A Shared Longing!

I met a lady yesterday who has been coming to CCC less than two months. She shared how she found us and how much the church means to her. Then she said: "these last few weeks have been tough [with the church not meeting]. It was a strange feeling. It is the first time in my life I can remember really missing [longing to attend] church."

There was something special about our worship yesterday. The band was great. The message was incredible, as usual :-). The potluck was awesome. But there was an energy that none of those things could account for; an energy comes from a shared longing to be together. Maybe that feeling caught you a little by surprise too.

It is the feeling of a husband who sees his wife of 30 years like it was their first date and realizes, in that instant, she still takes his breath away. Sometimes the day-to-day challenges of being married can blind our eyes to some incredible blessings at are right in front of us every day.

Community is a unique place. There is something special that happens when we gather. We are blessed to be part of a spiritual family that enriches our lives. The irony is that sometimes newcomers are quicker to sense it than we are. It shouldn't take a band to come in and experience our worship for the first time to say: "This is a GREAT church" or a newcomer's story to alert us to the blessings that abound among us. We shouldn't have to be snowbound for three weeks to realize what we mean to each other...but it doesn't hurt. I'm grateful for God's reminders.

Easter Impact!

Easter is THIS Sunday. It hardly seems possible. We have been planning for months and the time has finally arrived. We begin a new message series this weekend called "Desperate Households." The message for this Sunday is "Desperate for Hope." Every human being longs for something more and seeks hope that the struggles they face can ultimately be overcome. This Sunday will be a day filled with hope for all of our families. Easter is a day of hope. Here is how Eugene Peterson paraphrased some of Paul's profound words in 1 Corinthians 15:

If there is no resurrection, there's no living Christ. And fact it - if there's no resurrection for Christ, everything we've told you is smoke and mirrors... If corpses can't be raised, then Christ wasn't, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ wasn't raised, then all you're doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It's even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they are already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.

But God doesn't just resurrect bodies, he resurrects lives. He resurrects relationships. He resurrects families. The power of Easter is available for us NOW. We are Easter people. We are people with a living hope. That hope will be the foundation of our experience this Sunday at our 9:00 and 11:00 gatherings. We expect our campus to be buzzing with hundreds of people, some coming for the very first time.

Please come this Sunday with the intent of reaching out to new people. Even if the service really rings a bell for them (and we pray that it will), the most important impression will be the one you make. The most important word will be the one that you speak. Please continue to pray for "divine opportunities" to invite family and friends that are far from God. Eighty-two percent of those who are invited to church by someone they already know will say yes. Your gracious words could be catalytic in changing someone's life now and forever. I can hardly wait to see what God is going to do as we gather in His name to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior.

"He is risen. He is risen, indeed!"

Brent

Still Trying to Take It In!

Yesterday was a great day. I'm still trying to take it all in. We launched our second worship gathering - not really knowing what to expect - and God blew us away AGAIN.

We had 230 people worship with us Sunday. There were lots of new faces. Both services were nearly identical in adult attendance (there were 15 more people at 11:00 than at 9:00).

Sean hit it out of the park with the message and the praise team did a great job at both services.

I know that two gatherings means more work - you are all living proof of that. But it also provides more opportunities for us to "connect real people to the real God for real change." Thanks for all you are doing...Praise God for what He has done!

I'll be praying over those invite cards you took home yesterday. Easter is only two weeks away. These are desperate times - please pass those cards on to those you know who are "Desperate for Hope."

This Sunday I'll wrap up our "Famous Last Words" series with Jesus' ultimate expression of "FAITH". I hope to see you there. Bring a friend. It's not that hard...simply invite.

Ramblings From An Incredible Weekend!

I literally could not sleep last night with images of the weekend still bouncing around in my head.
Friday was Prayerfest. Our members came and made their way through six stations praying for every aspect of our church's life and ministry. Every time that we have chosen to pray, really pray, God has responded.

We had a huge turnout for our workday on Saturday. At one point I counted 15 people painting together in the Heartland room. That doesn't include those working in the Pulse space, offices, auditorium and outside. A number of really cool upgrades are happening.

