Howdy NewSpring Church, FIVE things I want to share with everyone today…
#1 - To say that Sunday was incredible would be an understatement. I’m still in awe of what the Lord did in every single one of our services. To see people stand to their feet and admit they were struggling with a tough time and then to see people around them stand beside them and pray for them is one of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had in ministry. AND…I’m STILL CELEBRATING the ten people who surrendered their lives to Christ!!! (AND…“It Is Well” and “His Eye Is On The Sparrow” were breathtaking!!!)
#2 - It was a GREAT day for us to focus on Hebrews 13:8 and the fact that Jesus IS GOOD TODAY, no matter what we are going through. My circumstances do not alter His character…and most of the time it’s not our problems that need to change but actually our perspective. You can go right here and check out the message in 10 tweets.
#3 - MANY people (both Christians and non-Christians) struggle intensely with seeing themselves as valuable either because of what has been done to them and/or what they have done to themselves. This coming Sunday we will be taking a look at John 2:1-11 and seeing in this text the value of someone who belongs to Christ. If you have EVER struggled with feeling “not good enough” then I promise you that you do not want to miss this Sunday!!!
#4 - A HUGE “THANK YOU” to everyone who purchased a copy of my brand new book, “Unleash!” If you haven’t been able to purchase a copy yet you can do so by going to this website. OR…if you just want to wait we will have them available at every campus on Sunday, October 7.
#5 - Finally…I want to CELEBRATE with everyone at NewSpring Church about all that God has done over the past year. One of our core values is “Found People Find People” and I want to say thank you to everyone who not only knows this phrase but lives it out and embraces every opportunity to invite people to church. Saying all of that Outreach magazine has published their annual report of the 100 largest and the 100 fastest growing churches in the US…and this year NewSpring Church was listed as the 16th largest church in the United States and the 13th fastest growing.
What does this mean? It’s simple…that we believe the numbers matter because we know that EVERY number has a name, every name has a story and every story matters to God. We see in the book of Acts that numbers matter because number are people (see Acts 1:15, Acts 2:41, Acts 2:47, Acts 4:4, Acts 5:14, Acts 6:1, Acts 6:7, Acts 9:31, Acts 11:26, Acts 16:5.) Jesus Himself taught that numbers matter in Luke 15:3-7, how did the shepherd know that one was missing if he was not counting them? I am celebrating because we are seeing large numbers of people coming to KNOW Christ and then continuing to GROW in Him.
However, I also want our church to understand what this DOES NOT mean. It does not mean that our church is better than other churches. It does not mean that we are perfect. It does not mean that we have all of this figured out. I am not sharing this to say “look how awesome our church is” but rather to say “look how AWESOME God is and what HE IS DOING!” We are far from perfect (and always will be as long as I am the pastor!) :-) AND…we still have a long way to go and a lot of people to reach! (100,000)
I honestly struggled with whether or not to share this information…but felt compelled to do so as I recently read through the Psalms and saw on MULTIPLE occasions the command to make know what the Lord has done! (Psalm 9:11, Psalm 35:28, Psalm 40:9, Psalm 64:9, Psalm 66:5, Psalm 66:16, Psalm 71:16, Psalm 79:13, Psalm 98:1, Psalm 105:1, Psalm 118:17, Psalm 145:6). Celebration and proclamation are not suggested in the Scriptures…they are commanded. I refuse to raise my hands to signal “touchdown” on Saturday (which indicates I am a fan) and then be silent about what the Lord is doing in our church! I’m pumped…and I am believing that THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!! (I wrote an article about CELEBRATION here if you would like to read it!)
That’s it for this week!!! And may our atmosphere of CELEBRATION lead to a sense of ANTICIPATION as we prepare for this Sunday!!! I love my church!