God is doing amazing things in our church body! He is continually revealing His character to us and transforming us into the likeness of His Son…which is His plan.

He is also ministering to us in our individual lives and our marriages…and even on specific issues such as sexuality.

Last week’s message was intended to be a standalone message. But…due to the response from last week there will be a follow up message. I have received emails and had conversations about specific issues which will be dealt with this Sunday. And guess what…God’s word addresses these issues! If you want to read ahead go to 1 Cor. 7:1-5.

Some of the issues:
• What if we physically can’t have sex?
• Why does the bible think sex is important?
• Is it really my responsibility to have sex?

So this week I encourage you more than I did last week to send your teens to The Point (www.eastridgefamily.org/thepoint) and your children to Etown (www.eastridgefamily.org/etown ) .
By the way, The Point will not be discussing sex this week.

Tough subject, but our Lord deemed it necessary to include it in His Word. He cares about every area of our life!

We have updated our resource list for further help on the website. Go to www.eastridgefamily.org/thesextalk.

Why do we do what we do? Why are things different? What are driving the changes?

I hear questions or statements like this from time to time. They are always spoken in a positive manner but they reflect the changes that have taken place at Eastridge over the last few years.

I can honestly tell you that I am not trying to change this place. The elders are not trying to change this place. We have surrendered the leading of this Church to the Lord. It is not ours. We have made a commitment to follow Him.

Now here is my philosophy about church. It should always exalt the Lord Jesus and His Word. I believe that every Christ follower should exalt Jesus in every aspect of his or her life. It is my desire to tear down every system that builds a dependency on man or formulas. If we have a service or program in place…then it should create a dependency on Jesus. It should encourage the growth of the relationship between the Christ follower and Jesus.

I am not about marketing the Church. We do minimal marketing (for those believers new to the area) . We have a web site and…that might be it. Every Christ follower is an advertisement for Jesus Christ. When we all live dependently upon Him, He is exalted and seen in our lives. He does His own marketing.

Just Sayin…

Dear Church,

I wanted to give you a heads up about this Sunday’s messages. Both the adult service and the teen service will be addressing the topic of sex, our culture and our calling. Our text will be 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8. The reason for letting you know in advance is because some of you bring your children and teens into the service. We will be talking about very mature matters. The teen service will also be discussing this topic but at a more appropriate age level.

I do not want you to be embarrassed or surprised at the subject matter.

If your children have not experienced E-town (www.eastridgefamily.org/etown), this would be a great opportunity. Or if you have teens that have not experienced The Point (www.eastridgefamily.org/thepoint), again, this would be a great opportunity.

Now in order to prepare for these messages you can be praying God would increase our desire for Him and for purity. Pray we all would hear Him speak and respond as one body to the call of sexual purity.

Looking forward to what God is going to do in our lives.

Many times throughout the year people will ask me how they can pray for me. You would think a pastor would jump at the chance to have someone pray for him. WRONG. We are suppose to be praying for others and we have this fear of coming across as self-serving. After reading a blog from a fellow pastor (Perry Noble), I am busting through the fear of seeming self-serving.

If you would, here is how you can pray for me in 2010 (or your pastor if you attend another church)…

Spiritually

• Pray for my walk with God to be healthy and strong and that my heart would have no will of its own but open to His will at all times.
• Pray for me to be filled with the Spirit at all times.
• Pray for purity and humility.

My Health

• (A little transparency here) I like food. I like it a lot. I have the blood pressure and cholesterol meds to prove it. Pray my body will honor the Lord.

Marriage

• Pray for protection against business, lack of communication and all temptations.
• Pray we constantly make time for each other.
• Pray Tracy feels pursued by me.

My Boys

• Pray for their safety (two are driving).
• Pray they will be hungry for the Word and will of God.
• Pray I will raise them in a way they know they have what it takes to be a godly man.

My Preaching

• Pray I will say what Jesus wants me to say.
• Pray I will be doctrinally sound.
• Pray it produces fruit (salvation and life change).

