This week ONE for ONE provided $507 in groceries, toiletries, and basic supplies for a local single mom and her three kids! 

Here’s a letter we received this week:

Dear Rock City,

When you announced that in February our ONE for ONE efforts would go towards blessing single parents, I could not stop thinking of our dear friend whose life was literally turned upside down six months ago.

It was at that time that our friend was shocked to realize that her husband had been keeping a terrible secret that would impact their family forever. The months following were like a nightmare as formal charges were brought against her husband and he was convicted and sent to prison for 18 years without the possibility of parole.

They were the picture-perfect family. She was a stay-at-home mom and he took care of providing for the family. Their three children were involved in sports, church, and had many friends.

Fast forward just six months … she (without an education beyond high school) is a single parent struggling to provide even the most basic needs for her children.

This journey for our family has been difficult as well, as we have struggled with the trust that was broken and the anger at what had taken place. We were devastated that we had potentially put our family in harm’s way and blindsided since we thought we knew this man whom we had called a close friend.

During the next few months God began to work on our hearts and give us the compassion we needed to help our friend and her children through this difficult time. We realized that her children needed a safe place to share their family heartaches with and to let loose and have fun.

Eventually, we decided to reach out to them like Jesus had reached out to us. As we did, we realized just how dyer their situation was … without any income, limited savings, a mortgage, private education and bills piling up by the minute.

One day I dropped by with a pack of toilet paper and you would have thought I brought by a thousand dollars. Our prayer is that God’s love would be shown to this fragile family and that their hearts would begin to heal.

Thank you Rock City for being Jesus to our dear friends!

What I LOVE about Rock City is the heart of the people. On Sunday, after hearing what Rock City was able to do through ONE for ONE, several people stepped up to offer additional support!

In all, this week we were able to bless this family, through ONE for ONE, and through the awesome generosity of the people of Rock City, with $1,314.00!

Now … THAT’S ROCK CITY!

THAT’S THE CHURCH!

If you’ve read my last two posts, you know where I’m headed with this. Sex is everywhere. Sexual temptation is everywhere. And if we’re honest, even the most noble of people, even the best of Christians can easily fall in this area. Even the most committed husband, even the most honorable mother can fall in this area. Our culture baits us sexually from every direction and from every angle. That’s why, when it comes to sex, we need more than guardrails … we need reinforced steel. So here’s 3 more guardrails to consider …

3. ESTABLISH ACCOUNTABILITY
First off, let me just say this as directly as humanly possible … IF there’s a computer in your home that’s not protected with anti-porn software or some sort of accountability software, you should throw that computer in the trash. When it comes to sexual purity online, when 70% of men in a given month give in, when 57% of Christian Pastors saying it’s a strong temptation … there’s NO NEED TO TRUST ANYONE … not yourself, not your husband, not your wife, not your children … no one. When it comes to online purity, trust won’t get you far. I won’t even trust myself. Rather than trust I suggest that you KNOW online porn isn’t an issue for you or someone you love by taking the appropriate precautions. Examples of available software are SafeEyes and X3Watch. Download one, use it. You won’t regret it.

When it comes to life in general (real life, not online life), it’s also important to have accountability with someone you trust. Remember, a conviction unspoken is a conviction that WILL BE broken. Find a Life-Giving friend and be honest. It’s worth it to have a person in your life that you can be an open book to.

4. HONOR GOD’S DESIGN AND INTENTION FOR WHEN AND WHERE SEX IS TO BE EXPERIENCED. It’s natural for us to drift from God’s design and intention. We’ve been doing it since the original fall of man. Honoring God takes intentional effort and discipline. And when it comes to sex, we’re always trying to see how close we can get to the line without technically stepping over it. Every time sex is mentioned in Scripture it’s ALWAYS in relation to marriage … either as something to be enjoyed and experienced within the context of marriage … OR something of a slippery slope with a world of regret waiting for you at the bottom.

When sex is experienced between two people, there’s a vulnerability that’s shared. And God has created the safest place possible for such vulnerability and intimacy to be shared … and that is within marriage. It’s not that God doesn’t want us to have fun. It’s not that God wants to stifle, but God knows what’s best. And it’s our job to trust him and honor Him. Period.

5. IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BEGIN AGAIN
This may not sound like a guardrail, but it may be the most important guardrail you establish in your life. Here’s why … no matter where you’ve been, what you’ve done, what’s been done TO you, it’s never too late to begin again. In Christ, there is no condemnation. There is peace, joy, life, forgiveness, and new beginnings.