We closed the day with a great crowd of regulars and newcomers for our Pizza Throwdown. We had one new family show up @ Community for the first time for that event. She even brought a dessert to enter in the competition - and she placed third out of sixteen entries. They were back Sunday morning and attended our LIFE Group last night. They found us through our website... and were drawn by our Heart 4 the Homeless and Adopted in Him ministries. While they were on our website they saw pictures of people they already knew... and couldn't wait till Sunday to join us.

Speaking of Sunday morning - are you kidding me!!!! At one point one of our ushers was trying to find seats together for a family of three...and there weren't any. Our second service is coming right on time. Chris and the team led us in an awesome time of worship and God moved in powerful ways. Remember to pray for Bob, who has been far from God for years, and came home yesterday after being reminded of God's forgiving heart. Pray for the Smiths, who a mourning the loss of a young family member who was murdered last week while working for the Peace Corp in Africa. As we stop just "going to church" and start "being the church" we will be in over our heads in "real-life" issues in people's lives. But this is exactly where God wants us to be.

By all accounts, this was a great weekend for our congregation. Our children's ministries and youth ministries are still buzzing about everthing that transpired. The meeting for training those to who are greeting our newcomers was packed yesterday afternoon and volunteer roles are filling fast.

I just want to close by saying thanks to those who who are working so hard and offering countless hours and resources to God's work here at Community. I feel blessed to be serving Jesus alongside you. Have a great week.

What Can I Do To Help?

I know many of you believe that adding the second service is critical to the growth of our ministry at Community. It is an exciting, somewhat intimidating, next step on our journey. So, the question arises, what are some simple things each of us can do to help ensure adding this second worship gathering is successful. I'll to give you a short list, then elaborate more in the coming weeks. Our launch is currently 23 days away. Here goes...

1. If you don't have kids in Heartland, consider attending the 9:00 AM service. Heartland will only be offered at the11:00 AM worship gathering. It likely will not be difficult for us to fill the 11:00 gathering again. Yet, our goal is to have at least half of the chairs full during each worship time. Studies say the likelihood of success is increased dramatically if we can fill 50% of the seats. It will be easy to choose a service for convenience - or getting a little extra sleep. We're asking you to make you choice based on God's mission here.
   
2. Please plan on attending one worship time and serving during the other. This is a great opportunity to be able to attend the first worship time and serve in Heartland during the second. A lot of servants here are already pulling double duty - and have been for a while. We can definitely use your help. We will need growing numbers of volunteers to serve the folks God is bringing our way. There will be a number of service opportunities during each service. Nursery workers will be needed during both services. If kids aren't your thing, consider serving as a greeter, traffic/parking assistant, chair mover, etc. or just mingle in the foyer between services intentionally greeting newcomers.
3. Invite, Invite, Invite. This is probably the most intimidating, yet most critical thing any of us can do. If we just split the people we currently have, it won't be good. But, if we commit to making room - and inviting others to fill it again - more people will have an opportunity to connect with God and His people. To help as you offer invitations, this Sunday we will be providing attractive Invite Cards for the launch of our Second Worship Gathering. Next week we will have Invite Cards for our Easter series. We hope you'll use them to Simply Invite...
4. Attend our Work Day on March 14th. Come and get your hands dirty. We have a ton of work to complete before our move to a second service and in our prep for Easter. We can really use your help from 8:00 to 3:00. It's a great way to help the church and work up an appetite for the Pizza Throwdown.
5. Provide a financial gift to assist in upgrading our facilities. I even hate to mention this because, in difficult economic times, you continue to be incredibly generous. Yet, the truth is, the upgrades to our children's and youth spaces and our parking lot will cost some extra money. What we are able to do will depend on the funds available. So, if God has blessed you with some extra funds, via a tax refund, saving, etc. and you can supply some help in addition to your tithe, we will put it to use creating inviting spaces on our campus. Just place any gift in the offering plate on Sunday. Please do whatever you feel God is leading you to do.
   

