Written in Heaven

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!