Written in Heaven

LIFEGROUP Questions 12/5/10

2010-12-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

12/5/10

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

Guerrilla Lovers Week 2: A Guerrilla’s Mission

1. Instead of your working, if you could spend that time supporting any cause, what would it be and why?

2. When in your life have you been filled with compassion for someone or something? Describe the situation and how you felt.

3. Read Mark 1:40-42. In this story, Jesus touches and heals a man with leprosy. Lepers were considered the most vile, disgusting people in Jesus’ day. Who in your world where you live today, would be the equivalent of those lepers? How can you minister to them like Jesus did?

4. It seems as though at Christmas time it’s easier for us to make a commitment to impact those around us for Jesus. Why is it easier around Christmas than the rest of the year?

5. What are we doing as a group to meet the physical needs of the 20% of people living in the world today in extreme poverty? What are we doing as a group to meet the spiritual need of 67% of people disconnected from Jesus in Tazewell County?

***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 11/28/10

2010-11-24T07:51:00.000-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

11/28/10

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

Guerrilla Lovers Week 1: A Guerrilla’s Kingdom

1. What material item do you want for Christmas this year? If you could have anything at all for Christmas that wasn’t material, what would it be?

2. When you think of the word ‘revolution’ what comes to mind? Does this word apply to Jesus? Why or why not?

3. In Matthew 5:43-44 Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” What about this statement is revolutionary? How well do you obey this command? Why?

4. How would you describe the love of Jesus to someone? How has the love of Jesus impacted your life? With that in mind, is it difficult to do what Jesus commands when he says ‘Love each other as I have loved you.” Why?

5. As a group, decide on one intentional act of love that your group can participate in to impact the community in which you meet.

6. Take time to pray about what God would have you to do individually as well to love the people around you.

LIFEGROUP Questions 11/21/10

2010-11-19T11:37:00.001-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

11/21/10

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

Dream Job Week 5: Choosing to Cheat

1. When you were a kid did you ever cheat or steal? What was the biggest thing you cheated on or the biggest item you stole? Were you ever caught? Why did you stop?

2. As you think about the priorities in your life, how have they changed from 5 or 10 years ago til now? Would you say life is easier or more complex?

3. What are three things you want to see happen in your family or in your work? Will the way you manage your time currently help to achieve that?

4. When we think about ‘cheating’ time somewhere, have any of us ever been guilty of cheating on our family with our work? How did that impact life at home?

5. What safeguards can we place in our life to make sure we don’t ‘cheat’ our families over our work?

6. What takeaways do you have from this series that will impact the way you view or act toward your job or home life?

LIFEGROUP Questions 11/14/10

2010-11-12T15:28:00.001-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

11/14/10

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

Dream Job Week 4: Worship

1. Who is the worst person you’ve ever worked with? What made them so bad? Who is the best person you’ve worked with? What made them so good to work with?

2. If I could describe my work place or my job in one word it would be: __________. Why did you choose that word?

3. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all of the glory of God.” What comes to your mind when you think of ‘whatever you do?’ Would you say that this is your mindset in life all the time? Why or why not?

4. What does it mean when it says in Ephesians to be “rooted and established in love?” How is someone who is rooted in love operate differently than someone who is not rooted in love? When you think about someone who is rooted in love, who comes to mind? Why?

5. Why does Jesus call us to operate as a servant towards those around us? What does this look like practically? How does being a servant tie in with being rooted and established in love?

6. Let’s wrap up praying for one another for our struggles in this area. Who do you struggle to love that we can pray for this week? Who do you struggle to serve that we can pray for this week?

Message Remixed Questions 11/7/10

2010-11-05T14:08:00.001-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

11/7/10

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

Dream Job Week 3: Transition

1. What was the worst job you ever had? What made it so bad?

2. The average person has 9.3 jobs in their lifetime. How many have you had? Do you think you’ll have more or less than 9.3? Why? Why do you think people’s jobs transition so much?

3. What is the most difficult job transition you’ve had to go through? Why was it so difficult? What did you learn from it?

4. Have you ever made a regrettable decision because you only used 1 dimensional decision making (just looking within) rather than 3 dimensional decision making (looking to God, others, and yourself)? Would any of you be comfortable sharing that story? What did you learn from it?

5. Have any of you fasted and prayed before? If you feel comfortable, could you share the details of the situation (why were you fasting, how did it go, what were the results). What would you say to others in the group about the benefits to fasting and praying?

6. This week as a group, let’s fast and pray for group members who are going through or about to go through a job transition.

LIFEGROUP Questions 10/31/10

2010-10-29T10:41:00.001-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

10/31/10

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

Dream Job Week 2: Purpose

1. What was your first job ever? What did it pay? Did you find any kind of purpose in it? If so what was it?

2. What purposes do people pursue in the world? Do you know anyone who pursues these purposes? What do they lack when they pursue these things?