For someone that means that, even though you’ve been sexually active since the time you started following Christ, you can draw a line, establish a guardrail, and decide to honor God with your body from this point on. Today can be your new beginning.

For someone else, maybe you’re living with your significant other, and you know that with as good of intentions as you may have of remaining sexually pure together, sleeping in the same bed, living under the same roof certainly isn’t going to help your cause. Sometimes when we separate ourselves from these kinds of circumstances for the moment, there is just enough space created for God to supernaturally work in our hearts, heal us, restore us … and the intimacy gained will be far greater, between you and your significant other, and between you and God, than ever before.

Bottom line, most of us have made plenty of sexual mistakes. Most of us carry with us guilt from past sexual experiences. And, if we’re honest, it’s really not all that easy to remain sexually pure in this culture. BUT, IF we are intentional,  IF we have accountability, and IF we establish guardrails to protect and direct us, we CAN honor God … we CAN remain pure. And I can promise you this … no one has EVER regretted establishing these kinds of guardrails … but a lot of people HAVE regretted NOT establishing guardrails BEFORE it was too late.

If you’re a Christian you know this. If you’re not a Christian you’re probably thinking … “Who cares? I don’t need some pastor or book telling me how to live my life, especially THIS part of my life!” But here’s what I know about you … This is what YOU WANT! Maybe not for yourself, but for the people you care about the most. This is what you want for your husband, for your wife, for your boyfriend, for your children, grandchildren. You don’t want your husband or your little girl flirting with sex … you want your husband, wife, son, daughter to FLEE!

We’re told to flee because sex really is a big deal. Our culture will tell us that sex is purely physical … but we all know better don’t we? Sex is so much more than that.

The thing about disaster is that it’s pretty much possible to bounce back from just about any kind of disaster. A person can suffer professional disaster … lose her job and go bankrupt. She works hard, makes good decisions and comes back stronger than ever. Physical disaster … a college athlete has a career ending injury, told he will never walk again … but he overcomes the odds and wins the silver metal at the Olympics. These are the stories we love to tell, we love to hear. They are stories of triumph. But when it comes to sexual disaster, sexual sin, sexual histories, these are the stories no one ever wants to talk about. We don’t laugh about. Married couples won’t stay up late to entertain one another with stories from their colorful sexual histories. Why? Because it’s more than physical … and the damage done will follow with you for the rest of your life.

That’s why we need guardrails. We’re being baited. We’re being pulled, lured. And it’s not easy anymore to stay faithful, with our eyes, with our hearts, with our bodies. Even with the best of intentions, it’s still possible to run into sexual disaster because it’s all around us.

Here’s two more guardrails to consider …

2a. [For Marrieds] I WILL NOT ALLOW MYSELF TO BE ALONE WITH A PERSON OF THE OPPOSITE SEX. This is when you’re supposed to tell me how this is way too extreme and impossible to live up to. And it’s also when I tell you how I live this out in my own life.

As a pastor, there are a lot of people who require my time. There are meetings. There are coffee appointments … lots of them (and I don’t even drink coffee). Early on in the life of our church I found myself in a meeting with a woman about an opportunity for our church. We were at a local lunch spot so there were lots of people around. I didn’t know what this woman looked like until we met face to face. It’s always been a no-brainer for me to NOT travel alone with another woman … NOT to ride in a car alone with another woman … those are easy, common sense. But everybody knows that meals are where deals are made. So, I had this meeting. Problem was, she was quite attractive. And I found myself feeling a bit awkward.

I called my wife after our lunch appointment and told her that I felt awkward and that the woman I had just met with was quite pretty. I also told my wife that I really didn’t think I should’ve had that meeting alone. It’s not that I did anything wrong, or even wanted to. These kinds of meetings happen all of the time. BUT, I’m not interested in living an ordinary kind of life because the natural ebb and flow of our culture doesn’t do much for honoring marriage and maintaining sexual purity. So, we decided, no more coffee appointments, no more lunch meetings, no more one-on-one counseling appointments with woman alone (which, I don’t think I’ve ever done anyway). If the need arises for me to meet with a woman, I take my wife, or somebody else. And I’ve become a master of connecting women with other women … you would’ve thought?

It’s a guardrail that’s WELL within the safety zone, so this one gets a big of pushback, but it’s a guardrail worth implementing. When I think of the story of Joseph and Potipher’s wife in Genesis 37, it says that “One day [Joseph] went into the house to attend his duties and [no one else was inside].” That’s when Potipher’s wife jumped Joseph and tried to get him in the sack. Joseph did the right thing, he RAN … BUT … because he was alone, it still ended quite badly for Joseph. He spent many years in prison on attempted rape charges. My point is, why open the door to question? Why open the door to unnecessary temptation? Just establish the guardrail.

