Written in Heaven

When my wife and I lived in our first home, we had a good sized backyard that butted up right against a corn field. There was no fence around the yard, so our grass went right up to the edge of the field. At the back of the yard, there was a ditch that dropped off about 2 feet from our yard into the cornfield. I hated this ditch. Every time I mowed, I would have an internal debate about whether or not I should mow this ditch or not. After all, I was literally the only one who ever saw it, let alone even gave it a second thought. However, the good Matt always won out and the ditch was always mowed.

In my life, I have a few ‘ditches’ if you will. These are areas that no other human sees but me, and it can be really tempting to let them grow over and be unkempt. Everyone has these areas to some degree, and it’s a decision of discipline more than anything else to decide that you indeed will ‘mow these ditches.’

I just got back from a week away with my family and God did a couple of really special things in my life during that time. First of all he gave me some significant rest that I was in need of, spiritually and physically. Secondly, he really fired me up to get out the mower and get to mowing. There are areas that I had not necessarily been avoiding, but not nearly paying enough attention to in my life that He really challenged me to get back into.

There were days when it was 95 degrees outside and muggy and it seemed really appealing to leave that ditch to grow. However, every time I mowed it, I had a feeling of accomplishment and fulfillment. The same is true for us spiritually.

What ditch is God challenging you to mow?

LIFEGROUP Questions

12/13/09

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Simple Christmas Week 3: Spend Less

1. Who is the most frugal/cheapest person you’ve ever met? Can you tell a story that describes their cheapness?

2. On a scale of 1 – 10, with 1 being ultra frugal and 10 being an over-spender, where would you land on the scale? Has that changed over time, or has it always been like that? If it has changed, why?

3. At Christmas, in which area do you feel the most pressure/stress: finances, relationships, or time? Why?

4. We’ve been discussing in this series how to focus on Christ and not on consumerism. What does ‘focus on Christ’ mean? Is that really possible? How do we go about changing traditional spending or giving habits to focus more on Christ during this season?

5. How can we live more generously as individuals without spending more money? How does focusing on Jesus lead to more generous living in all areas of our lives?

6. What way can we as a group impact our world for Christ this Christmas season? (Leader note: have some ideas ready, or talk to your Get Off the Couch Week Coordinator about having some ideas ready to go that your group can run with)

(Leader’s note): Our LIFEGROUP semester is coming to an end in the next couple of week. Discuss your final week together, and encourage your group members to sign up for a group in January.

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.

LIFEGROUP Questions

11/29/09

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Simple Christmas Week 1: Open Invitation

1. What is your favorite part about Christmastime and why? What is your least favorite part about Christmastime and why?

2. If there was one thing you have to do at Christmas that you wish you never had to do again, what would it be?

3. How significant of a role does the story of Jesus birth play in your Christmas celebrations? Is it the focus, an afterthought, or non-existent?

4. Read Matthew 22:1-10. Have you ever had a party where you invited a bunch of people and no one showed up? Even if you haven’t, how would you feel if that did happen?

5. We all know people that rebel and want to do their own thing. Have you had a time in your life when you were rebelling? Why were you rebelling? What made you stop?

6. Some of you have received this invitation from Jesus to follow Him and have joined with him. How can we use the Christmas season to invite others to experience Jesus?

7. If you were there Sunday and feel comfortable sharing, how did you respond to the message on Sunday? How can we pray for one another to see Jesus work through that response?

(Leader’s note): Keep praying for those who you have been, that they would come to faith in Jesus Christ.

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.

This week has been a cool week, in that two passages of scripture with which God has been working me over came together in an amazing way. The first one comes out of 2 Samuel 14:14b, which says, “But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.” This in itself is one of the most encouraging verses in the Bible to me. God never stops trying to get our attention. In fact, He is inventing new ways of reaching out to us continually. That is so amazing!

Then this week I ran across 1 Corinthians 12:31b which sets up what is commonly known as the “Love Chapter,” 1 Corinthians 13. But this verse right before it says, “And now, I will show you the most excellent way.” Then Paul proceeds to talk about love.

What I love about this (no pun intended) is that I can see Paul tossing in a ‘grasshopper’ here (in fact I think he does in the Greek). As if he were saying, “And now, Grasshopper, I will show you the most excellent way.” It’s as though, up to this point, there were many ways in which Paul was teaching and ways that he was showing, but there is no way like the way of love.

As leaders, sometimes it can be tempting to operate out of many ways that are far from the way of love. It can be tempting to treat people with less than love. In fact, it can even be tempting to treat them with disdain or contempt. Leadership requires broad shoulders and the ability to take a hit. At the same time we have to keep dishing out the love as we are sometimes under duress. That can be tough.

However, what helps us is the fact that we know there is no better way. None. There is nothing better or more effective than loving people.

That’s pretty encouraging that love is God’s most excellent way as well. I know there are times when I certainly deserve less than love, but God keeps the love coming. I pray I’m able to do the same as a leader.

