Sunday Stuff 1.24.10

Sunday was an amazing day, SERIOUSLY God is doing some amazing things in and through the people who make up Meadowland Church!

- I was PUMPED all week for Sunday.

-The worship team did their own spin of “No Perfect People” by Natalie Grant on Sunday.  They ROCKED it, worship was amazing!

- In cased you were not here I am about 98% sure we set an attendance record.  We had 0 seats left and had cars double parked in the parking lot.  There were even a couple people standing in the back to make room! AMAZING!!

- In case you were wondering, yes we are working on a plan for the parking and the seating squeeze!  GREAT problem to have!

- A few weeks ago I made the statement: “I want to see more people at Meadowland Church on Sunday morning than at the local bar on Friday Night”.  A couple told me that went to a local bar on Friday and counted cars.   WE HAD MORE CARS ON SUNDAY MORNING!!  Praise the Lord!

- This week was message #3 in our No Perfect People Allowed Series, we saw a ton of people respond at the end of this message, it was AWESOME.

- In Matthew 5:9 , Jesus says “Blessed are the peacemakers…..”.  The reason we need peacemakers is because we are at WAR!  It should bother us that everyday people die and go to HELL!  Peacemakers help people experience the Peace of God in their life.

- Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:10-12 that because of the Change that takes place in us when we Follow Him, we will experience RESISTANCE!

- People Changed by Jesus, live differently!  You are changed, energized by the power of the Spirit, and that will cause friction around you.

- Jesus does not say “Blessed are those who do dumb things in my name”!  REMEMBER THAT!

- I have read Matthew  5:13-16 quite a few times in my life.  As I was preparing for this week I saw something I have never seen before – Jesus says in Matthew 5:15 that we do not light a lamp and put it under a basket……then I heard God ask – “What Basket are you putting over your light”?

- Meadowland Church, I am so thankful for your partnership and your desire to serve Jesus.  Just be careful not fall in love with Meadowland as it is today. We will constantly change and do things differently to reach our community and the world for Jesus.

- I believe Jesus loves hurting messed up people, and uses them to be the salt and light if we are willing to be used.

- Seriously, I am so thankful to be on the Journey with you Meadowland Church!  God is going to so Amazing things in 2010!!

- After Church Sunday I had a great time with my family!

- We watched the Vikings lose to the Saints Sunday Night.  Sorry Vikings fans……GREAT GAME!

Sunday Night Reflections on Monday!

Sunday was an AMAZING day  at Meadowland Church.  Seriously, yesterday was probably one of the most energetic days we have had at Meadowland Church.  I received a couple emails from different people saying it was ELECTRIC during the worship service yesterday!

- Yes, in case you heard, I did wear a Snuggie yesterday! Had to use that illustration before we go live with video! No, the Snuggie was not mine!

-I believe that Jesus has called us as a Church and as Individuals to some amazing things in 2010!  Our desire to stay COMFORTABLE will prevent us from following Christ.  Jesus is our SAVIOR not our SNUGGIE!

- Our BIGGEST DANGER as a Church is to get caught up in the things that keep us comfortable rather than following Jesus.  When we get comfortable, we tend to fall asleep and falling asleep in Church will KILL YOU (Acts 20: 7-12)

- My Prayer for Meadowland Church is that 2010 will be the greatest year of Spiritual Growth Ever!

- The Worship Team did an AMAZING job of leading us in Worship.  Seriously, God showed up in BIG WAYS on Sunday!

- The figures are still coming in, but as of right now we raised enough money to support 50 families in Haiti through Compassion international!!

- We had 7 people (that we know of)  accept Jesus for the first time on Sunday. Seeing people get SAVED never gets old!

- Some of us play in the “toilets of this world” Monday through Saturday and then show up on Sunday hoping to get a chill, or affirmation that God loves us. God wants to break us from the toilets and give us NEW LIFE!

- No matter how messed up you are Jesus loves you.  No matter how dirty the toilet water, Jesus wants to wash you.  And no matter how unqualified you are, Jesus will use you – ALL OF THIS IS GOOD NEWS!

- If you have messed up friends and families, make sure to invite them to Meadowland Church next week!

- We have some issues at Meadowland and I am THANKFUL!  We are running our of seats, we ran out of parking on Sunday, and our nursery and Children’s Ministry rooms are getting full! THANK YOU JESUS!

