No…seriously!?

I knew it was coming. I dreaded it. But I knew it. I expected it- even planned for it. The “summer lull,” that time of year when participation in Sunday worship gatherings is typically scraping the floor, was coming and there was nothing I could do about it. But as summer began this year, trends seemed to be different. “Just wait,” I thought. But it never happened. Could it be that instead of grinning and bearing the summer, the Stewarts Creek Campus has actually seen unprecedented growth!? Seriously? The answer is, yes. That’s exactly what has happened. Along with record numbers of baptisms and huge numbers, our worship gatherings have seen a real spirit of energy and celebration. So, as fall (which is typically a momentum season in our church’s ministry calendar) approaches, I’m thinking, “Wow Lord if you’ve done these things this summer, what are you going to do now!?”

We believe a real season of growth and fruit is coming at The Creek (Stewarts Creek Campus)! As you know, any growing organism must constantly be making adjustments and changes. Unfortunately, in the case of my body, it’s my pants size. In order create the best environment to point people to a Christ centered life, we’ve decided to make some exciting changes.

What Now?

Live Preaching

For our first three years at The Creek, the primary delivery system for the sermon has been HD streaming of our Senior Pastor, Pat Hood from the Smyrna Campus. That system has served us well. But, we believe reaching our max potential will

require us to make a change. So, we are excited to announce that on August 19, as we begin a series called The Explicit Gospel, I will begin preaching the message in person each week. We believe that will allow for more focus and engagement in our mission and purpose as a faith family.

Engagement In Our Community

We are not interested in attending church. We are interested in being the church. That’s why we are and will continue to work harder than ever to engage and support our community. We are actively investing Stewarts Creek Middle School, Stewarts Creek Elementary, Brown’s Chapel Elementary, Blackman Elementary, the Blackman Youth Football program, Almaville Fire Department. If you’d like to participate any of these efforts, email me at kris.dolberry@lifepointchurch.org.

Improvement In Our Kids Ministry Environment

As parents, we want our kids to have the best opportunities available don’t we? As a church we must not forget this. We want to provide the most fun, creative, safe, and professional environment we can to support parents in pointing their kids to a Christ centered life. That’s why we are working on making some exciting aesthetic upgrades to Soul Station, our Kids Ministry environment. They’re going to be amazing!

With everything that’s happening in the Stewarts Creek Community: new high school, new homes, and much much more, we believe that if we are faithful, truly the best days are ahead for LifePoint Stewarts Creek. Hold on to your hats! Together, lets be a part of something amazing that God does!

Sunday April 1 begins what I believe will be a game changer for our church. We’re beginning what we call Sacred Gathering. It’s simply a time where for three days our faith family will come together, fast, pray, and seek the heart of God. This will mark the third Sacred Gathering for LifePoint. The first, in 2004 was key in shaping who we are as a church today. During 2008′s Sacred Gathering God continued to mold our faith family to be the church where there is no church. Shortly after, in 2009 our multisite church strategy was launched by mobilizing teams to the Stewarts Creek community in Rutherford County and Bangkok, Thailand. Brussels, Belguim and Seattle soon followed.

I believe that this Sacred Gathering will be much like the others for us corporately and individually. If we allow Him, God will shave away the rough edges of our lives and bring into focus a clear direction for us, our families, and our church. Will you let Him?

To find out more about Sacred Gathering, click here.

Have you had those moments when you look back at something you did (or didn’t do) and say to yourself, “man what were you thinking?” I had that feeling this morning. As I began thinking about this post, I realized that my past “Looking Back on Sunday” posts pretty much included only our middle TN campuses- primarily Stewarts Creek. This morning I had that moment when I realized that I’m forgetting to communicate 2/3 of what God is doing in and through LifePoint Church. So here goes, Here’s a quick look back at the headlines from LifePoint around the world from Sunday.

