2011 June » russbutcher.com

Fully Following what God has for The Grove!

Church at the Grove, Faith, Jesus, Leadership, Missional, Random Thoughts No Responses »

Jun 202011

I was so excited to hear what God did last week in the lives of people in the area of Tuscaloosa, AL last week as some of our CATGrovers went and served in the Sports Camp organized by Allison Boyd. Nathan Boyd and Austin Prince went to join them on Friday night to preach and lead worship at the end of the week gathering/celebration. I know there were well over 50 individuals that turned to follow Jesus and so many lives were impacted. You can see the video of the week here!

I have been reading from the book of Numbers on the life of Joshua and Caleb this week and this verse jumped out at me BIG TIME. Numbers 14:24

Numbers 14:24 (ESV)
24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

I believe with all my heart that God has called us to aggressively ADVANCE the gospel to a lost and dying world. Over 4 1/2 years ago we stepped out on a faith journey to “fully follow” God’s leadership in sharing His love, grace and mercy! I am so thankful for the people that God has brought to us that possess a “different spirit”. I believe if we continue to follow God’s leadership by faith that He will give us His favor to continue to see people turn and follow Jesus.

We have stepped out on faith in helping start several churches like River Hills Church in Winder and Riverbend Community Church in Pennsylvania and others. By faith we have had a part in sending Pat and Joy Hardin to Romania, David and Gracie to Asia, Josh and Rebekah Holt to England and now have partnered with an orphanage in Cairo, Egypt!

We now embark on an amazing faith journey to begin a new Sunday morning gathering in Social Circle! I know; its crazy! We are simply trying to continue in a “different spirit” and “fully follow” what God has for us. We simply want to obey God as He leads us to ADVANCE the gospel to people yet to hear about His love, grace and mercy! Please join us!

Fasting and Praying!

Please join us as we fast and pray on Mondays for the first two meals of the day through the end of July. I would love for you to lift up our desire to stay focused on glorifying God through Advancing the gospel forward. If you can’t fast food, please consider fasting something else that is a regular part of your life. I am very excited about what God has in store for our future but at the same time it is a little frightening. I imagine it was frightening for Joshua and Caleb as they entered the promise land to scout it out for Moses! They knew that God is faithful and that He will always make a place for the vision and mission He has put in us as long as we are “fully following” Him.

Let’s Do it!

Keep praying, Keep investing, Keep inviting!

Don’t take a summer vacation from The Grove!

Church at the Grove, Community, Faith, General, Jesus, Missional, Random Thoughts No Responses »

Jun 142011

Okay, here is what I am excited about!

Here it is summer time and we are having tons of guests every Sunday! What I am even more excited about is the fact that our guests are coming back a second and third time! That is HUGE and it confirms that God is doing some incredible things in the life of The Grove.

I was absolutely thrilled about how our GROUPLINK went on Sunday night! In three different homes we had over 120 people connect together to fellowship, eat and share in the vision that God has given Church at the Grove. That is huge for a hot Sunday night in June. Huge thanks to Craig and Amy Story for coming up with the idea and organizing GROUPLINK. Huge thanks go out to Chad and Anita Spinks, Russ and Joanna Spires and Craig and Amy again for hosting groups in their homes. Remember, our church is only as strong as the relationships cultivated in authentic community! We can’t grow as disciples simply sitting in rows starring at the backs of people’s heads. Authentic community comes from sitting in circles face to face! Keep growing GROVE and don’t miss out on the relationships God wants you to have.

In light of that, please don’t take the summer off from Church at the Grove!

You are going to travel and take vacations. You are going to visit with family. You are going to spend time at the pool. But don’t take a vacation from your faith community.

You potentially can wake up on a Sunday morning and realize the summer is gone and you haven’t connected with your church for weeks or months. God doesn’t want that for you. It is not spiritually healthy for you and it will not advance the gospel and the mission God has given our church. Please make it a priority to be a part of our gatherings this summer when you are not out of town! I miss seeing you and I know others miss you.