2b. [For Singles] I WILL BE CAUTIOUS AND INTENTIONAL ABOUT THE TIME I SPEND ALONE WITH A PERSON OF THE OPPOSITE SEX.

Here’s a few thoughts on what being cautious and intentional looks like.

Being cautious means I won’t spend the night at my boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s house. If you’re a Christian, that should be a no-brainer. Sadly though, it’s not. Don’t set yourself up for a fall. Don’t open the door to temptation. Be cautious.

Being intentional means you’ve established boundaries, TOGETHER. Remember this: A conviction unspoken will be a conviction broken. I learned this the hard way during the time I dated my wife. Any time we held back our personal convictions from each other, we’d violate them. We’d cross the line and then say things like, “I thought that’s what YOU wanted …” And then the other would say something like, “I thought that’s what YOU wanted. I really didn’t want to cross this line, yet, here, now …”

Communicate. Be open. Establish boundaries. And honor God in your relationships. When you’re intentional and open about the boundaries you’re establishing in your relationships, it’s easier to honor God. It’s easier to remain pure.

[I'll post the last 3 guardrails tomorrow] …

The thing is, about sex, everyone in our culture would agree that there IS an age that’s too young for a little boy or a little girl to engage sexually. But then look at what’s being marketed to little boys and little girls. And the advise we give to children about sex is, “Don’t have sex until you’re ready.” Let’s be honest, that’s lame advice.

Everyone in our culture would agree that at some point online sexual activity becomes a bit awkward, to say the least. But when 70% of men regularly polled say they’ve looked at porn online in the last 30 days … and when 57% of Christian Pastors say online porn is a real and present struggle … what gives?

What our culture does is bait us as close to the edge of disaster as humanly possible and then chastises us the moment we step over the line. That’s why we chastise Christian Pastors who fall … famous actors who admit themselves for sex addiction … and we say, “How could they … That’s horrible … Gross …” But why the surprise? We’re being baited everywhere we turn. And all they’ve done is taken the bait.

And, if we’re honest, every single one of us is just as vulnerable. That’s why we need guardrails. That’s why we need need men and women who will say enough is enough … Who will establish guardrails … boundaries when it comes to sex.

The interesting thing about a guardrail is that it’s never placed in the danger zone. It’s always placed in the area of safety … but its job is to protect and direct us, to keep us from STRAYING INTO the danger zone.

So, I’m going to offer you 5 guardrails to consider. These are guardrails I use in my own life. They may sound extreme, BUT, it’s my personal conviction that, in this area, one can never be too careful. And, there may be just one person who establishes one or more of these guardrails and SAVES their marriage … or lives the life they were created by God to live … in freedom … with no baggage, guilt. So, before you knock it, give it a try.

Here’s the first …

1. NO MORE SECOND LOOKS

This is one that us guys can practice EVERY day. Matthew 6:22 tells us that the eye is the lamp to the body and if our eyes are good our whole body is good. There’s another scripture that literally tell us that if our eyes cause us to sin, it’d be better to gouge our eyes out than to continue sinning. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather establish a guardrail in my life that says, “NO MORE SECOND LOOKS.”

The story of David’s affair with Bathsheba illustrates the power of a second look. David sleeps with a married woman, gets her pregnant, and then has her husband killed to cover his tracks. And it all started with a second look. 2 Samuel 11 records that David was walking around on the roof of his palace when he saw a woman bathing. We’re told that the woman was VERY beautiful.

I think it’s safe to say that a guy can tell a woman is beautiful at first glance … but a woman is VERY beautiful only after a few looks. And that’s what happened with David. And if you read the story, it wasn’t like David was out LOOKING for trouble. He was just taking a walk, riding to work, leaving the office at the end of the day …

This is one of the hardest guardrails to live with because EVERYWHERE in our culture we’re being baited, especially men, who are naturally motivated by sight. But that’s also why this guardrail is so important. You’re not going to get it right every time, but when you get it wrong, if you’ve been practicing this for a while, it’s going to feel like you just had a train wreck. When I catch myself going for a second look, I feel awful. And that’s what a guardrail is for. I crash against the guardrail sometimes, but there’s far less damage and guilt when I hit the guardrail I’ve established in my life than there could be had that guardrail not been in place, and had I allowed my mind to wander.