• SACRED SEX STUDY BEGINS Yesterday, we began a brand new series at both middle TN LifePoint campuses. It’s called Sacred Sex. Why do we talk about sex this openly at our church? That’s a great question. Our Senior Pastor, Pat Hood answers it here.
• FORMER CATHOLIC CONNECTS TO SCC, CROSSES LINE OF FAITH A week or so I had a conversation with Raena, a lady who has been attending our Stewarts Creek campus for 3 months or so after being invited by a friend at work. She indicated that while she’s still employed here, she had received a job offer from a firm back home in New England. She was excited about the job and about being closer to family, but turned down the opportunity. Her reason? LifePoint! She was afraid she’d not be able to find a church like us there. Here’s the kicker: Raena was not a Christ-follower! Yesterday, she emailed me to tell me about making the decision to follow Christ! All I could say was, wow!
• SERVING IN KIDS MINISTRY NOT JUST FOR YOUNG WOMEN Some of the most amazing small group leaders in our kids ministry are not flashy What’s more, they’re neither young nor women. Just today I heard a story of Dick, a 58 year old tire salesmen who leads a small group of kindergarten boys at our Smyrna Campus. He takes his group very seriously preparing for Sunday throughout the week. And, even more importantly, investing in the lives of those boys OUTSIDE of church. This past week as his group talked about Honor, Dick actually laid in the floor and allowed the boys to trace him and a huge piece of paper. He then had them trace themselves inside the outline of himself and name ways they can honor teachers, parents, and others.
• BANGKOK CAMPUS PREPARES FOR FIRST BAPTISM Sometimes evangelism is easy. But sometimes it takes some cultivation. The latter was the case with Bakery, a native Thai who has been attending LifePoint Bangkok for some time now. Bakery has been invested in by several members of our team in Bangkok. After many questions being answered, Bakery recently chose to follow Christ and will be baptized in a swimming pool on the roof of a high rise. It will be LifePoint Bangkok’s first baptism.
• LYNNWOOD, WA CAMPUS MAKING DISCIPLES If you walk in to LifePoint Lynnwood, you’ll find a welcoming environment, relevant teach from Campus Pastor, Dale Braswell, along with engaging music. Those are great things. But the most compelling stories from that campus don’t come from within those 4 walls. It’s what LP Lynnwood is doing in the community! There are story after story of people like Tim, a Microsoft employee, who is investing in men at his office. He’s even meeting with them and studying the Bible. Then there’s Chad. He’s only been a member of LP for a few months. He’s now decided to step out of his small group to start a new one and fill it up with his friends who’ve yet to follow Christ. Shelly is doing the same thing with a group of women at the YMCA. LifePoint Lynnwood is BEING the church!
• CULTURAL CHRISTIAN CROSSES LINE OF FAITH IN BRUSSELS As Brussels Campus Pastor, Kyle Goen finished the series, Who Are You? on Sunday, he was excited to see a family they’d been investing join them for worship. A man, his wife, and their kids. After the service the man told Kyle that he had been what he described as a cultural Christian for years. He had “attended a church”. “But on Sunday”, he said, “I realized what it means to follow Christ and I choose to do that today.”

What’s your story from Sunday? I’d love to hear from you!

• 
  
• Blog once a week.
• Read a book per month.
• Finish my doctoral dissertation.
• Say “yes” to my kids more.
• Say “no” to everyone else more. (Prioritize my time.)
• Assure that my wife every day that she is more captivating to me than ever.
• Memorize an entire Bible book

One of my favorite times of the year begins next Monday! Men’s Fraternity is coming. It begins Monday, October 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the Stewarts Creek Campus.

Come eat some wings from Toots for free and after the study, watch Monday Night Football on the HUGE 30 foot HD screen.

The study will help men rediscover the adventure in life through a greater understanding of who they are. Men will uncover the uniqueness they have as a man and discover a satisfying life focus.