3. In the book ‘Holy Discontent’ Bill Hybels talks about having a ‘Popeye’ moment in our lives, where we experience something that makes us say, ‘that’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more.’ Have you had a moment in your life like that?

4. Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared for us in advance to do.” Have you ever felt like you were fulfilling this statement? In other words, do you know that you are fulfilling the purpose God has for you? If yes, what is that purpose?

5. What does it take to find your purpose? For those of you who know what your purpose is, how did you find it? For those who are still seeking out your purpose, how are you discovering it?

6. Let’s pray for each other that God would help those who know their purpose to fulfill it, and those who are still searching theirs out to find it.

LIFEGROUP Questions 10/24/10

2010-10-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

10/24/10

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

Dream Job Week 1: Identity

1. How many of you love your current job? How many of you dislike or even hate your current job? What do you love about it, what do you hate about it?

2. When you consider your current work environment, is it difficult for you to believe that you can encounter God at work? Why or why not?

3. A line Dale used in the message was “lack of an identity in relationship with God and God’s purposes = frustration.” How have you seen that truth played out in your life or in the lives of others?

4. What happens when we let other people shape our identity? How can this help us or hurt us? How has this played out in your life?

5. How do we go about finding our identity in Jesus, not through our work or other people? For those of you who have found your identity in Jesus, how has that impacted your life?

6. Would anyone be willing to share any struggles you’re having with your identity? We’d like to pray for you, that God would reveal to you who you are in Him.

Our Next Steps

2010-10-19T12:42:00.000-07:00

“But what about you?” he [Jesus] asked. “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:16)

We made an announcement today at BridgeWay regarding the future of Brooke and I. We are going to be leaving BridgeWay to pursue the calling God has put on our lives to start a church in Fishers, IN.

In 2005, I attended North Point Community Church with the staff from Ottawa First Church, where I was serving as youth pastor. As I sat through their service, I was moved beyond words. At the end of the service I had a ‘cut to the heart’ moment. God was asking me to be part of starting churches like that one. Since then, I’ve prayed about that nearly daily waiting for God to give me the go ahead.

In 2007, I was presented with an opportunity to start (aka plant) a church. I had the passion to do it, but not the knowledge. I called a friend of mine named Dale Schaeffer who was a couple years into a plant called BridgeWay Community Church. I ran all this by him and asked him what he thought. He said if he were me, he’d come to BridgeWay to learn about planting for a couple years and then go out and do it. I thought that sounded pretty good.

Since March of 2008, I’ve been on staff at BridgeWay and Brooke and I have loved every second of it. There have been days where I couldn’t believe I was this blessed to serve with a team and serve people that I loved so much. God has been so good to us!
Last October, I was in a period of praying and fasting when the call to plant continued to surface. It was as if God were saying, “I know you love it here, but this isn’t your last stop. I need you to move.” I began to ask God simply, “where?” He took me back to a conversation I had with a youth pastor in 2006. Our youth groups were doing a joint missions trip to Noblesville, IN, a town neighboring Fishers. One night he asked if he could show me something. I hopped in his Jeep and he began to drive me around Fishers. He showed me and explained to me the exponential growth the town was experiencing, and shared with me how the church hasn’t been able to keep up with the cities growth. My response was “someone should do something about that.”

I know this now, but you should never say something like that, because God will make you do it. I’m kidding of course, but usually when you have that feeling, it’s a sign of God asking you to be that ‘someone.’

So there I was. I knew I had to plant, I knew where, but I also wanted to bring people with me. I knew that God wasn’t just calling me, but that he might be calling other families from BridgeWay (and other places) to go with us. Regarding BridgeWay, I asked God to bring families to mind that need to go with us. Almost immediately, two families came to mind: Dave and Lori, and Damon and Daylene.

I also decided that if this was really a “God thing” that I wouldn’t have the need to talk to them about this, but that God already had. So my prayer became that if God was really speaking to them about this, that they would come up to me and let me know, without me ever asking them or letting them know what God was doing in my heart. I figured, this has got to be pretty bulletproof at that point!