NO MORE SECOND LOOKS. Try it for a week. I think you’ll be surprised at the bait that’s vying for your affection. And tomorrow I’ll give you a few more guardrails to try out …

I had a youth pastor who used to always say, “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.” And to be honest, I’d make fun of him behind his back because he’d say it literally, every week. But what I’ve come to know is that “Mike” was right. My friends really will influence the direction and the quality of my life!

And this is something we grew up with. Our parents would freak out about who we were spending the most time with. They’d establish curfews. They wouldn’t allow us to spend the night at certain “friend’s” homes. Some of our parents even stepped in and ended romantic relationships on our behalf … because they understood what was at stake. They understood this principle, that ultimately, the people I surround myself with, the people who make up the greatest influence in my life will greatly influence the direction and the quality of my life.

Proverbs 12:26 says that “The righteous CHOOSE their friends carefully …”

Do you see it? Too many times we justify the unhealthy relationships in our lives.

“These are just the people I work with … That’s just my family … Those are just the guys I go to school with … They’re just my friends.”

But the truth is, you and I have a CHOICE as to who surrounds us and who yields the greatest influence in our lives. Our friends don’t happen by chance. We CHOOSE our friends, and the friends we choose WILL ultimately influence the direction and the quality of our lives.

So, with that, here’s a few guardrails I’m offering as a suggestive way to choose wisely those people that make up our core … that yield the greatest influence in our lives.

I think your conscience should light up … you should be very concerned when:

1. Your core group of friends isn’t moving in the same direction you want for you.
If you find yourself in a place where, what you want spiritually, what you want financially, what you want for your family or for your marriage is not shared by the people that surround you … that should concern you.

2. You catch yourself pretending to be somebody you’re not.
If you’re always trying to “fit in.” Or, if you’re always putting certain values on the back burner, or pushing certain principles aside because you want to be included or accepted, you’re heading toward dangerous ground.

3. You feel pressure to compromise.
Often, when we hear the word compromise in church, we consider the obvious vices. But let me suggest that for many, the people with whom you compromise the most are with your “Christian” friends. When you’re with certain “Christian” friends you become more self-righteous. You begin to compromise what you know is God’s will for you … You begin to develop this “us versus them” mentality and your focus shifts from reaching the lost to filling your endless appetite for Bible knowledge and deeper teaching and you suddenly forget that it’s not about you and how much you can get, but it’s about them … and how much you can give and serve and what you can do to reach the lost. Because, that’s our mission. That’s something we ought never to compromise. Don’t become a Christian jerk.

4. You hear yourself saying, “I’ll go, but I won’t participate.”
This is true of any area of our lives … and I tell this to people who participate in our LifeGroups all the time … if you can’t open up and be real and honest about who you are and where you’re at with the people in your LifeGroup or the friends you spend the most time with, you’re living a lie. If you can’t openly participate because you feel the need to hide something … or if participating means you’ll be compromising a moral value … that should trouble you.

5. You hope the people you care about the most don’t find out who you’ve been with or where you’ve been.
It’s not that you’d have to defend something you’ve done because “technically” you’ve not crossed the line. You’ve not done anything wrong. But there’s just something inside of you … that still small voice … that says, “I’m just not comfortable vocalizing who I’ve been with or where I’ve been to my husband, or to my wife, or to my LifeGroup leader, or to my friends.” That’s not a good place to be. You need a guardrail.

What we need are Life-Giving Friends:

Friends who KNOW life the way Jesus defined life. He said, “I am the way, the truth and THE LIFE.”

Friends who are COMMITTED to living out God’s will for their life.

Friends who are committed to seeing God’s will lived out in OUR LIVES.

THOSE are LIFE-GIVING friends! That’s who we need to be surrounded by.

Rock City + Crack House = An Awesome Day!

This weekend at Rock City was EXCEPTIONAL for a few reasons. For starters, Sunday was the highest attended service to date. It’s absolutely mind-blowing what God is doing here. There was such a tangible energy at both the 9:00am and 10:45am worship experiences. It was a great day.

But the BEST part of the day was when we got to give our FIRST ONEforONE check to Pastor Mitchell and CRACK House Ministries!

I met Pastor Mitchell last year. I reached out to him after reading an article about CRACK House (Christ Resurrects After Crack Kills) in Relevant Magazine. We met, and I knew pretty immediately that CRACK House was a ministry we were going to partner with. Pastor Mitchell and his team run a sober home program for men overcoming addiction and their innercity ministry reaches out to people who are desperate and battling drug and alcohol addiction.

Our ONEforONE mission is to GIVE ONE DOLLAR to a local or global need for every person that walks through our doors, every week. One for One, every person, every week. And on Sunday, we were able to bless CRACK House Ministries with a check for $2,000!