Leadership

• Pray for the ability to raise the leadership lids in my life.
• Pray for greater discernment.
• Pray I reflect Jesus in my leadership.

Ok… that was definitely self serving…but I desire these to be answered prayers in my life.  Will you join me in praying… for me?

This past Sunday I saw…

• A couple leave laughing and talking. A few months ago I saw the same couple not able to speak to each other.
• A friend of mine waiting on her husband in the foyer. They have been separated for the last four months. Now they are coming to church.
• Six adults walk forward as new creations in Christ.
• A couple get married outside during the second service. They met online and realized they both went to church at Eastridge. They wanted to be married where they saw each other for the first time. 
• A Messianic Jewish Rabbi preaching in a pulpit in the middle of the Bible Belt.

I need to not preach more often!

Before I could begin focusing on Sunday’s message, I had you on my heart this morning and felt I needed to communicate several things with you:

1. Rest. With all the great results that are coming in from the campaign let’s admit something…it was tiring. Rest. It is ok. Breathe.
2. Use the spiritual discipline of celebrating. Make a mental choice that you are going to find things to be thankful for during this season. Then express your gratitude towards God. On every hour look around and find one thing to be thankful for and tell God “Thank you for_________”.
3. Be determined to let Christmas be fresh to you this year. Begin asking the Lord to refocus your mind on the Christmas message. Be determined to be with people throughout the Christmas season. We have three events planned to help with this: Wednesday December 2^nd Annual Christmas Party for all who volunteer (even if it was just once) and Wednesday December 9^th a Christmas program put on by “Restoration” and finally our Christmas Eve services. The Christmas eve service will be focused on finding and celebrating the true message of Christmas. Our prayer for the Christmas Eve service is to experience the fullness of Jesus and His place in our lives and in our world.
4. Small groups in 2010. We are going to encourage you to meet every other week (beginning February 7^th). Some groups may feel they can meet every week…that is up to you. But for this season and after listening to groups as the campaign came to and end, we feel it is best to encourage you to meet every other week. I should have mentioned that in my previous email.
5. Three or four have asked about 863. It will resume in January.

The last thing I want to share with you is this…what drives the decision making here at Eastridge. Two years ago our focus became “Loving God, Loving People, Serving Others”. That is a great description of what every believer should look like. But… what we needed was  a more focused vision statement. We, the elders, agreed that the vision for the Lord’s church has not changed in 2000 years. He commanded that we make disciples. He is not changed it. (Matthew 28:18-20).

We adopted the following statement as our vision statement:

Eastridge Community Church exists to make disciples who follow Jesus Christ.

 

That one statement is driving us in all our decisions. It helps us measure the programs, ministries of the church and new ideas. All we have to ask is “is it helping believers follow Jesus Christ? Are they becoming disciples of Jesus? If so, then they should look more like Jesus.”

Our focus in 2010 will be “making disciples who follow Jesus Christ”. What should it result in? Loving the Lord our God with all of heart, and all of our soul and with all of our mind and all of our strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves. (Mathew 22:37-39)

Plans may change but vision should never change…because it is His vision.

Church, I love Jesus Christ. I love the Father. I love the Holy Spirit. I love His church and His mission for the church. I cannot think of anything greater to give our lives to. When this world come to an end the Church will be the only surviving entity. We will live with Jesus forever.  

What is your role? You are a member of His church…not just Eastridge…but Jesus’ church that has been around for centuries. You are responsible as for its mission. What can you do? Be determined to become like Jesus. Develop time with the Lord in His word. Learn to walk in the fullness of Him. Pray to be filled by His Spirit on a daily basis. Pray for the completion of His vision.

Church I love you. I pray for you daily. Let’s pray together “Not my will but Thy will be done.”

Thank you to all who participated and served in the Life’s Healing Choices campaign. We are very excited with what God has done and is doing. You will hear more about that later.

BUT…the question is now being asked “What’s next”?