Don’t miss out….and bring a friend with you! For more information, check out LifePointchurch.org/mensfraternity

We all have seasons of life when it feels like God is 1 million miles away. Have you ever felt that way? You know, like your prayers can’t get past the ceiling? Or, you read your Bible, but, somehow you just don’t feel nourished spiritually. There are many reasons that we feel that way from time to time. For me, Sunday at LifePoint Stewarts Creek was anything but that. In fact, the presence of God was very clearly evident during both services. Many of our folks, offered their very best to God as we worshipped corporately. As a pastor, it’s an amazing thing to see those God has entrusted to your leadership, respond the way our folks did yesterday! So, if that was you, thank you for your response to God’s glory.

Pat Hood preached one of the most impactful messages I’ve heard in a while. The bottom line question was, “Are we desperate for the presence of God in our lives and in our church?” What a great question. I want us to be people who are desperate for the Lord in all areas of our lives, people who can’t live without Him. Further, I want us to be a faith family who is desperate for the presence of God, recognizing that without Him, we’re sunk. No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, here are a few ways I want us respond this week as we think about taking steps to becoming increasingly desperate for the Lord:

1. Set aside time each day to pray. Jesus did when He was on this Earth. And if He needed to, how much more do we? I personally like to get up before everyone else in my family does and spend time praying. Maybe that doesn’t work for you. That’s ok. Find a time that does.
2. Utilize LifePoint’s Prayer wall. It’s a virtual prayer request line and a simple way to have hundreds of people praying for your specific needs and to pray for others. Check it out here.
3. Sign up for the Enews. If you attended worship yesterday, you heard Pat say that we are developing a system for you to pray for our teams in Bangkok, Brussels, Seattle, and other places. We will send you updates of how you can connect with that system via the Enews. If you’re not signed up, you can do so here.
4. Pray for your pastor. If the enemy can take out the general, he can take out the whole army. Be sure you are constantly lifting up Pat and our entire staff in prayer.
5. Ask yourself this question: Am I more desperate for the presence of God today than I was yesterday?  In my finances, in my parenting, in my vocation, in my small group, as I invest in my neighbors, etc., am I more desperate for the presence of God today than yesterday? Ask yourself that question every day several times a day.

I believe that many times, the only thing standing in the way of God doing a mighty work in our lives, our kids lives, our small group, and our church is merely us asking God to do it. In other words, many times, God accomplishing His perfect will is dependent upon us asking Him to do it. Are we?

I’d love to hear back from you.

Each Sunday brings an opportunity to see and hear about life change. Here are a few highlights from my perspective:

1. Today, we began a brand new series called, Unstoppable. This year in all 5 LifePoint campuses, we’re journeying through all of scripture. The next six weeks bring us to what is basically a documentary on the establishment of the Church. So, as we study these things, we’re learning how the Church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, is an unstoppable force in the world. We got off to a great start today At Stewarts Creek and FBCSmyrna.
2. I saw several new faces today. I look forward to coming alongside more families as we seek to fulfill our mission of Pointing People to a Christ-Centered Life.
3. I had a terrific conversation with a LifePoint Kids small group leader. He said, “We can teach them about things like grace. But teaching them about it only goes so far unless we spend time in their lives during the week.” This small group leader gets what we’re about!!
4. New people who were not previously in small groups got plugged in today. Small group is the most effective environment for experiencing sustained life change.
5. I watched 2 different staff members handle very difficult situations with great care and excellence. Great organizations are built on great leadership. I’m thankful for the job our SCC staff and leaders do.
6. Our campus exists to reach the Stewarts Creek community. I met a lady today who’s been coming for a few weeks that lives one block away. She said she loves our church and is ready to get herself and her kids more plugged in.

To God be the glory for everything He’s doing at LifePoint. What’s spiritual next step does He want you to take?