Two weeks after I began this prayer process, Damon came into my office and asked what I was going to do now that the Pekin Campus had closed. The conversation went like this:
“What are you doing?” (Damon)
“What do you mean?” (me)
“Now that the Pekin Campus is closed, what are you doing? Are you leaving?” (Damon)
“No, we’re going to keep on here and wait for God to tell us what’s next.” (me)
“Ok, well if you’re going to leave, we’re going with you.” (Damon)
“(nervous laugh), ok that’s cool. Hey how bout them Colts?” (me)

Not the most spiritual response. To be frank, I was pretty shocked and changed the subject out of sheer nerves. Damon and I were meeting weekly, so I continued to pray and knew that if God were doing this, he would bring it back up and I would have to act. The following week Damon walks in as angry as I’ve ever seen him:

“What’s going on man?” (me)
“Furniture, windows, and sprinklers.” (Damon)
(long pause) “I’m sorry, what are you talking about?” (me)
“Furniture, windows and sprinklers!” (Damon)
“Help me out, what are you saying?” (me)
“Furniture, windows and sprinklers – these are the things I’ve given my life to: furniture, windows and sprinklers. I’m so tired of working for industries that don’t matter. I feel like God has had me in these places to learn, and now he wants me to use all of this knowledge for the church. I feel like you’re supposed to go start a church, and I’m supposed to go with you to help you do it. Is that a possibility?”
After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I told him about Fishers and what God was doing in my life regarding that city. His words, “We’re in.” I told him that he should probably run that by Daylene (his wife), which he did. They’re in.

Two months later, I was still praying this prayer about Dave and Lori. Dave and I went to lunch one day (January 8 to be exact) with no real agenda, just a hang out meeting (or so I thought). On the way to lunch (dude couldn’t even wait til we sat down!) he says:
“Lori and I have a bet about you and Brooke. Don’t get mad.”
“What’s that?” (me)
“We think you’re going to leave to start a church.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Well, every time you speak on Sunday, I feel like God is telling us that you need to do that every week, and that I’m supposed to help you do that. Do you think that’s a possibility?”
Again, long pause. Luckily this time I had tortilla chips to fill the dead air.
“Absolutely.” I began to tell Dave of the Fishers vision and he said just like Damon said, “We’re in.” I recommended that he go run that by his wife, which he did. They’re in.

There are other folks who have prayed about this and God’s told them no. This is a win. Anytime you hear from God it’s a win. There are people not from BridgeWay that are praying about this and are planning on joining us. God is moving in people’s hearts in a huge way.
I can’t wait to see what God has for us. He already has his hand all over this journey, and we’re already ‘living in the miracle’ as Chuck Kohler would say.

I heard a song the other day by a guy named Fred Hammond. The song’s called ‘Not Just a Man.’ In Matthew 16:16 Jesus asks this pointed question, “Who do you say that I am?” He asks that question to each one of us and ultimately it’s how we answer that question that determines the life we live. In this song Fred Hammond says this, which sums up our Fishers journey:

“I hear Him ask again, who do men say that I am?,

and I feel the need to make the whole world see,

that He is not just a man (He is God),

He’s not just a baby (He is King),

No, he is not just a lamb,

But the Lion of Judah,

My Savior and Ruler of all!”

Thank you for your prayers and support for all of us as we pursue God’s calling on our lives!

LIFEGROUP Questions for 10/17/10

2010-10-16T11:19:00.001-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

10/17/10

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

DNA Week 3: Connecting with God’s Purposes

1. What is your current job? If money were no object, what would you do for a living?

2. Do you believe that God really has a purpose for everyone? Why or why not?

3. A common phrase that people say is, “it will work out in God’s timing.” What does that mean? Do you believe that? If so, how does “God’s timing” impact the purpose God has for you?

4. Do you know what purpose God has for you? If so, are you living it out?

5. What excuses do we make for not pursuing the purpose God has for us? Are any of those legitimate excuses?

6. What next step did we each take Sunday regarding our purpose (seize your season, embrace your destiny, surrender your life)? Let’s pray for each other regarding purpose. Pray for those who are engaged in their purpose that they would continue to pursue it in a way that honors God. Let’s also pray for those who are trying to discover the purpose God has for us that we would find it and embrace it.

LIFEGROUP Questions for 10/10/10

2010-10-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

10/10/10

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

DNA Week 2: Connecting with Others

1. Who was your best friend growing up? Why did you guys get along so well?

2. Are you a person who would prefer to spend time with others or time alone? Why?

3. Why was Jesus so intentional about living in community? What does his example communicate to us?

4. What is something you’ve tried to do by yourself that required another set of hands (i.e move something, build something, etc.)? How did that work out?

5. What life situation have you gone through where you’ve tried to do it by yourself, but you really needed someone else? When have you gone through a situation where you had others along side you to help you through it? What was that like?

6. At BridgeWay, we talk about authenticity as a core value. If we can’t be authentic in our LIFEGROUPS, we can’t be authentic anywhere. Let’s pray as we start this semester that God would help us to be authentic and transparent with one another as we move forward in this semester.