LIFEGROUP Questions

11/22/09

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Greater Things Week 3: How to See Jesus Do Greater Things

1. What is one of your biggest accomplishments ever? What made it so significant?

2. When you get to the end of your life and look back on it, what will have had to happen in order for you to feel like your life was a success or fulfilled?

3. It is promised that God can do more than we can ask or imagine. When was a time when you saw this promise fulfilled?

4. Read Matthew 14:13-20. Do you feel like you identify more with the boy (trusting Jesus with everything) or the disciples (having trouble trusting)? Why?

5. Jesus could have fed those people with anything that He had. He could have even created something on the spot to feed them. Why do you think He chooses to partner with humans in those situations rather than simply doing it by himself?

6. What work is God doing in your home, in your workplace, in your church, in the world right now that He’s calling you to be a part of?

7. Part of that work that God is doing is using us to influence our friends who don’t know Jesus for Him. Let’s pray for those people again tonight. Let’s also promise to invite them to BridgeWay during the “Simple Christmas” series (if they live in town), and pray that they would be receptive to that invitation.

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.

If you missed today's Greater Things Gathering, you REALLY missed out! It was an incredible time of celebration, as well as a time of looking forward to what BridgeWay is going to be a part of this year.

LIFEGROUP Questions

11/15/09

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Greater Things Week 2: Greater Love

1. What is your favorite love story? If you’re married or engaged, would you tell the story of your relationship?

2. When you think about love, what comes to your mind? How do you show love to those around you?

3. How does God shape our idea of what love is? God showed us His love for us by sending His son to die for our sins (see John 3:16-17). How do we show God that we love Him?

4. What is more valuable to you: money or time? How do we show God we love him through the way we manage our finances? How do we show God we love Him through the way we manage our time?

5. What next step do you need to take in the way that you are managing your finances?

• · Give an offering for the first time (you’ve never given any money, but want to start)
• · Become a regular giver (giving on a more consistent basis)
• · Begin tithing (giving the first 10% of every paycheck to God)
• · Become an extravagant giver (giving more than a tithe on a regular basis)

6. What fears do you have in taking this next step? Someone in your group has taken the step you’re going to take. If that’s you, could you share how God has blessed you as you’ve taken this next step that your friend is about to take?

7. Last week, we took time to pray for those in our lives who do not know Jesus. How could our obedience to God in our finances and our time have an impact on those who do not know Jesus? Let’s close with a time of prayer not only for our obedience to God in these areas, but again for our friends and family who do not know Jesus.

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.

LIFEGROUP Questions

11/8/09

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Greater Things Week 1: Greater Things

1. Aside from the biggies (having kids, getting married, etc.), what is a great moment in your life that you think of fondly?

2. When you look at your life, what would be the ‘greatest thing’ that could happen to you given your current situation?

3. For many of us, a great moment (maybe even the greatest) in our lives came when we decided to follow Jesus. If you’ve made that decision, share with the group your story of how you decided to make that choice.

4. In the Bible, Jesus commands His disciples to ‘follow Him.’ The implication here is that when you follow Jesus, you follow Him with everything. What is an area (or areas) in our lives that is a struggle to let Jesus control?

5. An area that we follow Jesus with is with our inviting of others to come and see Jesus as well. Who is someone who you have been praying for that they would decide to follow Jesus?

6. As a group, let’s pray for those who we are praying for individually that they would come to follow Jesus in their lives. Let’s pray daily for these individuals as we expect God to do ‘Greater Things’ in our lives in coming days.

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.

Awhile ago, I was sharing a meal with a mentor of mine. He has been extremely successful and I have learned so much from him about life and ministry both. As we were eating, I realized something, I was doing all the talking. I scheduled a meeting with this guy in order for him to enlighten me as to life and various other ‘grasshopper’ moments. However, there we sat. He was listening; I was talking.

The questions he was asking me were very perplexing to me later. He was asking me about church systems we were utilizing, how I stay fresh spiritually, what books I’ve been reading, etc. I initially thought he was doing this as a courtesy, but I recognized that he was doing it so he could learn something. After the conversation had ended, I thought to myself, ‘Why was he trying to learn something from me? I’m the one who needs to learn from him!”

What I recognized was key to this issue pride. This guy recognized that there is no point in life at which you ‘make it’ or ‘arrive.’ Even more than that, he recognized that there is always something you can learn from those around you, even if they aren’t as experienced or even as intelligent. What an example of humility!

I heard Rick Warren say once (paraphrasing) that all sin is rooted in pride. Because, sin is essentially us saying to God, “my way’s better than yours.” That phrase rocked me hard and still does. I recognize there are areas of my life in which I have a tendency to do things my own way rather than God’s.

What’s scary about this is that God shows over and over in the Bible that He can’t use a prideful heart. He never uses anyone who has pride in their heart and if they somehow develop that pride, He takes care of it swiftly.