Please pray with your family about how you will contribute to the success of our second worship time. Adding this worship will provide you options. I pray God will lead you to not simply to enjoy these options yourself - but will guide you to seize this kingdom opportunity to reach and serve others who are far from God. I'm excited to see what God will do with our offering...

Why Will Our Two Worship Gatherings Be Exactly The Same!

Reason 1:
The primary reason our additional worship will be identical to our current one is that we believe God is blessing what we are currently doing. Most of our guests seem to love our worship and it is meaningful to nearly all regular attenders. It other words, what we are currently doing is becoming increasingly relevant to our surrounding culture.

Here's what I believe: God expects us to make the message of Jesus relevant to the culture we engage in Salisbury, MD in 2009. He will hold us accountable for doing this. Most churches are dying because they have refused to embrace this principle. Many have chosen to address the 60's, 70's or 80's head-on, and are suffering the consequences. Our message (Jesus) never changes. The modes and methods of communicating Him must adapt to become relevant to the culture in which we live.

I have heard a couple of people express a desire to shape our additional service to be more "traditional." This would mean more hymns and a service more like what they had experienced growing up, or at some point in their past. This would make some of us who have been in church most of our lives more comfortable and the worship time more enjoyable.

Here are my issues with proposal: (1) longing to experience something from the past is usually what draws people's attention away from what God is trying to do with them in the present; (2) traditional worship, by its very nature, seeks to engage the past rather than the culture we presently live in; and (3) our leaders are striving to be mission-driven and not member-driven. In other words, we will always ask, "What will help us fulfill the mission Jesus has given us" rather than "I wonder what our members would like us to do" or "what would make our members most comfortable." I think beginning a more traditional worship experience would be a decision to make a subset of our members happy, rather than a decision based on the mission of Jesus. Let me say this though: I think hymns, which are upgraded to a contemporary style have the potential to be very relevant. Doing this provides the double blessing of being both relevant and a connection to our Christian heritage. You'll notice we have begun to do this occasionally in our worship.

Reason 2.
I think a decision to segregate our church members based on the style of worship music they prefer, rather than unite them around the mission of Jesus has incredible potential to split the congregation. Worship preferences have split more congregations than any other issue in history. It is a historical fact that when church members begin to focus on their own preferences and petty desires the results have been catastrophic. When this happens, my group becomes those who have the same preferences I do. Everyone else is an outsider.

So, we have chosen to focus on Christ's mission in making our decisions. Many will join us as we pursue this mission, others may choose to go to a church where they are more comfortable. All we can do is to do our best to be faithful to "complete the work that God has given us to do" (John 17:4).

There would be only one reason our leaders would consider changing the style of our worship for an additional worship gathering: to create a new worship environment targeted specifically toward a group of people who are far from God. This might mean a change of location (rented space outside our facility) or a change of style (i.e., edgier to reach a younger generation) but I promise our decision would be based on God's mission.

May God bless as follow His leading and continue His work...

With A Second Service Aren't We Just Splitting the Church?

In some ways it will feel like it. There will be likely be fewer people attending the worship gathering you are part of, at least initially. It will feel different. There will be people you know that you will see less often, if they choose to attend at a different time. There will be some discomfort in all of us the first few weeks. There will likely be some "wilderness" time when we will feel like things were better back in Egypt (Numbers 14:3) and the only "rational" response would be to go back there.

But, like the Israelites, we must understand that the future God has for us will not be found in our rear-view mirror. And, His future, will require us to make sacrifices and make room. It is "making room" that is the key. Not only must we intentionally "make room" for newcomers; we must also allow God to use us to "fill it up" again. God's passion is to have two (then ten) of our worship spaces filled with people who are connecting with Him and having their lives changed by the encounter. He wants people you do life with, live next to, meet on the street, work in the cubicle beside, care about - to meet Him through your invitation. Rather than fret about what we might lose, can we instead rejoice in what they might gain - if we make room?

If we just divide up the attenders we already have...we lose. But if we can catch a vision of God's love for those who are far from Him and commit to partner with Him in brining them home - our lives - and our church - will never be the same.

Simply Invite.