Monday Reflections on a BridgeWay Sunday

2010-09-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

What a great day yesterday! Here are some thoughts on another winner at BridgeWay:

It was a real privilege to speak today as we continued our series Modern Family. We talked about shaping the future of our children and families.
Dale was in Fishers, IN today working with Landon and the team at a NewStart Church that has their Grand Opening next week. Be praying for these folks as they get ready to impact that city for Jesus.
We also had another ministry team out in Champaign today helping a church with an outdoor service. It's great to see God using BridgeWay in so many ways on one day!
We talked about step one in shaping the future of your family was to have a vision for where you wanted your family to end up.
I talked about the vision God gave Dale for BridgeWay - "that people who are disconnected from the church would be encouraged and equipped to follow God's purposes for their lives." I asked for a show of hands of people who would consider themselves disconnected from the church prior to coming to BridgeWay. In both services, at least 75% of the people there had their hands raised!!!! God is doing some awesome stuff!
We also talked about how it's tough to lead your family on the mission God has for you if you don't know what God's mission for your life is. This past Friday I was talking to a mentor of mine who shared with me a tool that he uses with people in his church to find their mission in life. It's pretty awesome. If you're interested in working through that tool with me, let me know (mattrobinson6504@gmail.com).
Also, wanted to give a big shout out to the set up team for setting up in a torrential down pour. Always fun! These guys are troopers and never complain and are happy to serve.
Reminder, we are moving to Tremont High School starting October 3! This should be a pretty great move for our church. We have an informational meeting this Sunday, September 26 at 5:00 pm at the BridgeWay Ministry Center. Come join us!
We were also challenged by Dale to be praying and fasting this week for this move to Tremont, as well as for the families in our church as we are in the midst of this Modern Family series.
Want to give a shout out to my lady, as she celebrated her 29th birthday yesterday! I'm blessed to have an awesome wife who loves Jesus and is a great mother to our son. Happy Birthday Brooke!
The Colts brought it last night and got a phatty win against the Giants - a great way to end an awesome day!

Keep praying BridgeWay - the best is yet to come!

Friday Leadership Post - Time Well Spent

2010-09-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

I ran across this quote this morning and I can’t get it out of my head: “The way we spend our days is the way we spend our lives.”

Upon first read, this seems like a pretty ‘duh’ type statement. However, there is a profoundness to this statement that won’t leave me alone.

This leads to the question, well, how am I spending my days? More importantly, how am I spending my days compared to how I desire to spend my life? That’s the most important question, and like any good planning exercise, we have to begin with the end in mind: “When all is said and done and I look back on my life, how do I want to have lived it?”

I have a few ‘greatest fears.’ Some involve my family, but only one involves me. My fear for myself is that I will come up short of the plans God has for me to accomplish regarding his work in the world. So how am I spending my days to ensure this doesn’t happen?

I decided to unpack how I’ve spent this week. It’s been a week of preparation for Party in the Park, a volunteer meeting, and LIFEGROUP sign ups kick off for next week, among other things. Along with all that, I’ve gotten to have some great conversations with folks about what God is doing in their lives, and through those conversations I’ve been grown and shaped as well. To be able to plan on 31 people being baptized, plus countless others positively impacted by the church, what could be better than that?

I really am blessed to be able to spend my time doing stuff that will make a difference for eternity. I’m blessed beyond words and grateful to God and this church for these opportunities and am thrilled about how I get to spend my days.

What about you? Where do you want to end up in life? Is the way you’re spending your days going to get you there? If not, what are you going to do about it?

God bless you on your journey to a life well spent.

Friday Leadership Post - Meaningless Conversations and Dominos

2010-08-27T09:25:00.001-07:00

I love Party in the Park! Seeing people get baptized is about the greatest thing that a pastor could ever witness. More than that, I love hearing the stories that come out of these decisions to be baptized. Many of these stories were the results of dominos and meaningless conversations.

On the dominos front for instance, I had breakfast with a guy today who has been radically transformed by Jesus. All he wants to do is see his friends come to be transformed the way he has been. So he was telling me about a guy who he had been on for months to come with him to church. He finally came, and within 2 weeks had decided to follow Jesus, experiencing incredible transformation. They both began to invite this guy’s son. Finally, he agreed to come only 2 weeks ago (from the time I’m writing this) and gave his life to Jesus and is experiencing real life transformation as well. As we sat at breakfast this morning, this guy kept saying over and over again, “I’m so jacked up! God is so awesome!” Dominos, spiritual dominos.

On the meaningless conversations front, there is a man in our church who is a leader in many ways. He got connected to our church because another leader from BridgeWay saw him in line in the post office and struck up a conversation with him about his t-shirt. Several years later, as a result of a ‘meaningless conversation’ this random dude from the post office has found his church home here, found the love of his life here who he married, and found his purpose in life through his ministry involvement at BridgeWay. Like I said, meaningless conversation.

This concept has really got me thinking. What meaningless conversation does God want me to have that could lead to a domino effect of lives being changed around me? On a much more introspective front, am I even aware of those moments where I’m supposed to have a ‘meaningless conversation’?