I learned a lot from my mentor that day, even though I ended up doing most of the talking.

I wanted to take a moment to update you about our location search for the Pekin Campus. Many of you have been praying with us as we’ve been looking for a new place to meet in Pekin. We really appreciate your prayers as we have gone on this journey together as a church.

We have been searching diligently and unfortunately we’ve been unable to locate a facility that both meets our needs and has been available to us. While the movie theater in Pekin has been a great facility for us, to continue there is not financially sustainable, neither is it financially prudent. We are committed to wise management of the financial resources God has entrusted to us. The weekly cost for operations in Pekin is three times the weekly operating cost of our Morton Campus. We recognize that to continue in this pattern of spending would be detrimental to the church long term.

So beginning this Sunday November 8, our Pekin Campus will begin worshiping with our Morton Campus. This will be until we locate an appropriate facility and have developed a giving base that will support our continued operations in the city of Pekin.

This moment is not one to lament, but one to celebrate. God has done amazing things in such a short time in Pekin! We have seen 31 people give their lives to Jesus in the 2 months we’ve been there! We know that our work there is not done. God isn’t saying “no” to us, but “not now.” We will be ready to return when the doors open for us to do so.

The Morton Campus of BridgeWay meets in the Morton Cinemas in the Field Shopping Center off of South Main Street. The Morton Campus service times are 9:30 & 11:00. Both services are identical. Along with that, the same high quality Children’s Activities and BridgeCafe are available during both as well. You will experience the same BridgeWay experience that you have in Pekin every week.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please feel free to contact me at the BridgeWay office 291-0320 or by email at pastormarobinson@yahoo.com.

See you Sunday in Morton!

Another great day, here are some thoughts:

• First off, if you missed today's service in Pekin, you missed a big announcement. Today was our last day at the Pekin Movie Theater. Starting next Sunday we will be meeting at the Morton Cinemas in Morton with the Morton Campus.
• Thank you so much to those of you who have been praying and fasting with us as we've made this decision. Your prayers made a difference!
• This move was made because we couldn't find an adequate/functional location in Pekin - and we looked at more than 30 locations!
• We also realize that we can't sustain financially in the movie theater in Pekin, seeing as it costs three times as much per week to rent as our facility in Morton.
• So we are making this move, believing that God is not saying, "no" to Pekin, but "not now."
• We really do see this as a pause button to the work in Pekin, and we'll be ready to go back when everything pans out for us to be able to.
• I want to thank everyone who has been so supportive about the move. That's pretty much anyone I've talked to!
• If you are a Pekinite and need a way to get to Morton, let me know! We'll get you a ride for Sunday. Seriously, it's NO PROBLEM!
• As far as today goes, our teams were stellar as always and the band was really cookin today.
• We were majorly thrashed attendance wise because of all of the illness going around.
• But we had a great service anyway!
• It was a lot of fun to 'race' Jake to Morton and back. Thanks to Jake for taking time out of his week to help us out.
• The message today was great and really timely not only for the move of the campus, but for where we all live today.
• It was exciting to think about how Jesus will be our 'resolution' to the story, as He promises to turn our grief to joy. What a promise!
• So remember, next week we're in Morton!
• Service times are 9:30 & 11:00 with Children's Activities during both; both services are identical.
• Any questions? Shoot me an email at pastormarobinson@yahoo.com or call me at 291-0320.

Have a great week! See you in Morton!

LIFEGROUP Questions for Both Campuses

11/1/09

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Uncertainty Final Week: Certain Leaders

1. What was one of the most certain decisions you’ve ever made? What made it so certain? What was one of the most uncertain decisions you’ve ever had to make? What was so uncertain about it?

2. When or who have you had to lead during uncertain times? What difficulties or challenges did you face in the midst of that?

3. Jesus promises in John 16:33 that “in this world you will have trouble.” While Jesus certainly doesn’t cause trouble in our lives, trouble is inevitable. Why is trouble part of our lives?

4. Jesus promises in John 16:33 as well, that “I have told you these things that you may have peace.” When was a time when you were facing peace during trouble/uncertainty that you realized this peace in the midst it?

5. Jesus concludes this passage with “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” What hope does this verse give us as we lead during uncertainty?

6. What can we do in our lives to exhibit this peace that Jesus promises in the midst of uncertainty? How can we influence people towards Jesus in the midst of uncertainty?

7. As we pray, what uncertainty are you leading through that we can pray about tonight?

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.

