Sunday Rewind 8.22.10

- On Sunday we saw many people SURRENDER their lives to Jesus!! That NEVER gets OLD!!

- Singing the song, “I Surrender All” on Sunday got me!  I daily want to be able to say with 100% integrity, “Jesus, everything I have, all of me, I surrender to you”.

- Every single one of us has rough spots, things we are working on, baggage from our past, and things we need to overcome- The Good News is, Jesus never said you needed to be PERFECT!

- Yes, than means the church is full of messed up, imperfect people, who fail, mess up, and do not have it all figured out…..and there is always room for one more!

- At Meadowland Church,We are more interested in WHO you are than WHAT  you wear,  we care more about your HEART than we do your tattoos and piercings, WE care more about your FUTURE than we do your PAST, and if you have ever been told you are not good enough or need to make some changes before attending a different Church, WELCOME HOME – you are among friends!!

- Jesus is always after our hearts! He cares more about your heart than how you appear to others, or how righteous we appear on the outside!  (Matthew 23:25-28)

-Because we are concerned about image, we are hesitant and even fearful to open up to people about the Garbage we are dealing with in our lives, because we are more concerned with the SUPERFICIAL APPEARANCE OF HOLINESS than we are CHRIST CENTRERED WORSHIP AND REPENTANCE!!

- The consequences of CONCEALING our sin and struggles will DESTROY US!  CONFESSION and REPENTANCE lead us to healing and forgiveness!! (James 5:16).

- God Loves Us, Pursues Us, and Desires all of our Hearts!

- One of the ways God PURSUES US, is by CALLING OUT the IDOLS in our life (Ezekial 14:1-5)!   As your Pastor, I am not smart enough and clever enough to consistently teach messages where you think “He is talking to me this morning”.  THAT IS JESUS!!

- I think we as Christ Followers live with these tension of DAILY ASKING ,”Will I SURRENDER MY ALL OF MY LIFE TO JESUS TODAY!”  I think we have fully submitted TO JESUS, when we HEAR WHAT HE SAYS, and theN DO WHAT HE SAYS!! When what HE SAYS IS DIFFICULT, we NEED to be HONEST about it, WRESTLE with it, and TAKE  the next steps through obedience!!

-Sunday Evening we had the Baptism Service and Church Picnic.  We had the opportunity to see six people take the next step on their Spiritual Journey through Baptism.  IT WAS AMAZING!!

- The Church Picnic was a blast.  There were a TON of people I had never met before at the picnic.  It was a blast to connect and hear peoples’s stories and make new friends on Sunday Evening!!

- A HUGE THANK YOU, to everyone who helped out!  The Baptism Service/Picnic was AWESOME, we could not have done it without you!!

Meadowland Church, I LOVE YOU and I am PUMPED about what God is up to in the hearts and lives of HIS CHURCH.  I believe God is about to do something BIG!  Continue to follow Jesus, Daily SURRENDER your lives, and when God speaks to you,  DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS (Hebrews 3:7-8).

If you have not signed up yet, we are still looking for some people to help with the WATER BOTTLE HAND OUT, THIS Saturday, August 28th from Noon to 2:00 pm. Instead of asking our community FOR SOMETHING, we would like to GIVE SOMETHING to the people in our community for FREE!

We believe that “Small Things Done with Great Love Can Change the World”. We are going to go out and bless our community by reaching out and giving away free stuff while planting seeds of hope, acceptance, and true freedom.

If you are available from Noon to 2:00 pm on Saturday, August 28th and would like to be a part of the team handing out water bottles, please contact the church office, or fill out this REGISTRATION FORM.

Sunday Rewind 8.9.10

I am so PUMPED about what God is doing IN and THROUGH the people who are Meadowland Church.  Here are a couple thoughts on a great day:

- The weather was dark and grey on Sunday, but the atmosphere inside was ELECTRIC on Sunday.  I heard from multiple people on Sunday that they experienced God working in their lives in very personal, very real ways!!