Maybe, there is no meaningless conversation. Maybe God designs all conversation to be some kind of domino effect. It may take seconds for the dominos to fall, maybe weeks, months or years, but you gotta think that He’s up to something much bigger than we can wrap our minds around.

So, prepare yourself for meaningless conversation! You never know when God is going to turn a meaningless conversation about a t-shirt into a long row of spiritual dominos toppling over.

Friday Leadership Post - Discipline & Presence

2010-08-20T05:49:00.000-07:00

I’ve really been thinking about the idea of discipline lately, namely self-discipline. I looked up the definition of discipline in the dictionary, and there are about a dozen definitions. In my life, I would have to say that discipline would be defined as “doing the things that I need to do, even though I don’t feel like doing them.”

I’ve also recognized an error in my thinking about discipline that God is slowly correcting. I used to think that discipline = workaholism. I thought a life of discipline meant that you spent relentless hours at work, studying, working, etc. God’s been showing me that that’s not what discipline is at all, and in fact, workaholism flies in the face of discipline at times.

For instance, I recognize that per my definition (doing the things that I need to do, even though I don’t feel like doing them) I violate discipline more often than I think. I know that I need to rest regularly and take time off, but sometimes I don’t. I know that there are times when I need to be with my family or taking care of things at home, but instead I do something else. In fact, there are times when I’m with my family and my head is at the office.

This is something that God has been really challenging me on for the past few months. God is saying to me that discipline requires presence. In other words, wherever I am, I need to be present there. I need to be present at the office when I’m counseling with someone. I need to be present with God when I’m reading scripture. I need to be present with my wife and son when I’m spending time with them.

It’s amazing how often I’ve caught myself violating this idea of discipline since God began to point it out to me. So, be present; wherever you are. The other stuff will get done; it always does. Live disciplined in this way, and watch how much more God allows you to appreciate each moment of your life.

Sunday Reflections

2010-08-16T11:41:00.001-07:00

What a blessing it was to speak yesterday at BridgeWay! Here are some of my thoughts the day after:

Our set up team is rockin! They are nearly at a point of setting up the whole building in an hour! These guys are studs.
Tear down was awesome too, as we welcomed 3, yes count em, 3 new members to the crew. Thanks do Derek, Matt, and Ben for stepping up and in!
I'm always amazed by our volunteer teams across the board. Children's, First Impressions, BridgeCafe, Sound and tech, band, etc. These folks bring it every week!
It was really a blessing for me to speak about why we sing in church. I was reminded of some great truth and encouraged and blessed by it all week. I had a chance to take part in a few church gatherings this past week, and you know in all of them I was really singing!
I read the lyrics to a song, "In Christ Alone" which is a classic hymn, and one of my faves. Here is a guy named Anthony Evans this song - unbelievable!
The best part of the day was seeing 5 people decide to make Jesus Lord and Savior of their lives! That is why we do what we do! Praise God!
A close runner up to these miracles was hearing the story of a lady and her brother reconciling after 20 years after her hearing the recent message on forgiveness and being active in restoring that relationship! How cool is that?!?
I have to add in, I LOVE THIS WEATHER! Last night was the best night sleep I've had in forever - thanks to the combination of cool weather and a whole house fan for making that possible!

Looking forward to continuing our series next week with answering the question of why do we preach? Have a great week!

Motivation 2

2010-07-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

Recently I was blessed with a Kindle Reader (thank you so much to my friend) and am madly in love with it. I have been reading a book on there called The Prodigal God by Tim Keller. This book is basically a breakdown of the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.

Keller drops gut-wrenching truths all the way through this read, but the one that has stuck with me the most is one that reads: “To find God we must repent of the things we have done wrong, but…to truly become Christians we must also repent of the reasons we ever did anything right.” WOW!

The motivation behind our actions is a critical piece of Christianity. We can do all the right things, but for completely the wrong reasons. The Pharisees in the Bible were guys that had cornered the market for how to behave outwardly perfect, but inwardly Jesus described them as “whitewashed tombs,” i.e. dead inside.

I have been doing some serious motivation checking in my life lately. I shared this story on here before, but it’s a great example of this. I was sitting at my desk one day and a friend of mine came to mind and I began to pray for him. After a few minutes I decided I should give him a call. When he answered the phone he informed me that he had lost his job that morning and was pretty upset. Obviously, God had put him in my mind to be praying for him for this very reason.

After we got off the phone, my first thought was, “I can’t wait to tell _________ about this.” In that moment, the Holy Spirit checked me with the simple question of “why?” I didn’t want to share about this because of concern for my friend (though I was very concerned for him), but rather to make myself look like a spiritual hero. In that question of “why?” from God, so much was communicated to me about my motivations for ministry and for following Him.