I told Pastor Mitchell he had two minutes to share. He showed up with an egg-shaped timer … he said, “I brought this egg, cause you don’t give a black pastor a microphone and expect him to only talk for two minutes.” HA!

It’s good to have friends like Pastor Mitchell. And it’s good for Rock City to continue to develop relationships with people and organizations that are moving in the same direction and making a real and tangible difference in the places where God has called them. And it’s so exciting to think about, in the course of this new year, how many checks we’re going to write … how many needs are going to be met … how many people are going to be loved and blessed as a result of ONEforONE!

Let’s keep this momentum going! And let’s continue to LIVE OUT generosity!

And remember, we’ve only just begun!

So, this is a guardrail that I’ve established for myself in the area of drinking alcohol. I am not in any way suggesting that EVERYONE should establish the same guardrails as I have. These are mine. And this is one guardrail that I’ve personally positioned in my life to keep me from straying into dangerous or off-limit areas. You may agree and you may not. But I am not in any way trying to impose my personal guardrails on everyone. They’re mine. For me.

That said, it HAS always surprised me how much push-back I get from well-meaning Christians when they find out I don’t drink. This is especially true of younger Christians, particularly those who grew up in an era of overly-legalistic churches and over-protective parents … of which I too am a byproduct.

I can’t speak for them, even though sometimes I want to. But here’s why I don’t drink -

First, I know me. I have quite the addictive personality. And I REALLY enjoy the taste of alcohol. But I also know God, and I know that His plans for me are far greater than anything I could ever dream or imagine. So, I’m not interested in doing anything that could mess that up. I’m not interested in putting myself in a position of drinking too-much. Ever.

Second, I know people. And in all of my years in ministry I have never once heard a story of … “Finding God was hard, but the moment I found beer, it was as if heaven opened and suddenly I felt closer to God and my marriage began to heal and my kids started respecting me more.” I’ve never heard that story. But I’ve heard multiplied dozens of stories of people who have abused and/or struggled with alcohol as well as an untold number of stories of people who have come from families or situations in which alcohol was abused. So, because I know people, I refuse to be a stumbling block … I refuse to make alcohol an issue for anyone that may be or have struggled with alcohol addiction. And some of those people are in my own family.

I love the passage in Ephesians 5 that we studied last week. Paul says, if you’re a Christian, don’t get drunk. He doesn’t say that drinking alcohol is a sin. And I don’t think that either. I’m sure there will probably be a few people getting raptured with a corona in their hand … of course, you do know, the corona will have to stay …

Paul doesn’t even say that getting drunk is a sin. But what he says is … drunkenness leads to something else … something else that I think we’d all agree is something we should all avoid at any cost … and that is debauchery. What’s it mean? It means extreme indulgence that leads to a loss of self-control.

I think we’d all agree that anything and everything that leads to a loss of control, our heavenly Father is against. And why should we expect anything less of Him? Whether it’s food or money or anger or pride or greed or alcohol … anything and everything that baits us to a place where we lose control, that’s a dangerous place to be. That’s why we need guardrails.

Nobody ever plans to mess up their life on purpose, but a lot of people have because they never planned NOT to.

So, I’ll still never understand the pushback, especially from Christians, when they find out I’ve nailed down a guardrail in my life when it comes to drinking alcohol.

All I know is, just because I CAN doesn’t always mean that I SHOULD.

And it’s my personal opinion that there are a whole lot of people, Christians included, that need to nail down a more solid guardrail when it comes to this particular issue as well. There’s a lot of Christians who spend way too much time trying to walk as close to the line as humanly possible without falling into sin. And there’s a whole lot of younger Christians that need to bring it down a notch … stop trying to overcompensate for your legalistic and over-protective past. I get it. But your past doesn’t have to define your future and who you are today. Stop allowing it to.

My suggestion, Paul’s suggestion in Ephesians 5 …

Embrace what you KNOW in your heart God’s will is for your life. Just because you can doesn’t always mean that you should. And this isn’t for everybody. But it’s for some, just like it’s for me. And if this is for you, be encouraged. You’re not alone. You may find yourself often in the minority, but you’re not alone.

When I read the Bible I’m never convicted because I’ve given too much. I’m convicted because the entire Gospel is about generosity and I know I’m not naturally bent toward generosity, but selfishness.  I read the Bible and I realize that there would be no church, there would be no forgiveness, no grace, no mercy had not God first GIVEN His Son for us. The Gospel really does start and end with giving. He gave His life for us and in turn calls each one of us to do the same.

