The Highs and Lows .
Most of you know how much of a sports fan I am. I can almost plan out
my attitude on life according to the time of year that we are currently in.
For example, this time of year I am usually experiencing great dismay at the
Atlanta Braves losing in the first round of the baseball playoffs. The fall
also typically brings a University of Texas defeat to the Oklahoma football
team (not last year!!!) Winter time usually ends with the Cowboys not
making the playoffs and the spring ends with the Mavericks and the Stars
falling short of a championship as well. You get the point. There are
times that I experience highs and lows in the sporting world. What about in
our spiritual lives? Do you experience highs and lows?

There are many philosophies out there concerning how to grow a church. You
can read five books and get five different opinions on what to do to grow a
church. I believe that as long as the growth plan is centered on Christ it
will work. As you know we started Jesus Focused Ministry training on Sunday
evenings this past month. The response has been overwhelming! I am so
excited to know that close to a hundred people are learning how to pray, go
deeper with Christ, build adult leadership, penetrate the culture and create
outreach opportunities. If we are able to follow through with those five
things, God is going to bless our church beyond measure.

I challenged you a couple of weeks ago to take a long look in the mirror and
see yourself as God sees you. Our job is not to grow the church
numerically; our job is to prepare ourselves so that God can grow the church
through us. There are going to be highs and lows in church attendance, but
we have to avoid the dramatic highs and lows in our individual walks with
Christ. Consistency is the key. The good news is that if you know Christ
as your personal Savior then you are already a winner. The team of your
choice is going to lose sometimes, but with Christ we are already declared
Champions!

Speaking of champions, I want to thank you for being such a wonderful church
by loving and supporting your staff the way you do. What a wonderful time
of fellowship we enjoyed celebrating Bill and Daniel's second anniversaries.
These two guys and their wives are such a blessing to our church and they
are wonderful to work with. I appreciate the talents and abilities they
bring to our team. If you haven't done so, I hope you will express your
gratitude to them soon.

This month I am excited about Grandview Comedy Nights. We will be hosting
the Skit Guys and the Patrick Ryan Clark Band at the high school auditorium
October 15-18 at 7:00 each evening. As a church body this is a great
opportunity for us to invite our friends and neighbors to a very relaxed
atmosphere for them to hear the gospel preached in a very unique way. The
Skit Guys have an incredible gift of humor and drama that they will quickly
turn into a powerful message from God's Word. I hope you will be praying
about who you will invite to this fun and meaningful event. It will be an
awesome opportunity for a harvest.  ¶ 9:24 AM 0 comments

  The Highs and Lows Most of you know how much of a sports fan I am. I can almost plan out
my attitude on life according to the time of year that we are currently in.
For example, this time of year I am usually experiencing great dismay at the
Atlanta Braves losing in the first round of the baseball playoffs. The fall
also typically brings a University of Texas defeat to the Oklahoma football
team (not last year!!!) Winter time usually ends with the Cowboys not
making the playoffs and the spring ends with the Mavericks and the Stars
falling short of a championship as well. You get the point. There are
times that I experience highs and lows in the sporting world. What about in
our spiritual lives? Do you experience highs and lows?

There are many philosophies out there concerning how to grow a church. You
can read five books and get five different opinions on what to do to grow a
church. I believe that as long as the growth plan is centered on Christ it
will work. As you know we started Jesus Focused Ministry training on Sunday
evenings this past month. The response has been overwhelming! I am so
excited to know that close to a hundred people are learning how to pray, go
deeper with Christ, build adult leadership, penetrate the culture and create
outreach opportunities. If we are able to follow through with those five
things, God is going to bless our church beyond measure.

I challenged you a couple of weeks ago to take a long look in the mirror and
see yourself as God sees you. Our job is not to grow the church
numerically; our job is to prepare ourselves so that God can grow the church
through us. There are going to be highs and lows in church attendance, but
we have to avoid the dramatic highs and lows in our individual walks with
Christ. Consistency is the key. The good news is that if you know Christ
as your personal Savior then you are already a winner. The team of your
choice is going to lose sometimes, but with Christ we are already declared
Champions!

Speaking of champions, I want to thank you for being such a wonderful church
by loving and supporting your staff the way you do. What a wonderful time
of fellowship we enjoyed celebrating Bill and Daniel's second anniversaries.
These two guys and their wives are such a blessing to our church and they
are wonderful to work with. I appreciate the talents and abilities they
bring to our team. If you haven't done so, I hope you will express your
gratitude to them soon.

This month I am excited about Grandview Comedy Nights. We will be hosting
the Skit Guys and the Patrick Ryan Clark Band at the high school auditorium
October 15-18 at 7:00 each evening. As a church body this is a great
opportunity for us to invite our friends and neighbors to a very relaxed
atmosphere for them to hear the gospel preached in a very unique way. The
Skit Guys have an incredible gift of humor and drama that they will quickly
turn into a powerful message from God's Word. I hope you will be praying
about who you will invite to this fun and meaningful event. It will be an
awesome opportunity for a harvest.  ¶ 9:24 AM 0 comments