If any of us (myself included) are in this for recognition, fame, power, prestige, or to impress others, just get out now and save us all the trouble.

How are your motivations today? Are they as pure as God would have them to be?

Friday Leadership Post - Something Stinks

2010-06-18T07:19:00.000-07:00

***Spoiler Alert – this post may fall under the category of TMI for some of you, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.

I don’t mean to brag, but I have always had a pretty keen since of smell. I could always tell when momma was cookin’ something up in the kitchen or when someone got a new cologne, even when they were a long way off. I’m not sure why, but God has given me this incredible gift (*sarcasm). Unfortunately with this gift comes a darkside. I have also always been very sensitive to negative odors as well, especially body odor (henceforth referred to as “b.o.”). This probably stems from a traumatizing experience I suffered in 7^th grade gym, but I digress.

Over the last couple weeks, about 1 or 2 in the afternoon, I can tell I’m starting to smell pretty ripe. I’m not sure what the deal is, but the best I can figure is that my deodorant is no longer up to the task. I have been using the same brand since 8^th grade and it’s always performed admirably for me. Someone once told me though that your body can actually immunize to certain brands of deodorant and render it ineffective. I’m guessing that’s what’s happening in my case.

Now, if I decided to push through and continue to use it anyway, even though it was ineffective, well, not only would that be pretty ridiculous, but I would soon begin losing friends.

In leadership, you sometimes run across something that stinks like that, especially in the church world. We are notorious for continuing ineffective programs and processes just because we’ve been doing them for a long time (i.e. since 8^th grade). Not only that, but personally there may be patterns, behaviors, relationships, attitudes, sins, etc. that we have been doing for a long time that continue to produce negative (or stinky) results, yet we continue to do them anyway, expecting something different to happen.

I heard a leader say this recently (regarding church systems, but it applies across the board) and it really struck me, “If your church has a system that keeps failing you need to do something about it. It’s like a baby. You can keep changing the baby’s diapers, or you can potty train the baby.”

What change do you need to make? What are you in charge of that needs to improve? Blessings on your search for a new scent.

Happy 6th Anniversary Brooke!

2010-06-04T10:40:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow June 5, Brooke and I will celebrate 6 years of wedded bliss. I'm sure I'm not the easiest person to live with, but my wife might be. So in honor of 6 years, here are the top 6 reasons (of many) that I love my wife:

1. She loves Jesus

2. She’s an awesome mom

3. She’s gorgeous

4. She’s really funny

5. She’s almost always in a good mood

6. She loves me more than I dreamed anyone ever would

Happy 6^th Anniversary Brooke! I love you!

LIFEGROUP Questions 5/23/10

2010-05-21T20:57:00.000-07:00

***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.

If You Really Knew Me: You’d Know I Sometimes Don’t Feel Like Praying – Week 4

1. What was the craziest thing you asked Santa for as a kid?

2. Do we treat God like Santa? What kinds of things do we typically pray about?

3. Read the Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:9-13 (This is the prayer Jesus taught to the disciples).

4. What are things God gives us through prayer besides granting our requests?

5. Do you feel you should pray more? Why or why not?

6. Why don’t we pray more?

7. What would happen if we were more intentional about praying?

8. At what point in your day could you be more intentional about praying? (mornings, after work, before bed, etc)

***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 5/16/10

2010-05-14T13:35:00.000-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

5/16/10

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

If You Really Knew Me: You’d Know I Sometimes Doubt God – Week 3

1. What has happened in your life that did or could have caused you to doubt God?

2. Is it okay for us to doubt God sometimes? Why or why not?

3. What kinds of doubts about God have you had?

4. How do you respond to doubt?

5. Why do we sometimes hide our doubts?

6. How has God responded to your doubt?

7. How should we deal with doubt?

8. How can we help others overcome their doubts about God?

LIFEGROUP Questions 5/9/10

2010-05-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

5/9/10

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

If You Really Knew Me: You’d Know I don’t like Christians – Week 2

1. What is the weirdest thing that you have ever seen someone do in the name of Christianity?

2. Can you tell a story about a time when you had an encounter with someone who claimed to be a Christian, but their actions didn’t line up with their beliefs? How did that make you feel?

3. Why are we so quick to judge others rather than judge ourselves? Do you consider yourself a judgmental person? Why?

4. What minor details have you seen Christians focus on that have led to hard feelings or resentment by others? What should be the things that we focus on?

5. When we encounter people who don’t like the church or Christians, what can we do to help change their opinion?

6. Who do you know that doesn’t know Jesus because they don’t like Christians? Let’s pray for those people as a group, and do our best to impact them positively for Jesus.