We introduced ONE for ONE this weekend at Rock City – and I’m so pumped about this I can hardly write this blog post! I believe ONE for ONE is not only going to set the stage for 2012, but it’s a complete game-changer for how we do church and what it looks like to live out radical generosity.

Giving has always been a part of our DNA. As a new church we’ve established that 20% of our operating budget would be used for local and global outreach. We call it Beyond Our Walls. I personally think the church has gotten way too far away from this. Here’s the idea – we’re here to make a difference – to reach the lost OUTSIDE our walls – not simply satisfy the members WITHIN our walls.

So, here we are. In two weeks I’m going to introduce Rock City to a friend of mine who runs a local ministry that reaches addicts and runs a sober home program for men struggling to break free from addiction. We’re going to add up our attendance for the month of January and write their ministry a check, ONE for ONE.

And every week, for every person that walks through our doors, we’re going to GIVE one dollar to a specific local or global need … before operational expenses, before facilities, before staffing … and we’re going to test God in the area of generosity. Because I’m pretty sure that’s what He told us to do – to test Him.

So, what can you do?

1. BRING SOMEONE WITH YOU THIS WEEKEND!
Just for showing up, you’re making a difference! Every time you invite a friend to join you, every time you bring someone with you to one of our weekend worship experiences, we’re able to do more and give more. And as we worship together, know that your worship is extending far Beyond Our Walls and making a practical difference in the lives of people in this city and around the world. And every week we’ll remind you of how your ONE for ONE money is being used and making a difference.

2. NOMINATE A PERSON IN NEED.
Let us know if you know of someone who could use a helping hand. We’ve all been in need at some time or another. Wouldn’t it be nice to be there for someone who’s in most need? Maybe it’s a single parent who’s struggling. Maybe it’s a family in your neighborhood or a person you work with. Let us know. Maybe we can help.

3. NOMINATE AN ORGANIZATION THAT’S MAKING A DIFFERENCE.
Whether local or global, we’re always looking for new ministry partners. Maybe you know about a local ministry that’s making a real difference in the lives of people we may never be able to as effectively reach. Maybe you know of a global ministry that we can all get behind together. We can’t do this alone. We need your help!

4. PRAY.
Pray for the continued growth of Rock City Church. The more people we reach with the Gospel = the more people we can engage to reach more people with the Gospel. Get it? I’m not interested in doing church as usual. I’m not interested in playing it safe. I’d rather be charged with giving too much than with giving too little. And I’m ready for God to do what only God can do when a group of people humbles themselves, seeks Him above all else, and lives out radical and extravagant New Testament generosity!

So let the games begin!!!

PS. Who will you pray for and invite THIS weekend? Don’t forget, we’re kicking off a NEW SERIES called Guardrails. It’s going to be incredible.

PSS. And a special thanks to everyone who gave up a seat at the 10:45 and attended the 9:00am worship experience this weekend. It made a huge difference. We now have at least 100 new seats to fill at both of our weekend services!

I wanted to share with you some REALLY exciting news + 5 Thoughts about this season we’re in and 4 Things you can do to make the biggest impact possible these next few weeks!

Since December, our attendance has increased by nearly 100 people!

Read that again. Again. Because I just said that the attendance at Rock City Church has grown nearly 100 people in the few weeks following December! That’s incredible. And can I add something else? That’s ALL God! 

Only God could do that. What’s happening here at Rock City isn’t something any one of us could have manufactured. Only God could do this sort of thing!

Last Sunday we had record attendance at our 10:45 experience and a record number of children (topping 70) just at 10:45 alone!

So, let’s be honest … Is Rock City Growing TOO Fast? I think the answer is … NO!

Here’s what I know:

1. We are in a Growth Season.
What’s this mean for us? It means that new people are walking through our doors EVERY week. A LOT of new people. It means that there’s a lot of momentum, and it’s not likely this momentum is going to slow down any time soon. It means that EVERY week more and more people are getting on their mark and making the decision to follow Christ. It means that this church is alive and people’s lives are being changed!

2. A Growth Season Requires Thinking DIFFERENTLY.
Remember Rock City’s Mission: “to reach the unchurched and awaken the spiritually restless to love God and love people.”

There’s two types of Christians – #1 Christians who are selfish and consume and always want to know what’s in it for them, and #2 Christians who are selfless and contribute and always want to know what they can do to for somebody else. We need more #2′s …

That means a lot of us have to start thinking differently. We need to be fully engaged in what God is doing in order to make room for the people God is bringing. We need to realize that it’s not about US … it’s about THEM. It’s about reaching the lost, seeing the spiritually restless awakened! We need to make sure that if we’re in the way, or if we’re becoming a barrier to someone who is seeking God, we’ve got to tear those barriers down! So, what’s that mean for us?

