russbutcher.com

Weekly Reflections and This Week at CATG!

Big Idea:
God transfers us in order to TRANSFORM us!

Scripture Memory:
Colossians 1:13–14 (ESV)
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Action Step:
Identify one specific action/area of your life that needs surrendering to Jesus and turn it over to Him today.  Begin everyday with a prayer of surrender and walk IN CHRIST.

Random Thoughts:

• I am planning to vote today!  I hope you are!
• I am praying for Tom Kirby.  I love Tom and he has worked so hard in campaigning for the 7th district congressional seat.  I know he loves Jesus and wants to serve in the best interest of the people in our area.
• What a great weekend in the life of Church at the Grove!  Saturday night was our first IGNITE prayer/worship gathering at the Sweet Aroma room right behind the bakery.  We had an awesome time in worship and prayer.  I know and believe that God honors those that honor Him and come to Him in prayer.  I can’t wait to see the fruit!  You don’t want to miss the next IGNITE!
• Sunday morning was incredible.  I love Austin and the worship team.  We missed Austin last week (although Shelley did an awesome job) and it was great to have him back.  I am loving this series on the book of Colossians!  It is so rich in Jesus centered theology and practical truth for our lives.
• As much as I enjoy summer, I am about ready for the fall to get here.  I am ready for people to be back in town and for everyone to get back to the ministry of CATG!
• We continue to have a ton of guests each week come through CATG!  We can’t relax, we must be there early, focus on welcoming people that are new and come ready to hear God’s Word and apply it to our lives!
• The Romania team had our last meeting last night (Monday July 19).  We packed and weighed our luggage and spent some time praying.  We leave this Friday (July 23) and would love to have as many people praying for us as possible.  Please pray!
• We are working hard to prepare for Community Groups this fall.  We need a few more host homes and a few more leaders (facilitators)!  Please pray about being a host or a leader for one of our Community Groups.
• I am praying and expecting a BIG FALL for Church at the Grove!  Please join me in praying that God will use this fall in a HUGE way to impact our community and change lives.

Keep praying, keep investing, keep inviting!

Weekly Reflections and a look at Sunday!

Big Idea:
Jesus is creator and re-creator. He is sovereign and redeemer.

Scripture memory:
Colossians 1:19 (ESV)
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

Action Step:
Address a current issue/crisis in your life knowing you can trust Jesus as sovereign creator and personal redeemer.

Random Thoughts:

• I love the spring and summer but I think I am ready for the fall to get here!  I am ready for it to cool off!  More than anything, I am ready for the fall because I believe it will be the most exciting fall ever for Church at the Grove!
• I am so ready to get our Community Groups up and going! Can’t wait!
• I am look forward to this Saturday night at the Sweet Aroma Bakery for “IGNITE”!  It will be a sweet time of worship and prayer!  Don’t miss it at 6:30pm at the Sweet Aroma Bakery in Loganville!
• I loved Sunday!  I always miss Austin Prince when he is gone, but Shelley Prince did an awesome job leading worship Sunday morning!  I am so thankful for Gabe and all of our worship team!
• I love teaching from the book of Colossians!  It’s all about JESUS!
• We had an incredible “NEXT STEPS” gathering at the Butcher house on Sunday!  We had six families and a total of 33 people in attendance counting kids!  WOW!  I love sharing the vision of Church at the Grove!  We have had a large number of guests come through this summer and many are connecting long term.  I hope and pray that YOU WILL HELP ME LOVE ON, WELCOME, AND CONNECT THESE NEW PEOPLE INTO OUR COMMUNITY!
• We had our final training/meeting for Romania on Sunday night! We leave on Friday July 23 and it will be an awesome trip.  I hope you will pray for our team as we minister alongside the Hardin family and to the people of Romania.
• This Sunday will be an awesome Sunday!  We will be in part two of our “IN CHRIST” series and on Sunday night we are having our second Baptism/fellowship of the summer.  We are baptizing several people on Sunday night.  Don’t miss it.  Come and join us for food, fun, swimming and baptism!
• We had one of our largest offerings in a long time this week!  Thank you for your generosity in giving to support what God is doing!  It helped catch us up for the summer.  Please continue to give consistently and faithfully to support our ministries locally and globally.
• What an awesome blessing to be a part of what God is doing in the life of Church at the Grove right now!