• Another great day at BridgeWay!
• We had beautiful weather this morning - it actually wasn't raining!
• It was good to be back in Pekin. Last week I was over in Morton and that was a lot of fun, but always good to be back.
• I don't know if many of you know this, but Dale was at the Pekin Campus last Sunday! You might not have seen him, he's a sneaky guy!
• I was able to speak live today too, which was really cool.
• Paul and Cassie lead worship today and did an outstanding job! The band is really growing together.
• Our teams are doing a great job too. Big shout out to Daylene and our children's ministry team for making things go seemlessly the last two weeks with major illnesses within the volunteer ranks. You'd never know by looking back there - great job!
• We have a big meeting Thursday night revealing where our next steps are for the Pekin Campus. Be there if you can!
• I'm also excited because I get to speak live in Pekin again on Sunday! Woo-hoo!
• If you miss the meeting Thursday, stay tuned on here, because I'll update the blog by Friday morning to fill you all in on what's happening.
• Colts roll today, looking mighty fine at 6-0.
• SEE YOU THURSDAY NIGHT AT 7 PM AT THE BRIDGEWAY MINISTRY CENTER!

LIFEGROUP Questions for the Pekin Campus

10/25/09

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Uncertainty Week 3: Certain Hope

1. When you were a kid at Christmas, what’s a gift that you hoped you’d get and your hope came true? What was a gift that you hoped you’d get but never did?

2. As adults, what are the things that we hope for in our lives today?

3. How does hope look different between people who have a faith in Jesus and those who don’t?

4. Faith is being ‘sure of what we hope for.’ When was a time when all you had was faith in Jesus when you were facing uncertainty, and He came through for you.

5. David says in Psalm 25, “For you are my God, and my hope is in you all day long.” Is there anyone that would have trouble claiming that statement for their own life today?

6. What types of things encourage us when we are facing uncertainty?

7. What uncertain situations are you facing currently that we can pray about together?

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.

LIFEGROUP Questions for the Morton Campus

10/25/09

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Uncertainty Week 3: Un-Certain Voices

1. Who was an adult from your childhood that was a positive voice into your life? What role has their encouragement played in your life?

2. Who are people in our lives today who offer us this same kind of encouragement?

3. Has there been a time in your life where you began to believe a negative voice that was speaking into your life? What was the result of listening to that voice?

4. What truths about who we are does God share with us through the Bible? Do we ever struggle with hearing His voice in our lives over other negative voices? Why?

5. Can we be truly free of the influence of negative voices in our life? How?

6. Who are you in Christ today that you didn’t used to be? How has he changed your life?

7. As we pray, let’s pray that God gives us patience and wisdom in dealing with the negative voices in our lives, and an ability to hear his voice in our lives over all others. Is there a negative voice in your life that we need to pray about tonight? Is there someone who is struggling to hear God’s voice in your life tonight?

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.

• Another great day at BridgeWay!
• I was in Morton today, preaching for the first time in 6 months or so.
• It was great to be back in Morton, seeing a lot of folks I hadn't seen in awhile.
• I missed the folks in Pekin, but I wasn't worried at all about what was happening there. We have such awesome volunteers, I literally never sweat it for a minute.
• I was glad that Dale was able to check out Pekin and see what we've been celebrating for the last few weeks.
• Things were rockin' in Morton though, 3 people gave their lives to Jesus today! That's so cool.
• The band in Morton was stellar as always, just like all of our volunteer teams.
• I do want to shout out to our volunteers in Morton - you guys are real troopers. Some of our teams have been stretched as we have gone to two campuses, but you never hear our volunteers complain and everything seems to go off great on a weekly basis. That is such a blessing to your pastors!
• Thanks to Nate McCarthy our director of student ministries for standing in for me today in Pekin. Don't mess with him - he's a teacher!
• Thanks to those of you who are continuing to pray for the Pekin Campus location. Keep praying as we seek God's direction in this matter.
• See you next week!

LIFEGROUP Questions for the Morton Campus

10/18/09

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Uncertainty Week 3: Certain Hope

1. When you were a kid at Christmas, what’s a gift that you hoped you’d get and your hope came true? What was a gift that you hoped you’d get but never did?

2. As adults, what are the things that we hope for in our lives today?

3. How does hope look different between people who have a faith in Jesus and those who don’t?

4. Faith is being ‘sure of what we hope for.’ When was a time when all you had was faith in Jesus when you were facing uncertainty, and He came through for you?

5. David says in Psalm 25, “For you are my God, and my hope is in you all day long.” Is there anyone that would have trouble claiming that statement for their own life today?

6. What types of things encourage us when we are facing uncertainty?

7. What uncertain situations are you facing currently that we can pray about together?

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.

LIFEGROUP Questions for the Pekin Campus

10/18/09

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Uncertainty Week 2: Certain Peace

1. When you need to rest, relax, or get away, what kind of things to you do? Where do you go?

2. Have you ever been lost while driving? Where were you? How did you find your way back?

3. When you feel ‘lost’ in uncertainty, what do you do to find your way?

4. One of the things we do in the midst of uncertainty is pray. What questions do we have about prayer? What are some keys to a meaningful prayer life?

