Making Disciple Makers...

The "win" for us ultimately at Vinings Lake is to make "disciple-makers".

Today is a special day to celebrate the reality of this happening. There is a gentleman in our church that was coming with his family for a while to VL and earlier this year, he trusted Jesus Christ to be his personal Savior and was baptized this past Easter. Recently, he has been bringing a co-worker to church with him and being an incredible influence in his life.

Today, that co-worker prayed to recieve the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ for himself!

This is a celebration because of one that has been forgiven, clean, and given a new life in Jesus Christ. It is also a celebration because of the influence that a new believer (and yes, I DID say NEW believer!) has been having on his friend and co-worker - and the result of him just MERGING his life with someone. And it is a celebration because above all, there REALLY is a God in heaven - who will move heaven and earth - and surround you with people that will share with you and show you - the message of life, hope, and forgiveness found in Jesus Christ!

By the way, this is not a new concept - Jesus said long ago to "make disciples" - our mission is simply to follow His mission and lead people to be "disciple-makers"!

The Church - TOGETHER

Last night and tonight, Hollie and I are hosting all of the volunteer leaders of various ministries for a Christmas party at our home.

One of the greatest joys of being in ministry is seeing others involved and serving in ministry. These volunteers are our partners and I don't believe we can ever thank, encourage, or add value to their lives enough!

Ephesians 4:11-13 is a clear description of my calling as a pastor and the partnership that I am blessed to have with these incredible people that I love. This IS The Church - TOGETHER!

Celebrate the victories

One of our core values at VL is celebration. Many times we ask God for things, plan for things, pray for things - and too often we miss the opportunity to celebrate the victories that God allows us to be a part of!

The last few weeks at VL have been awesome - not just in our worship services, but what is going on in the lives of the people (which again - the church is PEOPLE, not a building, structure, program, or a Sunday service).

A few victories to celebrate:

• High School student was led to Christ by his Community Group Leader over lunch one day recently. This took place through conversations and investments from his mother, Group Leader - and others I am sure God has used. I am very excited for this student - but even as much for his Community Group Leader!
• Man in our church has been coming with his wife and came to faith in Christ in his Community Group - again, so excited for him and for his Group to be a part of this!
• Last Sunday, December 2, we had our first VL 101 - which is our Process of helping people understand who we are, our mission, to get involved, and to become a member of VL if they decide to. This was a GREAT start and I believe this is going to be a vital part of our mission and process for people to Come, Connect, and Commit. Through this, we had about 15 new people join our church!
• Yesterday was our Breakfast with Santa. MANY families came to be a part of it - and it was full of people, pictures, food, fun, and the famous St. Nick himself - and even Mrs. Clause came along! Another element to celebrate was all of our WONDERFUL people that served under the leadership of our preschool director Melissa - and her team - it was a great success!
• I must celebrate our amazing staff at Vinings Lake! I am honestly blessed to have so many great people around me who serve, are loyal, see the vision and understand our mission - that is priceless. Brian, David, Matt, Derek, Melissa, Rhonda, Dana, Hannah - you are the best!!!
• I want to celebrate the victory of my constant challenge to pause, take time with my family - and enjoy each moment, each day. God willing, I will forever be Hollie's only husband and Hope and Addie's only daddy - may I not take that lightly!
• Today, I started our Christmas series, "The List" and I talked about the HOPE of Christmas that we have in Jesus because He did walk and talk and live on this earth and as Hebrews 4:14-16 tells us - can sympathize with us in our temptation and we can celebrate that He was without sin - He can and did bring us HOPE!

Great blog to read

Steven Furtick is the Lead Pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC and his blog has some good things to say. A guy in our church, Chuck Newton, turned Brian on to this specific post of Steven's and Brian shared it with me. Thought I would pass this great word along. Click here to read it.