Sunday Rewind- 4.18.10

- Seeing people make decisions to follow Jesus is always Amazing!

- I cannot tell you how many people have recently told me that “they used to go to church” but now they follow Jesus.  That is a HUGE CHANGE!!

- This Sunday we spent some time studying Matthew 7:21-23 – which is what I consider to be one of the most “terrifying” scripture verses.

- Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23 that on the “Day of Judgement”, there will be people who think they are saved – they know the right things to say, have witnessed some powerful thing, but LACK A RELATIONSHIP with Jesus.

- Be Saved is not about knowing all the right things to say, dressing a certain way, not doing certain things, and being a part of a great Church – being saved is about a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ and receiving HIS grace and HIS mercy!

- We also studied Luke 15:11-32 – “the parable of the lost sons”.  Jesus continues to give us all the same invitation – “COME HOME”.

- If you are distant from God, he still loves you and desires a relationship with you and wants NOTHING MORE than for you to come back to him!

- We cannot be satisfied with being close to God geographically but far from him relationally (like the older brother).

- Yes, the getting my ear pierced and tattoo stories were true.

- Someone asked me after the service why I would share those stories and if I was worried about being judged.  I told them that more than anything I want everyone to know that I am a normal guy trying my best to follow Jesus!!   Seriously, at Meadowland Church we are regular, everyday people trying are best to follow hard after Jesus (Acts 4:13)

- Had to share this – at one of our services I had the opportunity to talk to a couple who said they have been to “Church” there whole lives but have never experienced anything like the worship and the teaching they experienced here at Meadowland.  One of them asked me, “Just to be sure, this is not a cult is it?”  I assured them both that we are a Bible Believing Church that wants nothing more than to follow Jesus!  They were good with that!!

-  Sunday night we had a baptism service that was seriously amazing.  Hearing people’s testimonies to follow Jesus and go public with their faith was extremely moving! We have some video and pictures to come – if you missed the Sunday Night Baptism Service, you missed something special!!  The worship about blew the roof off this place!!

- FINAL THOUGHT- “Thank you Jesus for allowing me to be a part of all that YOU are doing in and through the people that make up Meadowland Church!  Meadowland, I am honored to be your Pastor and look forward to all that is ahead on our journey as we follow Christ together!”

Sunday Rewind – Easter Weekend

- I want to start by thanking our amazing staff and volunteers for our their hard work and efforts over the last week.  You are all amazing, THANK YOU! The kingdom of God was expanded this weekend!!

- There were 240 people at Meadowland Church on Easter Sunday between the 9 am and 11 am services.  That is 100 more people than last Sunday!

- We saw around 30 people make decisions for Christ this weekend!  THAT NEVER GETS OLD!!

- At the 11:00 Service alone we handed out an entire case of Bibles.  Had a guys ask me, “How much do I owe for this?”  When I told him it was a free gift he began to cry and gave me a big ole’ bear hug- it was AWESOME!

- If you brought someone with you this week that does not know Christ and they did not receive Christ this Sunday, memorize Galatians 6:9.- (Great advice from Perry Noble)

- If you brought someone with you this Sunday, make sure you invite them back again next week.  Seriously, you don’t have to wait until Christmas to invite people to Church with you!

- I am so blessed to work with a great team of people who love Jesus and are excited about what God is doing in and through Meadowland Church.

- There were a TON of kids here on Sunday, and it was awesome!  I almost got taken out by a mob of kids RUNNING to Children’s Church.  Still smiling at that!

- When you look at what JESUS SAID and put it together with WHAT JESUS DID, the message is undeniable!!

- Jesus still invites you and I today “Enter in the narrow Gate” (Matthew 7:13) – and not only did he give you the invitation, but you HE PAID THE PRICE OF YOUR SALVATION WITH HIS LIFE!!

- The tomb is EMPTY,  Jesus IS ALIVE, and CAN be made RIGHT with God–and THAT message taught by unschooled, ordinary men (Acts 4:13" href="http://biblegateway.com/bible?version=31&passage=Acts+4%3A13" target="_new">Acts 4:13) continues to turn the world upside down!!!

- Meadowland Church- Let’s continue to worship and live our lives like the tomb is empty.  I am sick and tired of “Christians”  worshiping and living like Jesus is still in the tomb!!

- This was favorite Easter EVER.  Seriously, I am still amazed at what happened here on Sunday!  On Saturday Night I was so sick, I could hardly get off the couch.  I was seriously concerned that I would not be able to talk on Sunday Morning.  I want you all to know that what took place here on Sunday, had very little to do with me –  I was desperate for Jesus and HIS POWER!

- Next week we will continue in the series we began on Easter Sunday called “The Gospel”.  Next week we will be studying Matthew 7:15-23.

Meadowland Church I absolutely love serving as your pastor.  In September of 2008 there were 35 people attending Meadowland Church wondering what was next for us after going through a major transition.  I do not think any of us then would have though we would be meeting in the Red Barn, launching two services, and would see what we saw happen this weekend!

