Monday Musings

 Church at the Grove, General  No Responses »
Sep 172007
 

I have to confess the last two to three weeks have been a blur and because of my exhaustion and need to recover, I feel I am unable to fully enjoy what God is doing in my life and in our midst here at Church at the Grove.  I look at what’s happening and I am overwhelmed but today (Mondays are like this often) I am just tired.  Consider this:

  • I am absolutely thrilled at what is happening with our middle school and high school students under the leadership of Nathan Boyd and Katelyn Acuff!  We have a student Community Group that meets every Wednesday night at the CATG office.  It has been going well but this fall has taken off.  This past Wednesday night they had 24 students!  We are running out of room.  While they were meeting downstairs, there were approximately 15 moms meeting upstairs for a Community Group.  Thank you to Julie Carr and Sandy Terrell for their leadership. 
  • Yesterday morning and the rest of September our students are meeting in their own environment while we are teaching through the Song of Solomon with the “Can We Bring Sexy Back?” series.  THEY HAD 29 THE FIRST SERVICE AND 15 DURING THE SECOND SERVICE!  I was blown away.  Thank you Nathan and Katelyn for investing in our students and doing a great job!  See pics below from Wednesday night.
  • Craig nailed it with our second installment of “Can We Bring Sexy Back?” teaching through the Song of Solomon and applying it to our life in a practical way.  If you missed it, make sure you check out the audio on the website (www.churchatthegrove.com and then click on “listen online” at the top left of the screen) or get a CD next week. 
  • Eating Salsa will never be the same!  Check out the message and you will understand!
  • David and the Band continue to do an outstanding job of leading us in worship.  I know I am partial, but I don’t think any church in the country has better worship leadership and music. 
  • Our Community Groups had a great week last week!  I have heard great stories from all the groups and their leaders.  Thank you Amy Story for your leadership with our Community Groups.  Thank you also for feeding my family.
  • My Community Group is awesome!  I am so excited about our group.  We met for the second time last night and had a blast.  We have lots of children!
  • We had a great C-3 (membership class) class last night. 
  • We had one of our largest offerings ever.  We will talk about sex more often!
  • We have sold more books and resources than ever related to our teaching series. 
  • If you are a CATGer, invite someone in your circle of influence to church this week.  We have some great momentum, a great teaching series for people outside of church, and God is doing some amazing things RIGHT NOW!

Go ahead, walk across the street, cubicle, room, or neighborhood and invite someone to CATGrove this week.

Students

Students

 Posted by at 3:21 pm

Core Values (Ministry Filters) Part 2

 Church at the Grove, Church Planting, READ THIS!  1 Response »
Sep 132007
 

As we celebrate the past year in the life of Church at the Grove, we are taking a look at the Core Values, or ministry filters as we like to call them. 

  • Authentic Relationships

Among the characteristics of the Buster (Gen-X) and Bridger (Millennial) generations is the longing desire for meaningful and accepting community.  Church at the Grove desires to be a community of acceptance and belonging for those outside the faith.  Christ places such an emphasis on our relationships with one another that He makes them the litmus test of true spirituality.  It is amazing and challenging.  Clearly, He meant for our relationships to each other, and our willingness to serve each other to be the greatest apologetic of the Christian faith.  Huge Groves of red cedars dot the western coast of the United States.  From a distance they appear tall and sturdy and strong.  But underground, their roots are shallow.  When  one falls, others often follow.  The only thing that holds up these majestic trees is that they lean on each other.  Their branches literally reach out and touch one another.  Their roots intertwine and support one another.  Not one of them can stand alone.  The journey of life is too difficult to make alone!

  • Intentional Simplicity

One of the unique characteristics of Church at the Grove is found in our intentional effort to accomplish more by doing less.  This focus on simplicity will empower us to do the few things we do with excellence, and empower individuals and families to pursue missional ministries in their neighborhoods and circles of influence.  We will seek to maximize the time of individuals and families by maintaining a very simple calendar so they can use their time effectively to impact their community. 

  • Faithful Stewardship

Stewardship is defined by how Time, Talent, and Treasures are handled.  Church at the Grove will seek to manage God’s resources with integrity and balance.  In addition, we will seek to lead people to faithfully manage their valuable resources in ways that honor God and most effectively fulfill His purpose. 

 Posted by at 8:07 pm

Core Values (Ministry Filters) Part 1

 Church, Church at the Grove, READ THIS!  No Responses »
Sep 122007
 

Filters

We launched a church, CATGrove, a year ago.  In light of being into this endeavor for one year, I have been reflecting on our vision, mission, and strategy.  We have six core values (or ministry filters as we like to call them).  These filters are in place to help us focus and say “NO” when necessary.  Everything we do “filters” through these values.  I will post 3 today and 3 in the next day or two.

Biblical Faith

God has revealed himself through the Living Word of Jesus Christ and through the written Word of Scripture.  The first and most important filter is the Bible.  We receive the scriptural mandate to take the gospel to all people from God’s Word.  Matthew 28:18-20  It is the final authority on matters of faith and practice for the ministry of Church at the Grove.  While our methodology may be non-traditional, it will be filtered through the value of Biblical Faith.

Persuasive Compassion

Matthew records Jesus moving through the towns and villages teaching and healing the sick.  He states that upon seeing the crowds, “Jesus was moved with compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36)  Compassion can be defined as being moved deeply to the point of hurting in your stomach for someone’s plight and pain.  Compassion doesn’t stop there but responds with action toward those in need.  Compassion is “simply being broken to the core to the point of action”.  Persuasive Compassion is an intentional response to those in need for the purpose of bringing them to Christ.  The first generations born and raised in a post-Christian culture will need persuasive compassion from a community of Christ-following believers. 

Missional Responsibility

We desire to fulfill the mission God has given the Church. See here; and here and here. In both Old and New Testaments we encounter a God who is on a redemptive mission in the world.  In fact, we are astounded at the lengths to which God will go in pursuit of his mission to redeem the crowning achievement of his creation — people.  In North America, the term “mission” has been associated with either sending called people to other parts of the world or giving financially toward reaching others around the world.  With the United States now being among the largest mission fields in the world, and the fact that there are now multiple generations born and raised in a post-Christian culture, we must address the need for churches to think “missionally” in a local context.  What if each individual believer and household could see their home as a “base” for missional operations to reach the entire neighborhood for Jesus?  This is a core desire for Church at the Grove!

 Posted by at 4:46 pm

9-11 Where were you?

 Culture  1 Response »
Sep 112007
 

I will never forget standing in the cafeteria at Kennesaw Mountain High School during a character education breakfast and Pastor Mike Linch walking into the high school to tell us that planes had hit one of the Twin Towers. 

I spent most of the morning in one of the classrooms with a group of students watching the events on the television in the classroom.  It sparked some great discussions and conversations that led to talking about hope in Jesus.

I will never forget that morning and the emotions and turmoil I observed in others and in my own heart and mind.

Where were you and what is the significant memory of that morning?  Post a comment!  It may be therapeutic.

 Posted by at 9:03 am
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