Relative Truths

Ok, so my brother David has a blog called “Confessions of a Church Planter.”  Well, since I am a church planter, I feel the need to confess something: I LOVE MY PEOPLE.  As the pastor of Connection Church in Suwanee, GA, I have been able to meet some really awesome people.  Since we have started worship, I have been blown away with how willing they are to work and serve. 

On Sunday mornings, we have a team of people that meet at 8 am to drag in equipment, set-up children’s rooms, get hospitality together, get our sound system running, get our projectors up, and anything else to make sure that people have a great experience in worship.  We have faithful people that set the tone by greeting and being hospitable.  Folks have already made up their minds about coming back before I ever get up to speak.  Because our greeters are so awesome, I know they will be engaged and feel welcome.  Then, after worship, I have great folks who don’t bolt for the restaraunts, they help break-down and pack-up.

Now, we are small, but I know we won’t stay that way.  How do I know?  Because of the great people I am able to serve with at Connection.  They are examples of being servants and make me so happy and thrilled that I get to be the pastor of Connection.  So, let me confess: I love my peeps!

Ok, so today was the conclusion of our “Discord: Getting Life In Tune” series.  We have looked at getting our home, finances, and work/school in tune.  Today we concluded with relationships.  Here are a few reflections:

Speaking on broken relationships was a lot harder than I thought.  In fact, I think this was harder than finances.  However, we all have them, and I hope that seem people forgive folks and mend some relationships because it matters to God.

I think this was our best worship service.  Danny was on in leading today and I think there was just a great vibe in worship.  I left so pumped!

We had 17 kids in Connect 4 today!  That is by far our biggest group.  For the second week in a row, all age groups were covered: nursery, toddler, preschool, and both small groups for elementary.  That even though we were missing a couple of regular kids!

We had a couple of really cool visitors.  Then, they stayed to help.  Thanks Matt and Andrew, you guys rock!

Ok, well, we that’s all for today.  Hope your weekend went great and tomorrow starts off right!  God bless!

Ok, so I had lunch with a good friend today who had some great quotes.  So, I thought I would do a quick list of some of my favorite quotes.  Some, I have heard recently, so I haven’t heard in awhile, some I have just read. 

“Go big or go home” — Andrew Erwin

“We need to do what no one else is doing to reach people that no one else is reaching” –I heard Andy Stanley say it, but I think Craig Groeschel told it to him

“My prayer is that what we do today means that hell will be less crowed” –Perry Noble

“God is far more interested in what we are becoming that what we are doing” –Wally Bryan

“If you are truly a Christian at some point in your life God will put you in a way position where you are over your head” –Wally Bryan again

“Saying a church is ‘missional’ is like saying a fish likes water” –Perry Noble

“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose: –Jim Elliott

“Just because something is not-Biblical doesn’t mean it’s not-Biblical” –David Walters

“I have failed over and over and over in my life.  And that is why I have succeeded” –Michael Jordan

Ok, those are some of my favorite quotes.  What about yours?

Ok, so I am wrapping up a work day here at Pjs Coffee in Suwanee.  Man, I really love this place.  One question I get often is what do you do all day.  Well, today was cool.  I had accountability this morning with some of the best guys I know in ministry.  After that, I went home to take care of some emails, grab some lunch, and take care of a few things.  Then, I headed to Suwanee to do some errands and come to PJs. 

Now I am wrapping up sermon prep, planning for future series (I am getting pumped about our Easter series!), getting our messages up on podcast (you can’t search for it yet, so click here for a link), and working on a few other things.  I can tell the end of the work day is approaching when I am here at Pjs.  I can see the Town Center Park.  It is full of families hanging out and people walking dogs.  The nearby restaraunts are getting full, and it is only me and another business guy here (he is sitting outside).  Seeing all these people outside remind me of why I wanted to start Connection Church in Suwanee.  I love this place.