5. In times of uncertainty we also hold to the promises of God through the Bible. What questions do we have about how to read the Bible? Can you think of a time when you were going through a period of uncertainty and God spoke peace to you through the Bible? Would you share that story with the group?

6. In Matthew 11:28-29 Jesus promises us rest for our souls through a relationship with him. Does anyone feel like they need that rest and don’t have it right now? Does anyone feel like they don’t have peace with God right now through Jesus? Let’s pray for each other that we would all find that rest in Jesus.

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.

Here are some thoughts from another great day at BridgeWay!

• It was stinkin cold today! It was supposed to be in the 20's this morning and I don't doubt it was. Not cool.
• We were in a different theater today for our adult worship service because of an early showtime in the other theater in which we normally meet.
• It's great having a flexible set up crew with a 'can do' attitude. The guys did a great job.
• It was kind of like 'bizarro world' though, because everything in the room was flipped.
• The service was great though, the band was smokin.
• We kicked off the series 'Uncertainty.' I loved when Dale was talking about postures and how we either 'bow down' or 'stand up' in the face of uncertainty.
• At the end of the message, 7 people gave their lives to Jesus! That's so cool! That means 30 people have given their lives to Jesus since we opened the Pekin Campus 5 weeks ago!
• So, it's hard to be beat down by the weather when God's moving like that in people's lives.
• I appreciated so many of our folks letting me know they were praying about the campus location and asking me how the search was going. It was really encouraging!
• No news yet, so continue to pray with us as we seek God's direction for us in this matter.
• This upcoming weekend, keep Steve one of our worship leaders in prayer as he's auditioning for America's Got Talent in Chicago! The guy can sing, so it will be cool to see what happens!
• I'm looking forward to speaking in Morton next week. I'll miss the Pekinites for a week, but it will be great to see our friends in Morton.
• Have a great week!

LIFEGROUP Questions for the Morton Campus

10/11/09

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Uncertainty Week 2: Certain Peace

1. When you need to rest, relax, or get away, what kind of things to you do? Where do you go?

2. Have you ever been lost while driving? Where were you? How did you find your way back?

3. When you feel ‘lost’ in uncertainty, what do you do to find your way?

4. One of the things we do in the midst of uncertainty is pray. What questions do we have about prayer? What are some keys to a meaningful prayer life?

5. In times of uncertainty we also hold to the promises of God through the Bible. What questions do we have about how to read the Bible? Can you think of a time when you were going through a period of uncertainty and God spoke peace to you through the Bible? Would you share that story with the group?

6. In Matthew 11:28-29 Jesus promises us rest for our souls through a relationship with him. Does anyone feel like they need that rest and don’t have it right now? Let’s pray for each other that we would all find that rest in Jesus.

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.

LIFEGROUP Questions for the Pekin Campus

10/11/09

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Uncertainty Week 1: Certain Postures

1. What’s the most recent ‘uncertainty’ that you’ve heard about in the news? On a scale of 1 (being not scary at all) – 10 (being deathly afraid) how frightening could the outcome of that uncertainty be?

2. Think back to a time when things were really uncertain in your life. How did you handle that uncertainty? What was the outcome of that uncertainty?

3. Read Matthew 7:24-27. What are some things that people build their ‘foundations’ on that resemble sand? Why do people choose to build on those things?

4. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had their lives threatened, but knew that God was able save them. Following that they said, “But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:18) Every once and awhile we encounter people in our lives who have stories like this that inspire us. Who do you know that’s gone through a major uncertainty who has handled it similarly to this? Could you share their story?

5. What certainties do we know we have from God, even in the midst of uncertain times?

6. What uncertainties are we going through that we can pray for one another about?

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.

Another great day at BridgeWay! Here are some thoughts:

• We had another solid crowd today, right at 120 folks. That's about half of Grand Opening's crowd, which is where we'd predicted we'd land.
• After a nasty day yesterday, we had sunshine and beautiful weather.
• Big props to our band today. When we arrived, we realized we had a noon show in the theater we worship in, making it a little bit of a time crunch. We had to cut a song from our worship set, but the band was cool with it and did a great job adapting.
• I loved opening the service with "Solution" and "Our God is Love." Those two songs rock! They'll wake you up for sure!
• We wrapped up our series "No Perfect Peopel" today. It was a great challenge today from Dale to be Jesus to someone this week.
• We don't go to church - we are the church. Boo-yah! Great stuff.
• The only downer from the message was the fact that the pre-movie soundtrack for the noon show started right in the middle of the message! Not cool man, not cool.
• We talked it over with the theater manager and next week we will meet in theater 8 rather than theater 1 to avoid the early show time. (I recognize this means nothing to those who weren't in attendance today, but thanks for bearing with us through this portion of the blog post).
• We also had more new folks, more returning folks, and even some folks sign up to volunteer!
• I'm excited too that LIFEGROUPS kick off tonight! I'm excited to see how God is going to work through those groups over the coming semester.
• Saturday's Leadership Community is going to be excellent. I hope to see all our volunteers there!
• I also announced today to our folks that we are seeking a new meeting place for the Pekin Campus of BridgeWay. Having our folks pray together is going to be a neat experience for our body. Morton folks can feel free to join us in prayer too (along with anyone else who reads this)!
• Don't forget folks - next Sunday we kick off the series "Uncertainty" and it's going to be fantastic. Pray about who God would have you invite this week.
• Thanks again to everyone for another great day!
• Colts 4-0 baby!