Don’t forget about our CATGrove fast that goes through July! Fast your two early meals on Mondays for CATGrove’s continued missional focus and our Social Circle Launch next January! God is working and we want to continue to see HIM accomplish His will and purpose through us. Some things only come by prayer and fasting. That is what Jesus said!

Be praying for our Romania team as they complete preparations to go at the end of July.

Be praying for the Sports Camp taking place in Holt, Alabama outside of Tuscaloosa this week.

Be praying for our children’s and youth ministry leadership as we seek to fill that position.

Be praying for UNITED, our summer youth ministry on Wednesday nights at the local High Schools.

Try to come by Chick Fil A on Wednesday’s Spirit night to help raise money for our Romania Team.

Keep praying, Keep investing, Keep inviting!

Cultivating Authentic Community

Church at the Grove, Community, Jesus No Responses »

Jun 092011

One of the characteristics of Church at the Grove that I love the most is Authentic Community! People are real and genuine and there is so much love shared among our faith community.

One of our core values is “Authentic Relationships” and I believe with all my heart we have seen God bless us with rich, genuine relationships.

It is out of this core value and CATGrove reality that I PLEAD and URGE you to participate in our “GROUPLINK” this Sunday night June 12!

We have a “GROUPLINK” gathering in the Loganville area, Social Circle area and the Monroe area. If you have questions you can go to www.churchatthegrove.com and click on “Get Connected” and then “Community Groups” or just click here and you will have some info details on what is happening. We will be glad to answer any questions you have on this coming Sunday morning.

Read what Jesus said in John 15:12 and consider how this applies to our local faith community.

We are challenged by Jesus to demonstrate His love for the world by loving one another!

Would you be willing to join us as we take steps to put this important principle into action.

Keep praying, keep investing, Keep inviting!

See you Sunday!

Remembering why we do what we do! & This Week in The Grove!

Church at the Grove, Church Planting, Culture, Faith, Jesus, Leadership, Missional, Random Thoughts, READ THIS! 1 Response »

Jun 032011

The “new routine” of Summer kicked into gear this week with celebrating Memorial Day and getting used to school being out. It has truly been a great week and I have reflected on the goodness and faithfulness of God so much this week.

I was able to spend some time with a few different people this week that helped remind me of why we do what we do at Church at the Grove.

I spent some time with a friend that is hungry exploring faith issues and the Bible for the first time in his life. It is so refreshing to see that hunger for the Word of God and the things of God. This is why we started Church at the Grove! We desired to build relationships with people born and raised in the first “post-Christian” generation that didn’t have the Bible and Christian foundation that so many have had in previous generations, especially here in the Bible Belt. This friend is vigorously pursing God through reading the Word and becoming a part of the Church at the Grove family.

I spent some time with a precious family that has gone through a recent tragedy in their family and it is so encouraging to see them lean into God during this tough trial. They have been overwhelmed with the outpouring of love from their Grove family and are trusting God as they continue to move forward. I always think I am going to visit someone in need and encourage them but often I am the one that leaves a home being encouraged by the family I visit with.

I was able to cast the vision I believe God has given Church at the Grove with a family this week. It never gets old sharing the mission and vision God has given us. It is so humbling and surreal to see how God has delivered on what He promised us He would do just over 5 years ago when we set out on this adventure! As I shared the heartbeat of our church and what I believe is distinct and significant about Church at the Grove, I was overwhelmed again with gratitude and resolve to move forward faithfully to accomplish what God has led us to do!

Can I remind you?!

Vision:

God has called us to reach out to the first generations born and raised into a “post-Christian” American culture. We desire to share the gospel with these generations and see God build a church of influence!

Mission:

Church at the Grove exist to develop people who follow Jesus and Make Disciples.

Strategy:

We seek to fulfill God’s Vision and Mission for Church at the Grove through:

Creating Environments where people can explore faith at their own pace.

Encouraging relationships.

Starting discussions and conversations that lead to sharing the hope found in Jesus.

Simply put, we want more than anything else make much of Jesus, glorifying Him through touching individual lives with the love and grace of God. Love God; Love people!

Keep praying, Keep investing, Keep inviting!