Gary Thompson and the small group leadership team have been working very diligently to come up with a system that promotes growth in the Lord and at the same time allows those new to the church to be involved almost immediately in the church body.

You need to be aware of the changes so please take time to read the following from the Small Groups Leadership team.

Eastridge Community Church
2010 Small Groups Plan

Where are we going with small groups?

Reformat groups to a semester basis. 2 semesters (Feb-May, and Mid Aug/Sept-Nov) of group meeting and then two break periods (Thanksgiving thru New Years, and June thru July).

Why go to a semester basis?
 People are more willing to sign up/participate for a shorter duration; means increased participation
 Clearly defined start time and end time for groups
 Should be easier to recruit leaders
 Should be easier to make new friends
 Allows new people to get in on ground level each semester
 Easier/better marketing (such as was done under “Life’s Healing Choices” campaigns because every semester is a campaign; creates excitement
 Easier to keep groups from becoming inward because of the structure
 Fits into the rhythm of life…work hard, and then take a break; examples of this are school, sleep, exercise, etc.
 Can offer different types of groups that focus on a subject/interest(parenting, finances, marriage, end times) rather than solely a relationship
 Leaders/groups do not get stagnate as easily
 Makes placement easier because groups will be clearly closed and open
 This is the pattern for successful groups at ECC right now-CR Step Studies, Ladies Bible Studies, Discover Group preschool, Life’s Healing Choices, “Daniel” Fast, etc. All the above have a definite start time and end time.

2 Big questions…
1. Can I stay with my friends? Yes. You will be free to sign up for whatever group that you want to participate in just as we did for “Life’s Healing Choices”. You will decide what group that you want to be by looking at the small group directory(the sheet with all the group descriptions) and signing up on the Connect Card. The group directory will have the leader’s name, day that they will meet, address, time, and what they are studying. All of this will assist you in making a decision.

2. What do we do during the breaks? Take a break, have an outing/party with your group, do a service project with your group. It is up to you. We’ll start the group process all over again next semester.

Gary and the Small Group leadership team coordinated all of our LHC groups. We have already experienced this with format with Life’s Healing Choices. We saw 600+ adults in groups. Never have we had that many in small group studies or bible study groups. Never have we experienced the number of people coming to faith in Christ and being baptized. Never have we heard as many stories of growth in their walk with Christ.

Right now the most important thing you can do is pray. Pray every believer will follow the Lord’s leading in their life. Pray for the spiritual development of the church body. Pray for your leaders to have God’s wisdom and direction.

You do not know how desperately we need your prayers. Thank you for praying!

My initial intention in writing this was to ask you to pray God would encourage His church. But then I realized many of you are the ones that need the encouragement. You (or at least someone you know) has experienced job loss or salary cuts. Many of you are now dealing with illnesses and relational strains and the stress of life. Many of you are dealing with uncertainty and fear.

God is very clear on what we should do when we are facing troubles.

    Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray.

James 5:13

Why pray?

    Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philip. 4:6-7

What we all need is the peace of God. Pray…let God know every fear, every frustration, every concern, every bill and then invite His Holy Spirit to minister to you. His name is Counselor and Comforter. Ask Him to give you the counsel you need in the decisions you need to make. Ask him to give you His peace that passes all understanding. Ask Him to comfort you…and then just be still and quiet before the Lord. Focus on who He is.

Also in tough times I find I need more scripture than just a few minutes in the morning. The harder the times the more interaction I need with God in the Word of God.

A section I often find myself in is the book of Joshua, especially the first few chapters when he dealing with so much anxiety and fear.

I also like the book of Esther and how you see God deliver the entire Jewish people through the faith of one young lady.

Church, I believe in journaling. Last night I completed my most recent journal and I picked one up that began in March of last year. If you don’t know this yet, 2008 was the hardest year of my life. Last night I was able to look back at different verses that ministered to me and different prayers that were answered. One observation I had was how my prayers changed over 2008. Journaling allows you time to slow down and process life and see how the Lord is speaking to you. I HIGHLY encourage you to journal.