See you next week!

Week 3 is in the books! Here are the highlights:

• Another great Sunday! We had 12 first time guests this week!
• 5 returning families!
• Today was a really cool day in that I feel like we are beginning to get in a groove (in a good way) as a body.
• I was proud of the band for the way they lead today. Run-through was pretty rough, but they let the Holy Spirit take over and the service was great.
• We had some technical issues on the recording end of the message this week, so the audio was quite a bit worse than normal. If you were a first timer, I promise it will be better next week!
• I'm pretty stoked about the B90X challenge. I'm excited to read the New Testament as a church together.
• Only one week of No Perfect Peopel left. I can't believe it! This has been one of my favorite series we do at BridgeWay. Anytime you get to talk about why you do what you do, you're reminded of how faithful God is and has been over the years.
• Speaking of that, today's All About BridgeWay Lunch was awesome! We had nearly 40 people there and a bunch of folks sign up to get involved. That's what it's about!
• Don't forget to sign up for a LIFEGROUP this week if you haven't already!
• I love hearing the testimonies of our people. Damon's testimony was so powerful today. I love it when we say "Come as You Are" and people think 'yeah right.' I was so glad we proved him wrong! (I know he is too)
• Speaking of testimonies, us Pekin folk have a lot to look forward to with next week's testimonies. Talk about transformation...
• Thanks everyone for your continued prayers and support. God is up to something big time, and it's an honor to be in the trenches with you guys.
• Go Colts!

See you next week!

Well, I went into today with some questions in my head after an unbelievable Grand Opening. Would anyone return? Would we have new folks? Would the energy be the same? The answers to all those would be a resounding 'yes'! Here are some thoughts from another great Sunday:

• A couple of highlights first: we had 141 people in attendance today after a Grand Opening of 250! That's really great. During our Preview Services we had right around an average of 75 people, so we nearly doubled from our Grand Opening!
• It was so great to see so many returning guests this week! I was able to meet several of you at Grand Opening and I was THRILLED to see you back! If I haven't gotten to say hello yet, I'd love to meet you this coming Sunday.
• We had so many second time guests that we ran out of second time guest gifts! Don't worry, if you didn't get one I promise that you will receive one in the mail this week. We would never deprive someone of a Starbucks experience!
• We also had a lot of first time guests today - we love first timers! It was great to have you folks today as well.
• Our Launch Team was still there and in fantastic form as always. I love the energy and excitement you folks bring. I had one Launch Team member tell me and I quote, "I looked around and hardly knew anyone that was there - it was awesome!"
• Big props to the band for bringing it every week. These guys and gals work so hard to not just perform music, but to lead worship. Great job this week guys.
• Dale's message was spot on as always. At the end of the message we had several people raise their hands for prayer, in order to establish their life in love and nothing else. If you raised your hand, know that I'm praying for you this week.
• I loved hearing Cody's testimony at the end of the message. It's so great to hear how God can transform us into something amazing. God's going to use that young man for great things.
• Closing the service with "The Love of God" was really a perfect end to a perfect day. I love the lyrics to that song.
• It was also great to see a pastor friend of mine named Glen at BridgeWay today. He came from Galesburg to check out what was happening. Thanks Glen, it was cool to see you there!
• I want to give a shout out to our children's workers. These folks work hard to create environments for children to experience the love of God on a level they comprehend. You guys are great; you will be blessed for your service!
• We also had several new volunteers today working in all different areas! We LOVE VOLUNTEERS! If you're interested in volunteering, let me know and we'll get you plugged right in. Trust me, there's nothing greater than volunteering.
• One of the things I'm really enjoying throughout the day is texting back and forth with Dale as we celebrate what's happening in Morton and in Pekin together. It's so much fun to be part of God's work!
• I will say, I'm proud of the Irish for a tough win against Michigan State yesterday. That's always a tough matchup, and for the sake of Charlie Weis' job, I'm glad they won.

Thanks everyone for your continued prayer and support of BridgeWay. Don't forget to sign up for a LIFEGROUP (you can check groups out at www.bwcc.tv and email me with the group you'd like to join at pastormarobinson@yahoo.com). See you next Sunday!

On a Sunday morning, it’s tough to stand up in 2 minutes and tell you all the what’s, why’s, when’s, where’s, and how’s of LIFEGROUPS. Many times, we can’t spend as much time on the why as we’d like to. The phrase you’ve heard us say a lot is that groups are for ‘belonging and becoming.’ I’d like to tell you why & how belonging happens, through the use of magic. Actually, I’m just going to tell a story.

