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We’ve got a couple of pretty cool things happening this weekend.
Starting off, we’ll have a special musical guest with us. He was on the road with Little Richard for over 15 years, and has a tremendous turnaround story. I think he can sing a little bit (smile). He’s going to light it up for us.
Also, Argentina is getting baptized. Yes, that would be John Gibbs. Do you want to miss that?
At least one month out of the year I try and read through the New Testament. Attached is a reading plan for that. I’m going to try and tackle it in the month of February. Of course, it is a 30-day plan, so it will stretch into March. Anybody want to take the challenge with me?
On Friday, someone dropped off a dog, with a bowl of food, at the church. They were driving a very nice Range Rover. What I mean by dropped off is "dumped." They did not come back to get the dog.
The dog is still around. We've tried to catch the dog, to no avail. We've called the appropriate authorities. I'm just curious, if you met this Range Rover driving person, what would be your reaction?
Great post here on MLK. Love the imagery and message.
This Sunday will be an incredible opportunity to invite your friends and your One Life. Don't miss it.
I was frustrated when I couldn't find my keys. Imagine misplacing $7B!
What's up with Heath Ledger's death? It's always a time to reflect on the brevity of life and what we should be doing with the time we have.
Giants or the Patriots? I like the Patriots, but I also like an underdog. That's different than a loser, and I'll post more on the difference later.
I was an early reviewer of an upcoming book, Pop Goes The Church by Tim Stevens of Granger Community Church in Indiana. Because it has not been released, I can't use any material here. But it did have a couple of statements that I think will have some pretty strong impact. As one reviewer put it, "it is both engaging and provocative."
When it snows in Atlanta, why do people go for the milk? Is it because it is white, like snow? Is it for hot chocolate? Is it to feed the cat? Does our body need more milk when it is cold? I have no idea. That has nothing to do with today's post.
Many times, when people don’t attend church on a Sunday for various reasons, they don't "make up their tithe the next week.” I’m grateful that so many people are committed to honoring God through their generosity, whether they miss a week or not. Online giving is a great way to help us remain consistent in giving, even when we miss. We’ve got some aggressive plans for reaching our community as we head towards Easter, so if you need to take advantage of online giving to be part of what will happen, here you go. The mission doesn't stop with the weather.
More importantly, however, notice the evite while you’re at the website. This Sunday we will present a shattering view of what it means to get rid of our junk and re-design our lives. You’ll want to continue to invite people you know. These last weeks I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting the people that you have invited to Stonecreek. Keep it up.
I must say, when contemplating the idea of not having church on Sunday, I realized that in general, Sunday is the easy part of my work week.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of work – I am toast when the day is done. I get up extra early and go through my pre-game ritual: up at 4:30 to pray and rehearse final game plan, quick jog, breakfast, shower, Starbucks, sound check, etc. (Oh yeah, speak). But Sunday is fun. We get to gather together, worship God with incredible music, encourage each other, hear stories, give, laugh, serve, listen to God’s Word preached, respond, etc. Stonecreek is a very meaningful place to be on Sunday. (I’d love to know your favorite part of Sunday. Leave me a comment.)
But during the week it can be hard. It’s a heavy weight to think that your team carries the responsibility for a ton of people’s spiritual well-being. Even more than that, the responsibility of doing what God wants and being accountable to Him, well you get the picture. There are decisions to be made as to what is best. There are the great stories of people who have had their lives impacted. There are also those people who you have poured into who decide to move down the street to have their itch scratched. There are tragedies and junk to help people work through. Life is tough, and we hold the answer with the responsibility to tell people.
With all that said, I’m not sure I can do anything else. I’m compelled. Even when the weeks are tough, and the emotional drain is like a poke in the eye, Sundays are fantastic. Stonecreek, thanks for making it that way. And don’t forget, there are a lot more people who need to experience that.
We have cancelled services for Sunday, January 20th due to weather. We held off as long as we could. The Georgia DOT is suggesting that people stay off of the roads after dark. It doesn't seem that it will warm up anytime soon after that. We have cancelled mainly because we are concerned for our volunteers and staff. We are concerned that the road conditions that early in the day could prove to be hazardous for them.
For this week at Stonecreek and schedule changes, click here.
For message downloads, click here.
To give online, click here.
To invite a friend, click here.
Well, a couple of pastor friends of mine got a snow war happenin’. I tend to agree with them. However, I'm a big sissy and remember the ice storms we had when we were portable. The tongue locks on the trailers froze. Ken Murphy and I stood in the parking lot and breathed on the locks until they thawed. I remember dragging the trailers through the ice and thinking, "what am I doing?" I remember pulling signs out of the back of the truck, and then falling out myself. I remember my fingers turning black from the frost bite, all in the name of Jesus, and machismo. (It's obvious these guys don't work the road crew (smile).)