Anyway, wrapping up and getting ready for Connection Group tonight.  I love my groups!  Hey, if you are available on Tuesday or Wednesday nights, join one, they’re great!

Ok, so today was part III of our series on Discord: Getting Life into Tune at Connection Church.  We looked at getting our finances in tune.  Here are the highlights:

It was my first time preaching on finances.  I was a lot more nervous than I thought, but it was a lot less awkward than I thought too.  The point I wanted to make is that God cares about our finances as much as any other aspect of our lives.  With that out there, and I made them know I wasn’t just trying to get more money, people seemed to connect with the point.

I got to see a friend I haven’t seen in awhile.  He was able to come to worship and I hope he can come back!

I love my people!  It is awesome to see folks take ownership of stuff.  People just come in and get to their “job.”  It’s amazing and a blessing to me.

I feel like we are the drought-busting church.  We have rain more often than we have sunshine!

That’s all.  Hope your week ends well and starts off great!

Ok, so I was at Unleash today.  Unleash is a one day conference at Newspring Church in Anderson, SC.  I’ll blog more about this later, but I wanted to share with you all a worship experience we had.  At the beginning of the second main session, the band led us in a song called “He Loves Us.”  I don’t like long posts, and I want to post the lyrics at the bottom, so I will keep this short.

It hit me that God loves us so much.  I mean, He loves us more than we could describe, blog about, sing about, or comprehend.  God loves us an amazing amount, and the truth is that we get so caught up with trying to do the work of God that we forget to simply remember that He love us.  So, read the words to this song, and know that God loves you so much!

He is jealous for me
Love’s like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great your affections are for me.
Oh, how He loves us so
Oh, how He loves us
How He loves us so.

Yeah, He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves.

So we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we’re all sinking
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way

That he loves us,
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves

He loves us,
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves

Ok, so we had our second weekly service at Connection Church yesterday.  One of the great things about starting a new church is that every week has this new feel to it.  So, we are just enjoying getting into the swing of a new church and doing things every week.  So, here are a few relfections on yesterday:

I love our new sound system.  Wayne is doing a great job getting us taken care of.  We were sound checking by 9:35 or so, and the band was totally done by 10:30.  It’ll be great when we know what we’re doing!

I really have the best volunteers in the world.  They get stuff set-up and taken down so fast, it blows my mind.  After the service, I was talking with some visitors.  When I was done, I noticed that so much of the worship room was already packed-up.  I love my peeps!

We keep having visitors.  We had some new families, couples, and individuals visit yesterday.  I know we are new, but I always love visitors.

We had people return.  One family that visited last week came back, and apparently the daughter ran to her Connect 4 class!  I want to be a church that is known for a great children’s ministry.  It looks like we are heading that way!

Well, I guess that is all.  Hope your week is beginning well.  Can’t wait for Sunday!

Ok, so last April when I was outlining the time-line for Connection Church, I never thought that having a launch Sunday on March 1 would involve snow!  Well, while the snow was great, I can’ help but wonder how many people woke up this morning ready to come check out the exciting new church in Suwanee, only to decide not to brave the elements.  Thousands I’m sure!  Anyway, today was our weekly launch.  Here are the highlights:

We had at least four new families!  I figure if we can get four new families each week, we’ll be doing pretty good!

The band was awesome!  I mean, really ridiculous.  They opened with “Broken” by Lifehouse, then led us in “All Because of Jesus,” “Mighty to Save,” “Hosanna,” “Amazing Love,” and “You Are So Good To Me.”  I think it was the best atmosphere for worship we’ve had so far!

I really do have the best volunteers in the world.  Today we tackled stage design and our own PA system, and we still finished way earlier than I thought.  I love those folks!

As mentioned above, it’s snowing.  Now that we are done hauling church stuff around, it looks really pretty.  Be careful out there in the morning!

Anyway, that’s about all.  Hope you had a great weekend with whatever you did!