LIFEGROUP Questions 5/2/10

2010-05-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

5/2/10

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

If You Really Knew Me: You’d Know I’m Hurting – Week 1

1. What’s the worst injury or illness that you have ever suffered? How long did it take you to recover? Did you have to do any rehabilitation? If so what was that like?

2. What are the things in our world that cause people to be hurting? What are the people in your circle of influence currently hurting from?

3. When you find yourself hurting, which of these responses most closely defines how you respond? “Rub some dirt on it” (suck it up), “Woes me” (give up), “God help me” (look up)

Why is that your response?

4. What past emotional hurts have you gone through that God has healed you from? What was that process like? How long did it take?

5. What does it mean to surrender those hurts to Jesus? How have you seen surrender to Jesus played out in your life or in someone else’s life?

6. Are there hurts that you are currently going through that we could pray for you for or about?

Leaders’ note: You can choose a different book of the Bible or Bible reading plan. This one is merely a suggestion. You will need to make sure you email out or somehow get the prayer requests in the hands of your group members if you do not do that already.

LIFEGROUP Questions 4/25/10

2010-04-24T18:50:00.000-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

4/25/10

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

Everybody Ends Up Somewhere Week 4: Financially

1. If you had $1 million dropped in your lap right now (no strings attached) how would you spend it?

2. What’s the biggest financial mistake that you have ever made or that you’ve seen someone make?

3. Why do you think it’s so uncomfortable for most people to discuss their finances with one another?

4. What does it mean to have a ‘financial vision’? Would you say you have a financial vision for you/your family? Why or why not?

5. Some of us in here are planners. Do any of you spend time planning financially like you do in other areas of your life? If so, how have you seen that benefit you so far? Where do you desire that plan to end up?

6. What’s one goal that you are currently pursuing regarding finances (i.e. a big purchase, getting out of debt, getting a raise, giving more to God, etc.)?

7. What next step have you decided to take financially relating to the message from Sunday or from our discussion tonight? Let’s pray that God would allow us to fulfill financial plans that would honor Him.

Takeaways from My Recent Physical

2010-04-17T17:50:00.000-07:00

This past Friday I went to Family Health Center in Pekin for a physical. This Sunday I get the privilege of speaking to BridgeWay about how we can end up 'somewhere on purpose' physically. I know that I'm not heading where I want to be physically, so I went to the good Dr. to find out how I can improve my health. He told me I was mildly overweight (I thought the assessment would be much worse than that!) and we discussed my target weight which is very attainable.

He also told me how I could attain my weight goals through my eating habits. Here are some of the big takeaways:

5 Foods to Avoid When Trying to Lose Weight:

Sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup (drinking sugar in drinks is actually worse for you than eating it through food)
White Flour (any candy, cakes, desserts)
Potatoes (just varieties of white potatoes; yams and sweet potatoes don't count)
Rice
Pasta

Foods TO Eat:

Breakfast:

Eggs, cheese, vegetables
Toast and most cold cereal is empty carbs which won't last long
Oatmeal - can mix in peanut butter and protein powder

Lunch:

Salads with eggs, tuna, chicken
You CANNOT overeat vegetables
Feel free to eat until you're full, just eat the right things

Dinner:

Lean proteins (chicken, fish)
Vegetables

Snacks:

Cheese stick
Apple
Handful of nuts (only a handful!)
Drink lots of water
If in a pinch, pick up an Atkins protein bar, but 'real' food is better

Drinks:

Water
Tea
Black Coffee
Diet drinks are a weight loss inhibitor! (This was news to me!)

Exercising:

Aerobic exercise 30 minutes, 3 X a week
Resistance training 30 minutes, 2 X a week

My favorite takeaway: "If you want to eat like a typical American you'll look like a typical American. If you want to look atypical, you have to eat atypically."

Those were some high points. I'll be doing what I can to get healthy and build a healthy lifestyle. This isn't about looks, as much as it's about me being in the best physical condition I can be in to fulfill the work that God has called me to.

All the best on your journey!

Friday Leadership Post - Producing Fruit

2010-04-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

I love spring. It is probably my favorite time of the year. I think that correlates closely to how much I absolutely despise winter. I can’t stand cold weather, I hate snow, I hate ice, I hate how snow turns black after being mixed with whatever is on our roads…I digress.

My favorite part about spring is the new life springing up all around. I love the Magnolia trees especially. The flowers that bloom off of those trees bring forth a burst of color into a world that (due to winter) has only been seen in shades of gray for months. The fragrance that comes with those trees is so fresh and new I can’t get enough of it.

Along with the Magnolia trees, the grass begins to grow, other trees gain their green leaves and flowers are in bloom. It’s as though the earth has awoken from hibernation and things are getting back to the way they should be.