When I was in college, I was forced to attend (it was mandatory to pass a class I was in) a training on LIFEGROUPs by a very well known and reputable organization that specializes in LIFEGROUP ministry. The conference was Friday night and all day Saturday, and I was going to miss Notre Dame’s game on Saturday. Needless to say, I was neither pleased nor expecting to get anything out of this experience.

As we began, I wasn’t quite sure about what to expect. I had had limited LIFEGROUP experiences, and frankly was indifferent towards the process. My worst fear is that I would be stuck in a group of folks that would be asking me to spill my deepest secrets as they wept and sang Kum-ba-yah. The room was full of about 200 people. As the presenter began describing LIFEGROUPs and the way that LIFEGROUPs work, I became more intrigued. Shortly there after, he asked us to break into groups of 4 with people we didn’t know and began working this LIFEGROUP process that he had been describing. Ok, time to freak out, right? I mean, getting with 3 other people I don’t know and having conversations? This is just too far!

As we broke into groups, a funny thing happened, I LIKED IT! The people I was with were just as leery about this as I was, so we sat around and made small talk for awhile. The ice broke pretty quickly and we began to get to know one another. Even now, I can still remember some of the people, and what we talked about. As the evening went on, the presenter would present a concept for a few minutes, and then as a group we would put the concept into action.

By the end of the first night, I had hit it off so well with the group, that we all went out and saw a movie together! That’s crazy to think about. I mean, three hours beforehand we didn’t even know each other existed and after three hours we’re intentionally hanging out together. What I’ve seen since then is that this is a common occurrence in most LIFEGROUPS at BridgeWay. People attend a group with fear and trepidation and end up loving it, and loving the people they’re with.

I can’t tell you how these simple friendships end up being so much more meaningful. For instance in our LIFEGROUP this past year, we all became pretty fast friends. Half way through the year, my wife and I and another couple each had our first child. I can’t tell you how much our LIFEGROUP helped us through that time by providing meals, running errands for us, offering advice to first time parents, and praying for us. We are blessed to have such an awesome LIFEGROUP and that’s why we’re so adamant that everyone join one because we want everyone to have an experience just like that.

Well, today was the big day - the Grand Opening of the Pekin Campus of BridgeWay! Here are some reflections on an INCREDIBLE day!

• We started out the day in prayer, and pretty much never stopped praying.
• Set up went great as did runthrough. In fact, I think it was a BridgeWay first as the runthrough actually ended sooner than it was supposed to! That's always a good sign.
• The band was great today and big props to Jake for pulling it out. He's been really sick all week and was still feeling bad today. But he said as soon as the service started, he felt fine. Funny how that works right?
• As people started to come in, it was a really steady stream of folks from what I could tell. However, when I went into the main theater, it was pretty full - probably about 70% capacity, and it's a big room.
• Again the band was great and thanks to Brittany for joining us from the Morton campus to help us out on "Perfect People." What a perfect song for the series.
• I did a lot of talking setting up the video message, but I think it paid off.
• The video of Dale was solid, but the response was way better than I was anticipating. People were clapping, laughing, responding - it was like he was there!
• More than that, at the end of the message we gave a Gospel presentation and 21 people gave their lives to Jesus! How awesome is that? Umm, yeah, video works!
• Following the Gospel presentation, the band played Chris Tomlin's "Amazing Grace." Wow, what a move of God! During that song people were singing their guts out to Jesus as a testimony of what He's done in their lives. Confession: during that song I was smiling the biggest toothy smile from ear to ear because when God's moving, their's nothing better.
• Following the service, I was able to pray with some folks and had a lot of folks tell me they'd be back. I sure hope they do!
• All total, we had 250 people in the building and a whole lot of excited Launch Team members!
• Another cool part of the day was that Rev. Greg Mason, who is now a District Leader for the church of the Nazarene, were in attendance. Greg was the pastor of Pekin First Church of the Nazarene when they launched BridgeWay in Morton back in 2005. It was a real honor to have him there!
• I just want to thank our Launch Team and Prayer Teams for all the work they put in to make this day possible. But don't think we can take it easy now, we're only just beginning to see what God is going to do here!
• It was a special day for Brooke and I as God called us to plant a church about 4 1/2 years ago. It was great to see it come to fruition.
• Thanks to all of our friends from Ottawa who came down to support us today too!

Thanks again to everyone for your prayers and well wishes on this day. We would ask that you'd continue to pray for us as we keep up the work God has for us to do.

We are t-minus 50 hours from the Grand Opening of the Pekin Campus of BridgeWay (as this is being written) and as you can imagine, my thoughts are on preparation. This has been a theme that has been in my head for several months now as we have been preparing like crazy for Sunday. I am to the point where I feel ready, I know our team feels ready, and we are ready for God to do His thing.