3. We Need to Make ROOM at Our 10:45 Experience!
If you’ve been following Christ for a while, and if you are fully invested in participating with God in what He is doing at Rock City, I want to personally ask you to begin attending the 9:00 experience so that we can make room at the 10:45. ESPECIALLY FAMILIES WITH SMALL CHILDREN! Like I said, this past Sunday we had RECORD attendance in Rock City Kids. That’s a good thing … as long as we have enough families with children that will commit to moving from the 10:45 experience to the 9:00 experience.

I know … It’s early. And you have a million reasons why 10:45 works better for you, especially if you have kids. But here’s the deal … IF your not moving from our 10:45 experience means that our children’s ministry space is over capacity week after week … and IF your taking a seat at our 10:45 experience means that somebody else isn’t sitting there … somebody else who is far from God and spiritually restless … somebody who COULD HAVE had a life-changing encounter with Christ had they felt comfortable enough in YOUR seat … and felt like their children were getting the best possible experience … Would it be worth it to make room and start attending the 9:00 if THAT was what was at stake? Because it is.

We know that statistically a room will never reach much more than 70% capacity and sustain that capacity. We know that statistically a person who is going to check out a church for the first time, or someone who is unchurched and invited by a friend … they are going to HANDS DOWN, choose the 10:45 experience. Guaranteed. So please, do your part, set your alarm just a little earlier this weekend, and help us make room for more.

4. Every Seat That Opens at 10:45 = ONE MORE PERSON Added to Our Church!
Remember, we are in a growth season. That means we have to think differently. If we can move 100 people from our 10:45 experience to our 9:00 experience, I GUARANTEE you we’ll grow by that same number of people.

5. Church Growth is Biblical
A growing church is a living church is a healthy church is a New Testament church! It’s crazy how many people get upset when a church like ours starts talking about growth. People will say things like, “They’re all about the numbers!” And you know what, they’re right! Here’s the deal, people who talk like that probably attend a church that’s NOT growing. And if they are growing, they probably won’t for much longer, cause that’s just a stinky attitude. And God has a way with dealing with stinky attitudes. He’ll stop you dead in your tracks IF he has to.

We are given one mission by Jesus – to reach the lost – to take the Gospel and His name to every people in every city of every nation. IF we’re doing that, the church will grow. It has to. And IF we’re teaching people to live out their faith intentionally, the church will grow. It has to.

Numbers are simply a way to measure the life of a church. If numbers are increasing, there must be movement. People must be finding life in Christ. If numbers are decreasing, there may be organizational issues to overcome, spiritual issues to address, etc. So, this is a time to celebrate, BUT it’s also a time to get INTENTIONAL about what we’re doing.

So …

1. Don’t stop inviting people to join you. God is moving at Rock City and every time you bring somebody with you you’re making an eternal difference!

2. Be intentional about attending our 9:00 worship experience (ESPECIALLY Families with Children) so that we can use your seat at our 10:45 experience to introduce someone NEW to the Gospel.

3. No matter what experience you attend, DON’T SIT ON AN END SEAT. Think about it this way, if you’re new to a church, or just visiting, are you going to want to walk across 18 knees just to get to your seat? I didn’t think so. DON’T sit on an end. Scoot in, choose a middle seat, or better yet, sit in one of the 100 seats located on the floor. Yes, you may be within spitting distance of the worship band, but sometimes we fill those seats with Cup O Joe Gift Cards just to say thank you. Sounds like a win-win.

4. PRAY. PRAY. PRAY. I can’t overstate this enough. We need MORE people praying. Pray for this church. Pray for this city. Pray for this season that we’re in. Pray that more people will engage, give, get off the bench and help us reach the lost.

Jesus says that HE will build HIS church. HE does it, NOT us. But what he gives to us is the RESPONSIBILITY of being good STEWARDS of what he has given us. That means thinking differently, being intentional, getting off the bench and making a difference.

See you tomorrow morning! Bright and early …

6. Beyond Our Walls
One of the most exciting accomplishments from 2011 is that we gave more than 30% of our entire operating budget to local and global outreach projects. After all, that’s why we’re here! To reach people with the love and hope of Jesus Christ – to make a difference both local and global – to have compassion on those who are poor, sick and hurting. Leading the way in generosity isn’t our idea, it’s God’s idea.