What does t look like? For me I always begin with my daily reading of scripture. I ask the Lord to speak to me through the scriptures. As I read, I write down a verse or different verses that stand out to me. I then write underneath them why they stood out or why I feel they spoke to me. If I am reading a book on Christian growth I may write down quotes or different thoughts I may have based on the reading. I always end with some written prayer based on the morning’s reading and what is heavy on my heart. It is not the only praying I do, but it is usually specific to what I read that morning. You can do it however you need to. Don’t concern yourself with trying to fill up a page or write something brilliant. Just let it be a reflection of your time with your Lord and what is on your heart.

I love you. But I am just a man. God loves you and He is Supreme. He can be trusted in the darkest of times. He is Sovereign and He is not worried.

Finally, pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ. Remember the needs of others. For those of you who have abundance, you have a responsibility to help those in need. I encourage you as Paul told Timothy “to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” 1 Tim. 6:19

Church I love you deeply. I pray for you often. Pray for yourselves and each other and I promise you…God is faithful. You may be tempted to give up…but “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”1 Cor. 10:13

Remember there is strength in numbers. Meet with your small group, contact your accountability partner when you need someone to pray for you, and be determined to be here on Sundays and worship and seek the Lord together. It is always so good to be together…I love it!

You are a blessing to me!

I believe in reading. I am not sure where I picked up the love of reading but I am glad I did. It may stem from growing up across the street from the Berkley County Library in Mocks Corner, SC. We did not have A/C in our house growing up so I would spend a lot of days in the library keeping cool.

This week I want to share some books I have enjoyed recently and found useful in my walk with Christ.

“Holy Ambition” by Chip Ingram.
“Forgotten God” by Francis Chan
“Downpour” by James MacDonald
“Kingdom Authority” by Adrian Rogers
“Crazy Love” by Francis Chan

It probably goes without saying, but reading from various teachers should never replace our time with the Bible. I always practice reading the Bible first. After my time in with the Bible, I take time for additional reading.

I would love to hear of any books you have found helpful as you follow Jesus.

Just hit the comment button below.

One of the greatest enemies to our freedom and growth in the Lord will be discouragement. Sometimes it seems as soon as we announce our plans to grow past our hurts, habits or hang ups we are met with discouragement. What can we do?

This past month I finished a book by Chip Ingram entitled “Holy Ambition”. The last chapter deals with this topic. The following is adapted from his writings.

When Nehemiah was working on the completion of the walls around Jerusalem, the entire nation was met with discouragement. Read Nehemiah 4:13-20.

He encouraged them to…

BE PROACTIVE. Do something even when you don’t feel like it. Keep at it. If you sense you are starting to slip into discouragement list two things you can do today to keep you on tract with what your goal is and do them. Maybe it is just one thing…do something.

REMEMBER WHO IS ON YOUR TEAM. Remember the Lord is on your side. He is there to empower you when you feel weak. If you are discouraged right now look back at how many times the Lord has answered your prayers in the past.

FIGHT!FIGHT!FIGHT!
When you feel like fighting for victory…fight! When you don’t feel like fighting…fight anyway. There are more people than you counting on you. Your friends, family, neighbors and kids need to see you victorious in the Lord. They need to see the light of Christ in you. Be determined to pass freedom in Christ down to the next generation. Be determined to be an example of victory over sin for your neighbors. Fight for the freedom of others by allowing them to see victory is possible! FIGHT!

NEVER FIGHT ALONE.
Call on others you trust to pray for you, to stand by you and to encourage you. You need others to help you stand when you feel you can no longer stand on your own.

I believe in Jesus who is in you. He is leading you “from victory to victory”. His power, wisdom and presence is in you in the person of the Holy Spirit.And as Francis Chan said so well, “God loves to take people in the worst of situations and transform them by His Spirit”!

I am praying for all of you to know and experience the freedom and joy of Jesus!

Be encouraged!