Christmas Is Going To Be Awesome

I know that it is only October 2nd. I know that Halloween and Thanksgiving have yet to be here.....but I wanted you to know that our message series plan for the entire month of December and then concluding on Christmas Eve is going to be incredible.

We spent much of the day yesterday finalizing the overall idea. I don't want to blow the surprise but I can tell you that the stage will have an incredible and huge canvas/wall that stretches the length of the stage. On this wall we will have "live" painting as a mural develops before your eyes during the course of each service. The mural starts to take form on Sunday, December 7th and will be concluded on Christmas Eve. Professional painters from our church will create a Christmas mural while we worship, sing Christmas songs and even while I am speaking. It will be "live" right in front of you!

If you have never been to one of our Christmas series or our Christmas Eve Service...you are in for a treat.....and this year will be our most creative yet! Please plan your Christmas Eve schedule NOW around attending one of the three services we will have that day. You can join us at 2:30,4:00 or 5:30pm. Begin thinking now who you can invite to this incredible month of services.

As we were planning these services....I was once again amazed by the level of talented volunteers we have at our church. As you know.... every Sunday our band, creative arts team, media/tech people each produce phenomenal experiences for us. Our value is that we want every Sunday to be an meaningful experience for everyone. We know that to do that....we must engage all your senses. The great part is that except for KC and Brad (who oversee the majority of this ministry) everyone is a volunteer.

They may be professional at what they do...but they serve our church as a volunteer in this matter. Many churches today feel as though they must pay band members, media and tech people to get them to actually want to practice and perform at a high level. This is not the case at our church. We value a Team Church approach to ministry. We have incredible volunteers who serve with kids, with students, clean the bathrooms, play in the band, run the video camera, serve coffee, park cars, lead Home Teams, lead our public school ministry, lead our sports ministry, serve with the Matthews Help Center and the list goes on.........as a Team we excel as a Biblically functioning church.

Today's Bible Reading Luke 15

Have you ever lost something of value? Ever lost your wallet on vacation when you knew it was full of "fun" money and credit cards? What feeling do you have once you know it is lost? Got that sick to your stomach feeling in your mind?

Now what feeling comes over you when you stick your hand down in the crack of the rental car to get the "passy" and you feel your wallet.....that moment you know it is not lost but found! Got that great relief feeling in your mind?

Guess what..take those feelings and multiple by millions.....and that is how God feels when he knows you are lost and rejecting his love and then when you accept his love and come to Him.

No matter what happens today in your life....celebrate that you are loved and cared for by God!