I am so thankful for all that Jesus has done in and through Meadowland Church, but there is still MORE to be done and SO MANY MORE people in our community who need to be REACHED. God is not done with us yet, and I cannot wait to see what is ahead on our  Journey together!!

Sunday Rewind 3.21.10

Hey, everyone!  I apologize for not posting the last few weeks.  On top of moving into a new home and launching two services this week I have had a few kinks with the blog and did not have time to resolve them, but it looks like we are good to go now!

- This Sunday was the launch of two services at Meadowland Church. For the first time we hosted  9:00 am and 11:00 am  worship services.

- Thanks to our Staff, Ministry Leaders, and Volunteers the two service launch was really smooth.  There were no big breakdowns (that we know of anyway)!

- Saturday night I was a little freaked out a little bit about making the move to Two Services and wondered if we were making a mistake, God quickly reminded me that I am not in control, and that HE WILL BUILD HIS CHURCH. (Matthew 16:18)

- Between both services there were 143 people here on Sunday and there was plenty of parking, seats in the auditorium, and room for growth in the Children’s Miniistry and Nursery Area! Just so you know 143 has been disputed, one of our counters said they counted more adults than were actually on the count sheet, but we will stick with what we got on record!

- This week was week #2 in our current series called “Treasure”.  Last week we talked about how we handle our personal finances and money. This week we studied Matthew 6:5-18, where Jesus teaches us about Prayer and Fasting.

- In Matthew 6:21, Jesus says that our heart follows our treasure.  The things that are really important to us, are REALLY Important to us.

-  Usually our prayer life surrounds our Treasure.  We pray about our income, our retirement accounts (our 401k’s are now 201k’s), our families, how to spend our time, how we should raise our children, and the list goes on and on…..

But what if Prayer has very little to do with asking God for Stuff, or trying to get God more active in our “to do lists” and priorities.  What if God had more in store for our prayer lives than simply asking Him for more stuff!?!

- If you are interested in hearing the message or passing it along, you can find it HERE.

-  I have had a couple conversations with different people who said they found FREEDOM in God’s truth this last week!  Praise the Lord!

- I am PUMPED to close out the Treasure Series this Sunday 3.28.10.  If you want a head start on the message read Matthew 6:25-34 sometime this week!!  Seriously, you do not want to miss next Sunday at Meadowland Church.

- Hey Meadowland Easter is two weeks away!  Start inviting your friends and family now!!  You do not want to miss what God is doing in and through Meadowland Church!!

Good Friday Service (Friday, April 2nd) @ 6:30 pm

Easter Services (Sunday, April 4th) 9:00 am and 11:00 am

- I am so thankful to be on the Journey with you Meadowland Church.  Jesus is doing Amazing things in and through the people who are Meadowland Church. I cannot wait to see what is ahead!!

Sunday Night Reflections 1.31.10

It is hard to believe that Sunday is the last day of January.  There has been so much stuff going on that is seems like January just flew by!! Got to be honest, I am not sure that there could have been a better way to close out the month!

Here are some thoughts:

- We saw 3 people (that I know of) give their lives to Christ on Sunday and many others recommit their lives to Christ.

- More and More people keep showing up on Sunday Mornings and it is AWESOME!

- We are still working on some quick and practical ways to resolve our current parking lot issues and lack of seating.  We are hoping to have the loft set up with new equipment and opened soon. That should give us 30 more seats on Sunday Morning!!

- MAIN THOUGHT on Sunday Morning = “Religious Activity does not always equal Intimacy with God !”

- Sometime we get so caught up in trying to do all the right things and  that we forget about WHY we were ever doing them in the first place!

-God’s desire in our lives = RELATIONSHIP

- Somewhere along the line we invented Religious Activity to replace the Relationship!

- God does not desire our lip service, or routine religion, he desires a relationship with us!!  Isaiah 29:13

- In Matthew 5:20 Jesus tells his listeners (the hurt, the sick, the downcast, the forgotten, and those who have told they aren’t good enough) that to enter into the kingdom of heaven, their righteousness would have to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees- which was impossible!!

- Here is the GOOD NEWS- Jesus says in Matthew 5:17- that He has come to FULFILL the law!

- You and I do NOT need to be PERFECT, we need to be RESCUED by Jesus who FULFILLED the law, so we don’t have to!!

On Sunday Night we had our yearly Annual Ministry Celebration. It was awesome to reflect on what Jesus has already done in and through Meadowland Church in 2009 and I am PUMPED about what He is going to do in us and through us in 2010.

Here are some highlights from the meeting:

- The food was OFF THE CHAIN Good!

- This has to be the most people Meadowland Church has ever had at an Annual Meeting!

- We approved the 2010 Spending Plan.

- We recognized our new Members.

- We affirmed our new Elders

- We talked about where God is leading us in 2010. Here are 3 things I believe God is revealing us in 20210:

1. I believe Jesus is calling us to places we have never been before.

2. I believe Jesus has called us to reach people no one else is reaching.

3. I believe Jesus wants us t0  ”see even greater things” as we continue to follow him through faith and obedience.

Meadowland Church- I love you and am so thankful to be on the Journey with you!

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!