This week I heard from Perry Noble (BridgeWay folks will remember from One Prayer) as he talked about preparation. What he said, was that “you can’t plan for a move of God, but you can certainly prepare for it.” I love that. We’ve been tossing that around the office all week here at BridgeWay. We know that we can’t tell God to show up Sunday morning at 10:00 am in the Kerasotes 14 Showplace in Pekin, IL or to the Morton Cinemas at 9:30 and 11:00, it just doesn’t work like that. But we can do everything in our power to be prepared for what God wants to do in those moments.

There is obviously some manual preparation we can do, but the real key here is the spiritual preparation. How am I preparing my heart for a move of God? How much time am I spending during the week preparing my heart for Sunday?

What about you? How prepared is your heart? If God moved in your life would you be prepared? Because this just doesn't apply to new church starts, but to Life Group Leaders, Volunteer Team Leaders and Members, where you work during the week, to your families, your friendships, other relationships, etc.

Let's be prepared for the work God wants to do.

Hey Launch Team!

THE BIG DAY IS ALMOST HERE! I can’t thank you enough for all of the prayer, effort, and time you have put into making the Pekin Campus of BridgeWay a reality. As we countdown to the big day, here are five keys to remember to making Sunday a day we’ll never forget.

1. Pray
This week (Tuesday – Friday) from 7-8 am the Ministry Center is open for prayer time. Along with this letter you’ll find a prayer guide of things to pray for in preparation for Sunday. If you can’t make it for open prayer time, you can pray wherever you are during that time. That’s what’s cool about prayer, you can do it anywhere and everywhere – so please do this week!

2. Invite
Use the invite cards we’ve been handing out to invite those you know to Grand Opening. Again, be in prayer about these folks. Email their names to Matt and he will be praying also.

3. Celebrate
This service is equivalent to how we celebrate for baptisms. We need YOU to be the cheerleaders! That means whenever it feels appropriate to cheer, make sure you do. Especially cheer at the end of a rockin’ song. We need you all to help set the tone that day, and the tone needs to be celebratory.

4. Watch
We’re expecting a big crowd that day. That’s something to be excited about. However, this means that there’s a chance we’ll run out of seats. We all know that room is huge, but it’s still a possibility. So, when you are sitting with your friends and those you’ve invited, be sure not to leave open seats, and try to sit towards the middle of the aisle. Also, if we are getting slam packed, consider moving to the front area of seating in the theater as to save the more prime seats for our guests.

5. Pray
Keep praying, but be in prayer about September 20th. We have been talking about September 13 for a long time, but it will come and go, and we’ll still be rolling along. So pray not only that people will come for the 13th, but that they will come back on the 20th. The 20th is every bit as important as the 13th.

Again, thanks for all of your time, prayers, and dedication to God’s work in Pekin. You will be blessed for it!

Today was our second of two preview services in preparation for the Grand Opening of the Pekin Campus of BridgeWay. Here are some reflections from the day:

• Meeting in the Pekin Theater is really nice. The staff is extremely friendly and accomodating and the venue is excellent. I think we'll pack it out for Grand Opening.
• This week we unveiled the new signage for the campus. It looks great! Lovin the new look.
• Set up went extremely smooth this week. We had a certain campus pastor (i.e. me) forget a couple things at the Ministry Center, but luckily I get the privilege of working with a very gracious group of folks. Thanks to Nate for bailing me out and picking up some much needed equipment!
• During our service runthrough today, I realized that the band was going to be out of this world today. And they certainly were!
• The band really took it to another level today. You can tell that they have started to gel and get a lot more comfortable together. If they do what they did today at Grand Opening, I'll be thrilled!
• Our service went really smoothly as well.
• We were able to iron out some of the issues with the video this week.
• Last week we had 4 little glitches to the video of Dale, but this week we had none. It was MUCH smoother (Praise the Lord)!
• We are still tweeking the audio on Dale's message, but I'm confident that we'll get that within a couple weeks no problem.
• I want to say thanks to our Launch Team for really bustin it out every week! More than that, we know that making a transition from a live speaker to a video can be difficult, but we really appreciate your willingness to hang in there while we get better at this whole deal.
• Thanks to Daylene Morgan and our children's department workers as well. They are making the biggest sacrifice in this whole deal because the weeks they work in the children's area they are unable to attend service. This is a HUGE sacrifice and God will bless you for it.
• Don't forget that next week we will NOT be meeting in either movie theater (Morton or Pekin) because we'll be at Idlewood Park in Morton for BBQ and Baptisms @ 11:00.
• If you're volunteering for that event, we are having a training/info meeting Saturday morning at 9:00 at the BridgeWay Ministry Center in the Field Shopping Center in Morton.

Thanks again to everyone for your prayers and support! Next Pekin Campus Service is September 13 a.k.a. GRAND OPENING! Invite everyone you know!