Great Bible Study

 Bible, Church at the Grove, Faith, Financial Freedom  No Responses »
Jun 092009
 

I just finished listening to a great Bible Study led by one of our own Grovers! 

Brian Peart is involved in the leadership of a Christian Mortgage Brokers Group and leads people all across the country in Bible Study each month via conference call technology. 

Check it out: 

http://seminoles.audioacrobat.com/download/ee26d5a3-0b89-0148-3569-6273cb8f96d2.mp3     

You can download it or play it. 

 Posted by at 3:28 pm

Sunday Reflections and Discipleship Notes

 Bible, Church at the Grove, Random Thoughts  No Responses »
Oct 272008
 

Big Idea:  A changed nature results in changed behavior!

Memory Verse:
Ephesians 5:15 (NIV)
15 Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise,

Action Step:
Ask 2 or 3 people closest to you to give you some insight on where your Christ-like character could use some development or improvement.  Avoid feeling defensive and be willing to receive it to grow in your character and conduct. 

Random Thoughts:

  • Going back to Thursday of this past week:  We had dinner with some of our closest friends in the neighborhood to celebrate our sweet friend Terri.  Terri has received a promotion and a great opportunity with her job and she will be moving soon.  I couldn’t help but think about the authentic community we shared with our friends.  It was great.
  • Friday, I was able to spend some time with Mike from our police department here.  It was great to hear how God is working in his life.  We did some things to get ready for “Shop With A Hero” that is coming in December.
  • Saturday I officiated a wedding ceremony for a sweet couple I have met through my friend Billy.  It was a beautiful wedding and Georgia beat LSU!  I enjoyed going to the wedding with my beautiful bride and without the kids. 
  • Yesterday at The Grove was great.  Good crowd and a great service.  In the early service, Ric stopped right in the middle of the second song and dismissed the band from the stage and exhorted the congregation about authentic and genuine worship.  It was off the cuff and extremely relevant.  It was powerful. 
  • We had a great community group last night.  I love the group.  God is doing some really cool stuff with this group and with Church at the Grove as a whole.
  • I am really excited about this upcoming series titled “STRETCH”.  It is very timely in light of what is going on in our country right now.  We will share how we can STRETCH a dollar in order to STRETCH the Kingdom of God and how this all results in STRETCHING our personal faith. 

 Posted by at 12:48 pm

More Important Than Football!

 Bible, Church, Faith, Family, Jesus, Leadership, Missional, Sports  No Responses »
Oct 272008
 

Some things are simply more important than Football! I love this story because it gives me a picture of real faith. The Richt family want to be Jesus in a practical way and responded to God’s leadership in their life. This is what CHURCH is really about. What an example of missional living! This is a family of true faith.

 Posted by at 11:18 am

Presence over Performance

 Bible, Culture, Faith  1 Response »
Sep 162008
 

Luke 10:41-42 (NIV)
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,
42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I am finishing a book titled Lone Survivor written by Marcus Luttrell about him being the only survivor of the worst attack on U.S. special forces in

Afghanistan.  Luttrell writes concerning that specific attack but he includes great detail concerning the training he went through to become a NAVY SEAL specifically the third week of SEAL training called “HELL WEEK”.  The mission of NAVY SEALs is to operate in unconventional warfare conducting small unit, high impact missions and spefically now are engaged in active pursuit of elusive, dangerous and high-priority terrorist targets has them operating in remote, mountainous regions of Afghanistan, and in cities torn by factional violence, such as Baghdad, Iraq.

 In light of their mission, the most famous and worst week of their training, called HELL WEEK, takes them to their physical, mental and emotional limits for the purpose of seeing what they can endure with the least amount of recuperation.  Only 25% of those that enter this week complete the week.  It is 5 ½ days of continuous training with only 4 hours of sleep total over the 5 ½ days.  It is constant drills, pushups, situps and running in and through sand and water while their teams carries either a telephone pole or a small boat.   

In contrast to the preparation of the Navy SEALS for their mission, God’s preparation for us to complete the mission He has given us it the antithesis of their preparation.  For us to complete the mission God has given us, we must pull back away from pushing our lives to the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual limits.  God lays down some principles in His word that directs us away from pushing our lives to the limits so we can have the consistent, serial recuperation necessary to be effective in what He has for us in this life. 

Jesus encourages us to focus on Presence over Performance!

 Posted by at 10:16 am
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