Seriously, I PUMPED about what Jesus is doing in and through Meadowland Church.  I love this Church and can’t wait to see what happens in 2010 as we continue to follow Jesus!

How To Make Sure Church is Boring by Perry Noble

Perry Noble posted this on his BLOG this morning and I had to repost it.  Church should not be boring, the gospel should never “get old”, but if you were looking to make Church a little boring, Perry has 8 steps to make it happen!!

How To Make Sure Church is Boring:

I know some people do not agree with me…but I FIRMLY believe that church should not be a boring place…because…

• The Bible is NOT boring–the teachings of God’s Word are more relevant and exciting that anything on the planet.
• Jesus was NOT boring – to see His life lived out in the Scriptures AND to see WHO HE IS should inspire AWE, not apathy!
• Our message is NOT boring – Jesus was DEAD, came BACK TO LIFE and offers us the same opportunity, to cross over from death to life and be reconciled to God–THAT’S FREAKIN AWESOME!!!
• The Book of Acts is NOT boring – there is NOWHERE in the book of Acts that ritual replaced relationship!

If the tomb is empty, Jesus is alive and HOPE is possible then HIS church should reflect that.

BUT…if you want to make sure your church is boring, here are Eight Simple Steps…

#1 – There has GOT to be apathetic leadership – Seriously, the leaders in the church MUST be obsessed with not rocking the boat and pursuing personal comfort!

#2 – There CANNOT be a desire to reach people far from God! Seriously, new birth can bring excitement to a church, which is NOT what people in pursuit of boredom desire.  SO…don’t focus on the Gospel…instead teach lots of history lessons and talk about things that very few people actually care about.  This will keep people far from God away from your group of people, thus not messing up the chemistry in your holy huddle.  WHATEVER you do…DO NOT talk about the Gospel…it changes people!!!

#3 – DO NOT call for ANY type of commitment from ANYONE–EVER! People MUST be allowed to come and go as they please…and must NEVER be made to feel uncomfortable under any type of circumstances.  If people begin responding to God it will increase the excitement level, which cannot happen in a boring place.

#4 – Always be predictable. Do the same songs at the same times, pray the same prayers and make SURE that people can look at their watch at any point in the service and know exactly what’s coming next.

#5 – Make excuses when things are done poorly! WHATEVER you do…do NOT address the obvious issues that are right under your nose.  In fact, if you will simply criticize any church or ministry that IS seeing success it will take the attention off of your dysfunction and allow you to maintain the current state of your church.

#6 – PLEASE make sure not to make ANY type of references to culture in your church services. If you want to have a boring church then you’ve GOT to make people believe that the lives they live Monday through Saturday and then the life they live on Sunday are two separate things.  You cannot teach that Scripture speaks to culture…because if people begin making that connection then they will begin to experience what Jesus promised in John 10:10" href="http://biblegateway.com/bible?version=31&passage=John+10%3A10" target="_new">John 10:10!

#7 – You’ve GOT to allow people to pretend that their lives are perfect! Seriously, if someone has a problem then you must either put them out of your church OR tell them to act as if they are perfect.  If people begin to bring their junk to your church and Jesus begins to help them work through it and they get delivered from it…your church cannot maintain its boring status.

#8 – You MUST focus on the external and NOT the internal. Make the way people dress the MOST important issue…and the way they LIVE a non-issue!!!

Sunday Night Reflections 1.10.10

Today has been an AWESOME day, here are some thoughts:

- I celebrate the fact that we are a crowded church.  As of right now we are breaking about every man made “Church Growth” principle on the people to empty seats ratio and parking lots spaces.  We have space issues, and I am thankful for that. September of 2008 there were 35 people at Meadowland Church, today there were around 120 (rough estimate)!

- We are not perfect and that is good news!  Jesus came for the people who mess up, fumble the ball, have hurts, habits, baggage – you get the idea.  In Matthew 5 at the beginning of  the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus is surrounded by the sick, the weak,  and the outcasts and he taught them, so they could TAKE THE NEXT STEPS ON THIER JOURNEY!!

- Our worship team did an amazing job at leading us into worship and focusing us on Jesus!  I am so thankful for our worship team, which is made up of volunteers who are worshipers of Jesus!

- The Worship Team performed. “I Still Haven’t Found What I Am Looking For” by U2. We did our version of the song and it ROCKED!

- Meadowland will never be a “Perfect Church”, because you and I are involved in it.  We are messed up people worshiping a PERFECT GOD!