- I say this every week, but SERIOUSLY our worship team always does an amazing job of leading us into the presence of Jesus and focusing our hearts and minds on HIM.

- I had the opportunity to get to meet a whole bunch of people for the first time on Sunday.  I love getting to know people and making new friends!

- This week we studying the book of Job as we answered the question: “Why do bad things happen to good people”?

- Yes, the story about the lady in Wisconsin passing me on the left while I was making a left hand turn is true.  After she passed me, she was pulled over and given a ticket by a Wisconsin State Trooper – IT WAS AWESOME! because I was right and she was wrong.  A few months ago, I got pulled over and it was NOT awesome, because I was in the wrong.   The problem with the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”, is we will ALWAYS put OURSELVES in the position of GOOD!!

- Job’s question in Job 2:10 ROCKED my World!  Are willing to accept everything that God has in store for us or are we only willing to accept what WE think is good?  Ponder that one for a while.

- One of the biggest comforts I find in the book of Job is that God is Sovereign!  God is ALL POWERFUL, in CONTROL, has all WISDOM, is fully AWARE and actively WORKING in our moments of pain and suffering!!  While that does not necessarily take away the pain, it DOES give us HOPE!

- As a Christ Follower, you have the HOPE AND ASSURANCE that no matter what you are going through in your life, if God LEAD You to it, He will walk you THROUGH it, DELIVER you from it, or TAKE you instantly into His arms in heaven!!

- We we begin to understand the Sovereignty of God, we can begin to live out 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 in our lives!!

- We had a “Meet Meadowland Lunch” after the Second Service on Sunday and it was AWESOME.  We had around 25 people so up for lunch, we got to know one another and talking about what Jesus is doing in and through Meadowland Church. If you were unable to attend this one, we have another “Meet Meadowland scheduled for October 10th!!

-Don’t forget the Baptism Service/ Church Picnic is on August 22nd.  If you are interested in taking the next step on your journey through baptism – SIGN  UP HERE.  If you are interested in singing up for the Picnic- SIGN UP HERE.

I LOVE Meadowland Church and am so PUMPED about what God is doing IN and THROUGH the people who are Meadowland Church!

Sunday in Review 8.1.10

- SERIOUSLY, I love the people who are Meadowland Church.

- This Sunday we saw several people SURRENDER their LIVES to Jesus

- Today we answered the following questions in the “You Asked For It Series”:

1.  What is the difference between worshiping God out of obedience and worshiping God our of obligation?

2.  What should I do when I no longer feel like worshiping, serving, and doing?

- In my opinion, Worship has been reduced by some to mean weekly or occasional participation in a worship service, combined with some occasional volunteerism in a ministry, and some sort of Bible knowledge.  While these things are a part of our Worship – there is MORE to our worship then weekly participation in a service!

- Paul tells us in Romans 11:36 – Romans 12:1 that we are to present our bodies (meaning all of our person) to God as a living sacrifice.  When our minds, our bodies, our souls, and strengths align- and we worship God with all we do , Paul says this is our spiritual act of worship!

- Worship is something we do continuously.  In fact 1 Corinthians 10:31 says no matter what we are doing, eating or drinking, whatever we do, we should do it to the Glory of God.

- Many of us live with tension in our lives in regards to worship because we live by “Diet Coke Theology”.  We have all experienced Diet Coke Theology in one way or another.  Sometimes we go BIG with a meal, order a Double Quarter Pounder, go large with the Fries, and order a Diet Coke thinking the zero calorie Diet Coke will somehow cancel out the 1,200 calorie meal we just put down.

- Radical Disobedience in one area of our lives is not canceled out by Radical Obedience in another area of our lives!

- Jesus reminds us all throughout the New Testament that our LOVE for Him, will lead us to OBEDIENCE!

- We also looked at 2 Timothy 1:3-7 yesterday in response to the question, “What do I do when I no longer feel like worshiping, serving, or doing?”