One of the hardest things for me to learn when I began ministry 12 years ago was how to prepare  a great sermon. Even back then I had a lot to say. It frankly just wasn’t good. In fact, I can remember writing entire sermons and then searching for a scripture to “back up” what I wanted to say. As horrible as this was, I’m thankful that just as God used Balaam’s donkey to declare truth, He also chose to use me in spite of my obvious inability. But, several years experience, feedback from wise mentors, and a few key books have helped me shape my preparation and preaching. Here’s a glance into my preparation process step-by-step:

1. Decide the subject. At LifePoint, we function as a teaching team consisting of each pastor who teaches/preaches from the stage on a Sunday morning.  What that means is that the burden for preparing sermons is not left solely to one individual. Rather, it may come from one of 5 guys in a room together doing what, at LifeWay, we called ideating. Almost exclusively this subject begins with a scripture. However, from time to time, we do topical series based on a felt need in our congregation or culture.
2. Gather resources. There was a day when I had a big file box and each time I had an idea for an illustration, a story, or an outline, I would throw it in there. Each sermon I prepared I would have dozens of ideas to pull from. I still do this… well, kind of. Now I use Evernote. It’s an amazingly robust, paperless, searchable filing system that I use for a repository for all my sermon ideas.
   There are many online resources that I use when I begin to develop my content. Here are my favorites: bible.org, monergism.com, preceptaustin.org, disciplemakingintl.org, and desiringgod.org. By the time I exhaust the sites, I typically have more than enough raw content to build my sermon.
3. Organize My Content. When it comes to my sermon beginning to take shape, I use a mind-mapping application called MindJet to clearly organize my thoughts into an outline. It’s an easy way to see all my thoughts on one page rather than scrolling through a long word document.
   In seminary, I was taught to have 3 or 4 points when outlining my sermon. And, it was best if they were alliterated or were an acrostic. Very rarely do I outline that way anymore. I typically now only use one main point. I outline based on ideas from Andy Stanley’s book, Communicating For A Change. I once heard Rick Warren say, spend as much time on your closing as you do on the rest of your sermon. So, I’ve taken that to heart along with advice I got from Dr. James Merritt, pastor of Cross Pointe Church in suburban Atlanta. He said, take the time to answer the question, “So what will I do with what I’ve learned today?” So I spend a lot of time honing my practical application, which typically makes up 30% of my sermons.
4. Transcript. Once my outline is complete, I take my outline and write something that is somewhere between a more detailed outline and a full transcript. I typically use Google Docs for this.
5. Teaching Notes. Rarely do I look at my notes during a sermon. However, I haven’t gotten brave enough yet to go on stage without something. So what is it? Well, I typically take my transcript and pull out a few memorable key words that, if I were to glance at them, I’d remember an entire block of content. I also create this document in Google Docs. I drop it into my DropBox account to be easily accessible by my iPad, which I take on stage with me.

This entire process takes anywhere from 12-16 hours, sometimes even more. If you have ideas or comments, I’d love to hear from you. How do you prepare?

Do you know how to boil a frog? Okay, I admit it. That’s a very Alabama-kind-of-thing for me to say. But really, do you know how to boil a frog? Not that I’ve ever done this- but if you throw him into a pot of boiling water, he will immediately jump out. But if you put him in room temperature water and gradually turn the heat up, he won’t jump out. The result: boiled frog ala king.

Do you know what’s interesting? If you take a look at Jesus’ ministry, you often see Him do the same thing. He gradually turned the heat up. Sure, sometimes His first contact with individuals were to ask them to give up everything to follow Him. But that was not always the case. Many times He’d begin the day healing people and meeting needs, drawing a crowd. Then He’d share the gospel with that crowd. After which, He’d turn the heat up and pour into a smaller group. Then He’d say things like, “If your love for your family doesn’t pale in comparison to your love for me, then you’re not worthy of me.” (I’m paraphrasing, of course.)

The point is, Jesus many times provided “first-step” opportunities for people just to come and check Him out. At LifePoint, we do the same thing. We call them Easy Invites. Things like Christmas Eve, Easter, VBS, Fuel and Rush  Hour for students, and Romance and Roses for couples. They’re great non-threatening easy opportunites to invite your friends to experience the body of Christ being the body of Christ. Because we know that there’s something powerful and convincing about being in the presence of the body of Christ being the body of Christ.

So don’t miss an opportunity for an easy invite. There’s a great one coming up next week at both local campuses. Find out more here.