7. Laundry Love
For our first corporate outreach event, we decided to bless the Weinland community by taking over their local laundromat for a day and doing hundreds of loads of dirty laundry for FREE. There were games for kids, free haircuts, food for the neighborhood … Right there, in the lawn of that laundromat, I saw Rock City come alive. Right there, I saw what the church can be when we become generous and willing to share – when we purposefully reach out to meet the needs of those who are less fortunate.

8. The BIG Give [Backpack Block Party + Home for Honduras]
I will personally NEVER forget the weeks leading up to The BIG Give. It was July and we had been holding Sunday gatherings for just three months. Like any church just starting off, finances were always a concern. After all, there’s a buy-in period for people who are checking out your church. It takes, on average, 6 to 12 months for a typical “regular” attender to begin tithing or giving. We weren’t anywhere close to that. BUT, that wasn’t going to deter us from reaching out and making a tangible impact in our community. After all, I believe with all my heart that God gives TO us so that he can give THROUGH us. So, we set a goal – an $8,500 goal – in 4 weeks. This was above and beyond our regular giving. We challenged the church to step up and lead the way in generosity … to help us raise enough money to give 100 fully-loaded backpacks to children in need in our city and to build a home for a family in Honduras living in extreme poverty and suffering the effects of HIV/AIDS. At the end of the 4 weeks, we had collected nearly $11,000. We built the home, sent a team to Honduras to work with the local ministry we’re partnered with, and gave more than 150 backpacks, fully-loaded, to children in need. And you know what, our regular giving increased too – and it’s continued to increase – because the more we give, the more we can accomplish for HIS purposes and HIS kindgom!

9. We’re Getting Comfortable – Time to ADD a Second Service (I think)
We’d been rolling for less than 4 months. Things were starting to click. Our teams were hitting on all cylinders, our Children’s ministry was rocking … We’d successfully tackled launching a mobile church. The NEW challenge – we were starting to fill up fast. We needed more seats. BUT, it was a scary move. If we added another service too fast we could hinder our momentum. Worse yet, we could KILL it. We could burn out our teams and fall flat on our face. But God hasn’t called us to plant a “typical” church. I knew we’d have to increase the number of services offered on the weekends to make room for the people that God was bring our way.

So I prayed long and hard about it, talked it through with our executive pastor, and decided it was time to talk to our core team. My fear walking into this meeting was that our core team would look at me and say, “Dude, are you serious? You’re going to KILL us! That’s going to be a LOT of work. We’re just NOT ready!” But … I called the meeting. And with our core team sitting around the conference table I offered up the idea as quickly as I knew how. What IF it was time to start another service? Then I asked, “What do you guys think?” Before I could even finish that sentence one of our team members shouted out, “Absolutely! We’re too comfortable! We’ve GOT to do SOMETHING! … We’re just too comfortable!”

And there you have it! My first thought was, “Are you serious? How can we be comfortable? We’ve only been doing this for a few months!” BUT … that shows you the heart of our team. We will stop at nothing to reach more people with the love and hope of Christ. And what’s amazing is that, when we launched a second service, our ministry teams DOUBLED! We weren’t burning people out after all! We were adding to the team! And in the first 2 weeks of launching a second service, our weekend attendance DOUBLED as well! Now all I can think about is … What’s next?

10. So Glad I’m Not Doing This Alone
When God calls you to do something, it’s probably going to scare you a bit, OR a lot. In my case it scared me a lot. What was the church supposed to look like? And even if I’ve got that all figured out, how in the world do you move from idea to reality? Where do you begin to start a church from scratch? And not just ANY church, but a life-giving, vibrant, culturally-relevant and spirit-empowered church? One thing’s for sure – I CAN’T DO THIS ON MY OWN. I WON’T DO THIS ON MY OWN!

One of the greatest parts of following God is finding out along the way that other people are following Him too. And, before long, you’ll find yourself surrounded by people who want to go with you, follow you as you follow Him. It’s humbling.

Every day I think about the people who serve at Rock City – doctors, teachers, factory workers, single moms, business executives, sports professionals, college students, former pastors … and the list goes on. Only God could do that.

It’s a great feeling to know I’m not doing this alone. I COULDN’T do this alone! I’ve got a great loving and supportive wife and family. I can’t overstate enough how big of a role my family, my parents, my brother and sister have played in the life of this church. Our executive pastor John has been an enormous blessing. I can’t even begin to visualize Rock City without him. Our core team, among which are old friends and new friends … those who moved with us to this new city almost two years ago … those who volunteer every single week … those who lead our teams, those who pray, those who give, those who are making a difference with us … I am forever grateful, and HIS Kingdom is forever advancing because of you!

And remember …

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20