- There will be times in our lives when the situations we are in, the demands on our lives, and the emotional drain of life will kick in – in these times we need to “fan the flame”.  When our fire is dying within we need to feed it, fan it, and keep the fires burning hot and bright!

- Meadowland Church:  Seriously, I love you and am PUMPED about what GOD is doing IN you and THROUGH You.  My desire for all of us is that we would LOVE GOD WITH ALL THAT WE ARE (Mark 12:20), that we would SERVE HIM ALONE AS MASTER (Matthew 6:24), and we would WORSHIP JESUS as we HEAR WHAT HE SAYS and then DO WHAT HE SAYS!!

- Don’t forget the Baptism Service/ Church Picnic is on August 22nd.  If you are interested in taking the next step on your journey through baptism – SIGN  UP HERE.  If you are interested in singing up for the Picnic- SIGN UP HERE.

Here are some recommended resources to help you FAN THE FLAME:

-Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

- The Christian Atheist

- Celebration of Discipline

-Sacred Pathways

Sunday Rewind 7.19.10

- Today was an amazing day at Meadowland Church! As we answered the questions “Who is the Holy Spirit” this morning in our current series “You Asked For It”, we saw people surrender their lived to Jesus! AMAZING!!

- On Sunday I felt like we were cracking open a fire hydrant and trying to take a drink.  We talked about a lot of information and went through a lot of scriptures, but my intent was not to overwhelm us, rather it was to crack the hydrant and enjoy the outpouring and be refreshed by the waters as we discovered who the Holy Spirit is.

- I promised on Sunday that I would make my powerpoint available for all you note takes out there.  Here is the HOLY SPIRIT POWERPOINT in pdf format.

- The worship on Sunday was off the chain.  I seriously love worshiping our Great God with my friends and family at Meadowland Church!!

- On August 22nd, we will be having out Church Picnic and Baptism Service. If you have recently made a decision to follow Jesus or have never been baptized, I invite you to take the next step and get baptized on August 22nd. If you are interested in being baptized, you can SIGN UP HERE.

- One of the verses I keep going back to recently is Acts:1-8.   God has HUGE plans for us, and provides us with the POWER we need to accomplish it!!

- I am so thankful to be a part of Meadowland Church. I love you all and look forward to what God is going to continue to do in and through the people who are Meadowland Church!!

Sunday Rewind- 7.4.10

-Happy 4th of July everyone! I am so thankful for the men and women who have faithfully served this country. Those who purchased for our freedom with their lives and those who continue to protect it with their lives today!!

- Today I got to go to Meadowland Church with my family. It was GREAT! I think it had been almost a year since we all got to go to church together. It was also Nolan’s first Sunday at Meadowland- he had a great first time experience!

- Ed Mathisen preached the message this morning and did a great job! Seriously, I think today was one of the best messages on idol worship in the 21st century I have heard!!

- One of my biggest “takeaways” from Ed’s Message was – “If we do not read our Bibles, we are in danger of redefining who God is.” Thought that statement was both true and powerful!!

- If we truly want to have a relationship with Jesus, we need to KNOW who He is and DO what he says to do. Too many people say they believe in Jesus, but do not really know who he is or care about his word.

- Many of us know a lot of information about Superman. We know his double identity (Clark Kent) , who his friends are (Louis Lane, Jimmy Olsen ect..) , who his enemies are (Lex Luther to name one) , what planet he is from (Krypton), and his one weakness (Kryptonite)…..however if my house started on fire right now, I should not count on Superman showing up to save me….because he is a made up character. Interesting how we know more about someone who is made up in comic books who do not have the ability to save us!!

- Personally, I walked away Sunday with a desire to know God more, and to read my bible more to hear from God more. When we hear what God says and Do what He says, we see God!!

-Last note: It has been two weeks since I last preached and I am PUMPED to be kicking off our new series this Sunday called “You asked for it!!”. Seriously, it is like a fire burning within me (Jeremiah 20:9)