  I hear stories like this and I am blown away at the way God works. Why on earth would God use us? We constantly make mistakes, we fail Him all the time; yet, He works through us to reach into someone’s life and change them. God is Amazing.

What can i say? If you missed this morning at The Well, it was incredible. Jacob Burson gave the message as part of a series that we are doing on what it means to be a disciple. As we look at the task of a disciple to assist in spreading the message, Jacob called us all to examine our commitment to Jesus.  Anything less than 100% should not be acceptable. His message was tough at times as I am sure that many of us were somewhat uncomfortable but his message was also truthful.

At the end of the message, Jacob gave a passionate plea to commit to reaching out to those who dont go to church. He reminded us that our task is not to simply increase numerical numbers but he reminded us that we are called to assist in building the Kingdom. The amazing thing was to watch people respond to God’s promptings. I, along with Jacob, can’t wait to see where God is taking us as a church.

We also began to promote our next Random Act of Kindness. By nature, a Random Act of Kindness is random so people have to sign up before they even know what they are doing. I realize that can be a scary process but you can’t believe how many people signed up. The coolest thing about an Act of Kindness is that is so much fun. We don’t realize that evangelism can be fun and exciting but it can. So, I am looking forward to what God is going to do when we show up in Euharlee and ………(can’t tell you yet)

Finally, the band was great. You may not have known that Kyle wasn’t feeling well but God was able to show that He is able to provide strength when we are weak. Erica was a great addition and I loved having a female voice in the mix. For me, the final song, I Will Rise, was just incredible. I realize that I am an emotional person but the tears were flowing as Kyle sang those words – “I Will Rise when He calls my name” – May we all be able to shout that truth.

Changed lives are so hard to measure and yet they are something that every church desires to see. (at least, I hope we do) Every once in a while, we have the opportunity to see someone whose life is in the midst of a God transformation. Let me tell you about a young man in our church. I received a phone call yesterday from this young man about an upcoming youth meeting in our church. He wanted to come but he had already committed to a previous event with his scout troop. We talked about his choices and I did not encourage him either way. I wanted him to make the decision and did not want to get in the middle of a family decision. Scouts has been a big part of this young man’s life and I did not want to discount the effect. He thanked me for the time and hung up. Several hours later, I received a text from the young man that simply read – ‘coming 2 youth’. My first reaction was hesitant. I wondered if he felt pressured . Then, I was reminded of the scripture in 2 Corinthians that talks about being a new creation. It talks about old things passing away and new things coming. Isn’t that transformation! This young man was willing to sacrifice something that was valuable to him in order to connect to a group that is going to help him grow closer to Christ. I am so proud for him. My prayer is that we are all able to follow the example of this young man.

We had a great Sunday at The Well. Kyle started us out with a new song, ‘Sing,Sing, Sing’, and it just set the tone for a great day of worship. Even with the threat of weather and a school holiday weekend, we had a good crowd and some new faces. We even had a ’skit’ where Jacob interrupted the service in order to talk about our upcoming SuperBowl party. Our hope is that we all understand the importance of this fellowship opportunity. First, it is a great chance to invite friends. People often will come to an event like this long before they will ever come to church. This is going to be a real family event as we are going to have moonwalks and sports game for all ages, free hamburgers and hot dogs, live music, and ‘The Well Bowl’. While all of that is great, the most exciting part of the event is that we are going to be making a  ’big announcement’ at the SuperBowl party. This announcement will help set our course as a church in 2009 and is something that I would love for everyone to come and hear. As we get closer to the party, I am sure I will have more to say and I also expect that we will see more of Jacob in the future. Until then, start talking it up. SuperBowl party – Excel Christian Academy – Sunday February 1st @ 6:00 p.m.