A Reminder from Today

As we start a new week at our jobs, school, or at home, I wanted to just encourage you all to remember highlights from today's message. Today, we discussed our core value: We Seek Those Far From God. As you encounter co-workers, family members, and friends who are far from God; remember how Jesus responded or dealt with them:

HE MET THEM

He met them in their mess, right where they were. People need to be reminded that it's not God who is far from us, but it's us who is far from Him. One step in the other direction and we see that Jesus was there all along, meeting us in our darkest hour. 

Meet people where they are this week. Run to the mess.

HE EMBRACED THEM

Before He confronted their sin, He embraced them as people not just a project. Jesus never condoned sin, but He always loved the sinner. His compassion and approach to people was so incredible that people repented and followed Him because of His overwhelming love. People who are jacked up don't need people to point that out; they already know. 

Remember to embrace people, their faults and all. Your compassion and sincerity will create soft soil in their hearts to receive the seed of the word of God. Love people for who they can become, not for what they've done.

HE INVITED THEM

Jesus always gave people the opportunity to follow Him. He invited them to repentance, healing, a life of peace, a life of forgiveness. If we only show people love or good deeds but never share Jesus then what's the point? Jesus' compassion had a purpose: restore mankind's relationship with God that had been broken by sin. 

Who are you inviting to experience Jesus? Who are you intentionally building relationships with to influence them to become followers of Christ? Invite someone to meet Jesus this week whether in person or a church invite. 

Today, four people publicly professed Christ as Savior. That should never get old to us church. As we start our new week, may we never forget to seek out those who need Jesus. It's why we do what we do. Have a blessed week church, I love and honor each of you.

Pastor B

Weekend Review

I don't even know where to begin. What an amazing weekend, church! I hope and pray that the message truly impacted each person that came this weekend. I'm telling you GC, if we will all develop that servant's heart, we will see our city turned upside down! It was such a powerful experience; especially talking to people throughout the day who were impacted by the worship experiences. Here's a recap of the weekend:

Attendance: 740 people at our morning worship experiences...that's a non-holiday record! We had 205 GKids! We had our largest 3rd worship experience ever at 230 people. There were 74 5-11 year olds alone in the 2nd worship experience. Unreal!
Our student ministry; PULSE, saw an attendance record of 201 people! It was THE best student worship experience of the year!

Salvations: In the morning worship experiences, we saw 5 people come to know Jesus as their savior. 2 of those were baptized as well! At PULSE, 13 students stood to their feet to place their faith in Christ as their savior!! It was incredible!

Baptisms: We baptized 11 people yesterday morning. And 9 of the 13 students that received Christ signed up for the next baptism! We saw mother/daughters being baptized, coaches baptizing their players, 2 men who were saved following through immediately with baptism. 

Generate Ownership: This is our class to join the church and get involved to become an owner (not a member). We had 24 people taking their next step and joining one of our serve teams. Nearly every class this year has been full every month! As our teams grow, so will our church, which in turn grows the Kingdom.

Life Change Stories: As I mentioned already, there were 2 gentlemen who were saved/baptized yesterday. 
*I spoke with a man who had not been to church in 45 YEARS! He lost 2 children in a fire and has had trouble coming to church. He said that he's never been impacted by a church as he has since he started coming 2 weeks ago. 
*I spoke with someone who has been out of church for 5 years and was living with her fiancee, but recently broke up. They both agreed that they needed God in their relationship and lives. They both were VIP's yesterday and rededicated their lives to Jesus and are excited about their next steps in their faith journey. She even came back to PULSE and loved it!
*One gentlemen, who just started coming a few weeks ago, said he had never been to a church that accepted him. He has a lot of tattoos and piercings. He has been saved and baptized since attending GC! His sister came and was baptized yesterday!
*We had VIP students who came, got saved, and are now going to attend camp with us at PCB this summer. It was an incredible night of life change at PULSE.
*We even had a retiree sign up to go and help with camp because he was so inspired by his first visit to PULSE last night!

In just 1 year's time we have seen 59% growth. That's not normal church! The thing that excites me most is continuing to see double digit baptisms and full Ownership classes. That means our Dream Team is growing and people are following through with next steps. The Code is being lived out in all that you are faithful with church. If we will dedicate ourselves to doing what God has called us to do, God will always be faithful with His part. 

As I shared in yesterday's message, God wants to share the miracle with us. When He blessed the food to feed the 5,000, He placed it in the hands of the disciples. I believe He finds great joy in sharing the miracle and allowing us to be a part of the bigger picture. Remember to stay grateful and faithful. Our gratitude will produce Godly attitudes and our faithfulness will bring fruitful results. Give God the glory and He will let us share in the miracle. 

Have a blessed week and get fired up...because we get to do it all over again in 6 days :)