- Sometimes people ask me how “Big” I want Meadowland Church to be.  The answer is,  ”CROWDED”.  If we are following Jesus, preaching the Gospel and reaching out we should always be a crowded Church.

-  Matthew 4:23 MESSED ME UP – “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.”

- HERE IS WHY- Scripture says THIER Synagogue.  There are Churches out there that are “Their Church”  and there are Churches out there that are “Jesus’ Church”.  If there is one thing we will do well, it will be to make sure we always remain a Church that Follows Jesus!!

- The message went long today.  I still had some stuff to say even though my time was up.  I really believed the Holy Spirit laid these things on my heart, so Church went long today.  I DID NOT GET ONE COMPLAINT!  AWESOME!!

- One of the things we did this morning was to walk through the history of Meadowland Church.  What a journey it has been for us as a Church.  I am thankful for Richard Wollard and his family for stepping out in faith back in 2002 to plant Meadowland Church.  Since our first public service until today, we have seen Jesus show up in huge ways and have seen many lives changes.  I shared with Meadowland Church this morning that I believe “we will see greater things” in 2010 as we continue to follow Jesus.  I AM PUMPED!!

10 Reasons Why I Am Pumped For 2010

It is about 8:00 am on Sunday Morning, and as I pray and review the message for this morning (which is going to be like nothing I have done before) I can’t help but be excited about Jesus and what He is doing in and through Meadowland Church. 10 Reasons Why I am Pumped for 2010:

1. Jesus is Leading Us.  Last year God moved Meadowland Church in so many ways.  While some of the changes were unexpected, God showed up in huge ways and we cannot wait to see what else He will do this year.   Jesus is the Senior Pastor of Meadowland Church.

2.  Our Leadership. A year and a half ago, Meadowland Church experienced a HUGE transition in leadership.  In the last year and half God has grown our staff from within our Church and I am PUMPED about our team.  In case you did not hear, we have a new staff member…..more on that this morning!

3.  Direction. We are going to be talking a lot about direction at Meadowland Church in the next few months.  We are not a Church who claims to have it all figured out.  Our best philosophy is to boldly, wholeheartedly follow Jesus wherever he leads us.  We LIVE and DIE by the Word of Jesus.

4. Spiritual Growth. I am praying that 2010 will be the year that we as a Church experience more Spiritual Growth than any other year!  Jesus is doing incredible works in and through Meadowland Church.

5. Church Growth. If you have been around Meadowland Church for the last few months, you know it has been crowded and that is AWESOME.  While we continue to work through out space issues, we have to stay focused on reaching our community for Christ.  We want to seem even more people reached in 2010.  To quote Rick Warren- “The church that is content with not growing is saying to the rest of the world “You can go to hell”. WE ARE NOT THAT CHURCH!!

6.  Personal Growth- One of the things I am really excited about is a Coaching network that I will be attending this year.  I got accepted (Yes there was an application process) to a Coaching Network hosted at New Spring Church in Anderson SC that is taught by Perry Noble.  I am dedicating to being a life long learner and can’t wait to see what God has in store for me.

7. Preaching Calendar. I am THRILLED with our Preaching Calendar this year, mainly because this was NOT my idea.  Last year we did a study called “On Location” and during that series it became CRYSTAL CLEAR that God was leading us to study the Sermon on the Mount.  Today, we begin that study and I cannot wait to see what Jesus is going to do!

8. We Got Problems. We are broken, fallible, fallen people following Jesus. We do not have everything figured out, which leaves a HUGE amount of room for Jesus to show up and lead us.  I celebrate the fact that we are the church “messed up” people go to!!  If you have hurts, habits, baggage, mess up daily, fumble the ball and consider yourself a screw up – WELCOME TO MEADOWLAND CHURCH – No perfect people are allowed!!

9. Changed Lives. Jesus has been doing some AMAZING work in people’s lives this year.  We have seen people go from darkness to life, we have seen people healed (Yes Jesus still Heals people), we have seen broken relationships restored, marriages strengthened and so much more.  I believe we sill more changed lives in 2010….and that gets me out of bed every morning!

10. Growing Family. Saved the best for last.  I CANNOT WAIT, to meet our second Child who is affectioned called Baby Reardon #2.  I am so thrilled for Shane to be a big brother, and can’t wait to meet our next child June.  I love my family!