Keep praying, keep investing, keep inviting! See you Sunday!

Weekend Reflections and looking forward!

Big Idea:
The Holy Spirit empowers every believer to make disciples.

Scripture Memory:
Acts 1:8 (ESV)
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Action Step:
Read through the book of Acts this week pray about how you can be used by God to make disciples.

Random Thoughts:

• Sunday was incredible at Church at the Grove!  Nathan did an outstanding job challenging us with the explosive history of the early church and how God can use US to continue to do His work through the power of the Holy Spirit.
• I love seeing new faces!  Even in these summer weeks, we continue to have many people worship with us each Sunday for the first time.
• I absolutely love the spirit of unity and love in our church!  I love the simplistic way we do stuff!  We had a short and sweet business meeting and installed a new Elder on Sunday.  Craig Ellington will be our new Elder and join our current team of pastoral staff and CATG Elders in leading our church as we grow.
• This was one of the busiest weekends I have had in a long time!  Wedding rehearsal Friday night, wedding Saturday.  Wedding rehearsal Saturday night, Church at the Grove Sunday morning, wedding Sunday at 1:30pm.  Josiah played in an All-Star tourney Saturday and we had a Romania Team meeting on Sunday night!  Crazy but good!
• I am so excited about going to Romania with Josiah and Abigail in July!  We had an awesome planning meeting on Sunday and we have a great group going to Romania on July 23.
• Nathan and our band did a great job leading at the “UNITED” area youth worship on Wednesday night.  It is incredibly difficult to prepare and preach 2 messages in a week like Nathan did!  Great job!  I love Austin, Shelley and our CATG band!  They are so solid and have such great attitudes and hearts to the Lord.
• We had a team of leaders attend a leadership conference on Saturday in Cartersville, GA at Oakleaf Church.  I am so thankful for such committed leaders!  They had an incredible time and came away with some awesome stuff to implement for CATGrove!
• We have a “NEXT STEPS” gathering coming up on July 11!  It will be a lunch at our home!  This is the place where you can learn more about CATGrove, our vision and dreams.  We share our beliefs, structure and it is a great time to ask questions about anything!  Let us know if you plan to attend.
• We have a baptism on Sunday evening July 18 at the home of Lynn and Barbara Bledsoe.  Let us know if you would like to be baptized.
• I am so excited about what God is doing.  We are working hard on some of the legal and zoning issues related to Miss Mattie’s home and hopefully will be able to begin some practical work very soon.  I love seeing the new people God is bringing us and I am so excited about this fall!
• We are working on some possible new changes regarding our children’s ministry for this fall.  I can’t wait to see it unfold!

Keep praying, keep investing, keep inviting!

Still Dreaming!

Still Dreaming For:

• I am still dreaming about a church that effectively reaches people far from God!  I am dreaming about reaching those that have never been in church and those that left church years ago for one reason or another!
• I am still dreaming about being a church for those already following Jesus but have grown weary of being a part of churches that have given up on reaching people outside the church and simply keeping those on the inside happy!
• I am still dreaming about reaching thousands and thousands of people and always struggling to keep up with baptizing those who have turned to follow Jesus!
• I am still dreaming about being a church that has to have multiple services on Sunday to accommodate all the people God is reaching through us!
• I am still dreaming about beginning new campuses in nearby communities that need a church passionate about reaching people far from God!
• I am still dreaming about being a church-planting church that is consistently launching new churches locally, nationally and across the globe!
• I am still dreaming about being a pastor of a church that consistently invests into young leaders that plant churches and have impact in communities locally and globally.
• I am still dreaming about being the godly leader and example to a faith community that models leadership, marriage, parenting and godly living God’s way!
• I am still dreaming about being at a location for the long haul for the maximum influence and missional impact!
• I am still dreaming about living for the glory of God and the good of people!

What are you dreaming about?