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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!

Sunday Reflections and This Week at The Grove!

General No Responses »

Mar 102010

Big Idea:
God wants to do an “Extreme Makeover” in every person’s life so that they can do the good works He had prepared for them! He does this through giving Spiritual gifts to all who follow Jesus!

Scripture Memory:
Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)
¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Action Step:
This week read Ephesians 2, 3 and 4, and also Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12!

Random Thoughts:

Time Change coming this Sunday! Set your clocks forward one hour this Saturday evening!
What an incredible Sunday gathering this past Sunday! I am so excited about “Bring It!” our new series on Spiritual gifts! I love Ephesians 2:1-10. God’s love, grace and mercy is mind-blowing!
God already has good works prepared for me to do! We all must discover, develop, and deploy our spiritual gifts so we can walk in those good works! WOW!
God uses pastors, teachers and leaders to equip the people in the church for ministry. It is not the pastors and teachers who should DO ALL the ministry. You and I are in this together! We ALL are ministers! That is why learning your spiritual gift and jumping in to serve is so important.
We have the world’s greatest volunteers already! I am so thankful for the men and women, and the boys and girls that serve so faithfully to help us worship and glorify God and to reach out to people in our community with the love of Jesus!
Volunteer of the quarter! Larry Pottsis an amazing servant of Jesus! I am so thankful for this man who helps set-up and breakdown EVERY week! He won’t read this because he doesn’t utilize the internet, so please tell him I bragged on him!
I loved having theSkype interview with the Hardins this past Sunday! It was one of my favorite things we have done at CATG! Please pray for them. I look forward to having them with us in May when they are back home for a brief time.
Easter Eggstravaganza! We are partnering with CORNDAWGS here in Walnut Grove for a huge Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday April 3. The Egg Hunt is 10-2pm with different age catagories AND you need to go online to CORNDAWGs.com to register for the hunt in order to avoid the walk up fee on that Saturday. Sign ups are already taking place fast.
We need volunteers for the Easter Egg Hunt! Thank you to everyone helping fill the eggs and thank you for helping us on that Saturday!
Speaking of Easter! It is Sunday April 4! Please be praying about who you can invest in and invite to join that special Sunday! We will have 2 services that Sunday at 9:30am and 11am! What a perfect day to show your friends and family what a great church we have and more importantly what a great Savior we have!
Our next baptism is Sunday April 11, the week after Easter! Let us know if you are planning to be baptized.
Next Steps/C-3gathering Friday night March 19! Great chance to learn about CATGrove!
Great prayer time last night at ACCESS prayer time!

Keep Praying, Keep Investing, Keep Inviting!

Sunday Reflections and this week at The Grove!

General No Responses »

Mar 012010

Big Idea:
All relationships have a gap between expectations and behavior. 1 Cor. 13:7 encourages us to fill the gap: bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things. Resist the spiral downward into negativity that can undermine your relationships.

Scripture Memory:
1 Corinthians 13:7 (ESV)
⁷Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Action Step:
Choose this week to put this verse in action by “believing the best” and refusing to “go negative”.

Random Thoughts and Reflections:

What a great conclusion to the end of a great series yesterday! I am praying for marriages and relationships to be strengthened and encouraged and to finish strong! Here is the review of the 4 weeks. You can listen to all the “Staying in Love” messages online at churchatthegrove.com.
Week 1 – The foundation for Staying in Love is Making Love a Verb. John 13..34-35.
Week 2 – Put the interest of others ahead of your own interests. Jesus is our ultimate example. Philippians 2:3-8
Week 3 – Staying in love requires you to monitor what is going on inside of you. Guard your heart. Prov. 4:23
Week 4 – All relationships have a gap between expectations and behavior. 1 Cor. 13:7 encourages us to fill the gap: bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things. Resist the spiral downward into negativity that can undermine your relationships.
We had our highest attendance since we moved into Walnut Grove High School yesterday! Keep investing and Keep inviting!
I am equally excited about our new series starting next Sunday titled “Bring It! Exercising Your Gifts”. Don’t miss this new series that leads us up to Easter Sunday!
I am praying for our own Tom Kirby, who is running for Congress! I was able to attend his campaign announcement Friday evening. We need godly people making a difference for this country! TomKirby2010
I am coaching 11-12 year old baseball and I love my West Walton Tigers! Two weeks to opening day!
Lots of babies being born into our church! Yes! Love it!
I am very excited about some changes we will be making in our Community Groups for the fall! I was able to cast some vision to one of our spring groups last night that will be a “prototype” for some of the changes we will implement! It was a blast and I can’t wait to see what will happen.
Excited about partnering with the Walton Career Academy this Saturday night to raise money for investing in “at risk” students in Walton County.
We begin “Thankful Thursdays” at Walnut Grove High School this Thursday! This will be the first time for this ministry at the new High School. I am excited!
BIGGGGG Easter Egg Hunt Egg-Stravaganza! We are partnering with CornDawgs on Saturday April 3 for a HUGE Easter Egg Hunt for our community. What a great way to connect with people. We will need your help!