Saturday A.M. thoughts...

I hope you all have had a great week!

We had 6 pre-teen girls over last night for a High School Musical 2 sleep over birthday party! They had a blast and I think they actually got some sleep. I got some sleep, so I am thankful ;->

Hope turned 11 back on August 1 but due to all of our moving-renovations and camp on Catons Island, she decided to put it off until the HSM2 release.

I picked this up off of Perry Noble's blog and it resonated with me...Here are 5 things for me to consider as I lead OWC:

1. Am I listening to God? Listening to people is important, especially when they have a need to be heard. I want to 'hear' what is on people's hearts and what they are passionate about. But, ultimately I need to be listening to God. God has a vision for OWC that he wants downloaded to us. It's just crucial that I listen carefully to God's voice.

2. Am I taking risks? I think OWC has already sensed that I am a risk-taker. There is a fine line between faith and foolishness and that's the line we need to be on. The opposite of taking is risks is doing 'safe-church', comfy church, maintenance church, etc. I need to lead us into the faith zone where God can bless us. It boils down to this - What are we doing that will fail miserably unless God helps us?

3. Am I understanding how big God is? Sometimes we breeze over statements like, "God wants to save the soul of every person in our community". We hear it, we nod, we might even say 'Amen', but we don't really believe it. My prayer is that we would get a fresh sense of the immensity of grace. Can we believe that God can use OWC to literally transform our communities?

4. Am I surrounding myself with the right people? Let me say this publicly - I am already BIG TIME thankful for the Board members of OWC. They are positive. They are forward-thinking. They are risk takers and they are in love with Jesus. I love being around people who stretch me, challenge me, and make me better.

5. Am I giving it my best? Obviously, I want my church to feel as though their Lead Pastor is giving it 110% all the time. But bigger than that, I will be held accountable someday for the effort I have put in to reaching this community with the Gospel. There is nothing more important than the Gospel - and I am convinced of it. It requires my very best.



What about tomorrow?? Week 1 of "Just Walk Across the Room". I've talked a lot this summer about being a church that reaches out to spiritually lost people. For the next few weeks, we are going to take some of the stigmas off of evangelism and talk about how each of us can be developing relationships for eternity.

Fall Kick Off - Sept 9 is the day when most of our people will be back from summer vacationing, etc. We are launching the Fall with the series, "LOST". This is a great opportunity for you to invite someone to church. We won't embarass you or them. It'll be a quality worship experience with teaching that makes sense.

Can't wait!