So, with that "junk" in my life, we will not make that kind of decision until it is absolutely necessary. The assumption is that we'll have church. However, I know that a few things happen when it snows in Atlanta - milk is gone, bread is gone, and driving is gone. If we do cancel, it will only be for those from the South.
So, keeping checking here Sunday morning, or the Stonecreek website, or Ken’s blog, or call the church, or call my house (8765309, smile) …well, on second thought.
If it looks questionable, we’ll post. If not, don’t bother looking. We've got some important ground to cover on Sunday.
I should have written a few days ago, but the week kind of ran away from me:
• John has recovered well from Cincinnati. We’ll go back in a month and see how he’s doing. We’re continuing to work on his swallowing, as it can take some time to eat. Also, his voice needs a lot of work, so we begin speech therapy today.
• Pray for our insurance issues. We’re filing an appeal with our insurance company. Our prayer is that once they have all the information, they’ll have a better grasp of John’s case and provide full coverage.
• Thanks to all of you who parked around the lake on Sunday! Great problem to have. We’ll be opening some parking soon at the office park located adjacent to our building. We’ll keep you posted on that.
• This Sunday we’ll launch more people into Connection Groups than we have ever launched at one time! If you haven’t registered, contact Jason Howard. Groups are a great way to grow spiritually and stay connected into what God is doing in our church.
• We’re hosting Q100 and a self-defense seminar on Thursday night. See Ken’s post about it. This is a great opportunity to invite someone to Stonecreek. They can see the building and get a feel for the vibe that happens on Sunday.
• Visit www.dumpyourjunk.net and DUMP YOUR JUNK! I've got high expectations for these next few weekends. Our staff has really enjoyed hearing stories coming from this series.
• If you haven’t signed up for a Segue Live! Tour, we have added some tours to accommodate the demand. Contact Angela Cole. The tour will let you see all of our ministries and get plugged into a volunteer role.
• If you are not volunteering, now is the time. Contact Angela Cole.
• We’ll be baptizing on January 27th. Contact Jason Howard about this. What a great way to start the year spiritually!
• Our next series, starting February 10th is “There’s Something About Benjamin.” What is it about him?
• What about the Compassion display in the lobby? You need to sponsor a Compassion child if you haven’t already.
When you become fruitful disciples of mine, my Father will be honored.
- Jesus (John 15:8, CEV)
A dream for any church is to see leaders employ their God-given passions for His purposes and to see new, thriving leadership emerge. In recent days, we have had the privilege of seeing God raise new leaders and expand the influence of existing leaders from within our ministry at Stonecreek. Many have taken the step to serve in our ministry as volunteers for the very first time through our Segue environments. And, some of our faithful volunteers have been so captured by God’s calling on their lives, that we’ve added them to our staff team.
I am excited to share with you two new staff assignments that are “fruit” from our ministry.
Mark, Carla and Caleb Brown
Mark Brown’s heart truly beats with a passion to bring honor to the name of Christ. This same passion has characterized his desire to create an engaging environment for our middle and high school students each Sunday morning. Over recent weeks, we have been blessed to have Mark join us in our adult services and lead us in worship. He has become a key contributor to the creative planning for our adult message series. God has called Mark to lead others in worship. We celebrate this calling on his life and affirm his passion to serve God by engaging others in worship through music.
As Mark moves to serve on our music and creative arts team, we are pleased to welcome Dustin Dozier as our Director of Student Ministries (middle and high school).
Dustin and Sloan Dozier
Dustin has been involved in Stonecreek’s student ministry as a volunteer and speaker over the last four years. His greatest desire is to connect with students and their parents and lead them to walk with God. Dustin will provide leadership to Surge (middle school) and Hydr8 (high school), extending our ministry to engage student culture beyond Sunday mornings into their neighborhoods, schools and communities. He has also served as a volunteer coordinator for Stonecreek’s growing missions partnerships and initiatives, overseeing the “Backpacks of Hope” project (Guatemala), “Compassion Sunday” event, and 2008 trips to Jamaica and Guatemala.
As you can see, our ministry is bearing fruit. We are amazed at God’s provision for our every need, and we humbly steward the mission He has entrusted to us. Thank you, Stonecreek, for your part in growing fruitful leaders. It is a pleasure to partner with you as we connect with people and lead them to an authentic and growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