One of the challenges of the Christian life is to live as though you’re a Magnolia tree in bloom all year long. The Bible refers to the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives as fruit. For the Magnolia tree, the fruit is the beautiful blooms that produce life, light, color, fragrance, and hope. I say hope in all seriousness because these blooms have a timely way of hitting right when we feel like we cannot stand another winter outburst. In our situation, we produce fruit that hopefully accomplishes the same thing to those around us. Ultimately the fruit that God wants to produce through His Holy Spirit is fruit that bursts onto the scene much like those Magnolia blooms: they show up right when we’re rubbing elbows with a person who is hopeless and feels they don’t know what they’re going to do if one thing goes wrong.

It can be tough to produce this fruit. It only becomes tough though, when we put the onus on us to bear the fruit. When we do this, then the fruit bearing becomes about us rather than the One who’s working through us. It becomes easy to bear fruit when it’s about saying “Yes!” when God requires it and walking faithfully through Him.

My prayer today is that my life would produce fruit that would provide hope and joy to those around me. I pray yours does as well.

LIFEGROUP Questions 4/18/10

2010-04-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

4/18/10

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

Everybody Ends Up Somewhere Week 3: Physically

1. When you look back on your life, what would you say is your greatest athletic or physical strength accomplishment?

2. Is there an athletic or physical accomplishment that you desire to achieve before you die? If so what is it and why do you want to pursue or achieve that goal?

3. The Bible describes the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. What do you think of when you think of a temple? Do you think your body would be described the same way?

4. In Ephesians Paul talks about how we care for and feed our bodies just like Christ loves the church. How did Christ love the church? Why do you think Paul makes this comparison? Do you think most Christians consider their physical health as important as their spiritual health? Why or why not?

5. Have you ever seen someone who has missed out on their God intended purpose because they were not physically able to do it (could be a weight issue, disease issue, addiction, etc.)? Describe.

6. What small step did you take Sunday in regards to your eating habits? physical training? rest? Have you stuck with those so far? If you are looking for accountability, let’s help each other be accountable so we don’t miss out on the purpose God has for us.

Friday Leadership Post - Borrowed Faith?

2010-04-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

Not that I’m a liar or anything, but it’s actually Saturday while I’m writing this Friday Leadership Post. Upon completing this, I will go outside, assemble and use for the first time the lawnmower we purchased last night. I know, you’re jealous, but settle down, it will be ok.

My wife and I will celebrate our 6^th wedding anniversary this summer (praise the Lord) and in our marriage history, this is the first lawnmower that we’ve ever purchased. The first house we lived in we rented and it had a lawnmower in the garage that we used. We ultimately bought that house, and kept the lawnmower until it literally fell apart. From there, I asked around and got a nice lawnmower from a friend of ours, which lasted about a month. From there, a colleague gave me his 20 year old lawnmower and it lasted 3 summers and finally passed on last fall. So, I finally broke down and purchased one.

At this point in the story, you might be thinking “well, that’s 2 minutes of my life I’ll never get back.” I assure you there is a point, starting….NOW!

I know people who use faith in the same way. For instance, they’ll have a family member or friend that has a deep passionate relationship with Him, and they’ll just assume that since they’re hanging with this person that they have the same standing with God. They, in essence, are borrowing faith just like I borrowed lawnmowers.

If we are to have a true faith in Jesus Christ, we have to receive the grace that has been extended to us through His death on the cross. We have to see that Christ didn’t just die for the sins of the world, but for ‘my’ sins. He personally sacrificed his life for me, and it’s up to me to believe and receive what He’s done.

Today you may be living off of someone’s faith. What you need to do is go and get your own. Surrender your life to Jesus today.

LIFEGROUP Questions 4/11/10

2010-04-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

4/11/10

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

Everybody Ends Up Somewhere Week 1: Purpose

1. If you could be friends with any famous person in the world, who would it be and why?

2. What is your favorite thing to do to fuel or build relationships with your friends and family?

3. Has there been a time in your life when meeting with God one on one daily was not a priority? Why was that? Has that changed?

4. Why is it important to spend time with God every day? Can anyone talk about how God has changed you through your one on one times with Him?

5. Why is it difficult for us to carve out time for God every day? What other things could we eliminate from our lives to have time with God daily?

6. Let’s all commit to reading the Bible (start with John chapter 1 and read one chapter a day) and praying together this week. We’ll come back next week and share what we’ve learned and how God spoke to us. Let’s use our prayer list from tonight and pray for one another’s needs daily. How can we pray for each other tonight?

Friday Leadership Post - Listening (2)

2010-03-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have seen my time with God really be ratcheted up a notch or two. I’ve seen this happening across the board in the lives of the staff here, as well as ministry leaders. It’s awesome to be part of a church where intentional personal growth is emphasized and where people jump in and see the fruit.

In recent days, I’ve also been reminded of how difficult leadership can be. Fortunately it hasn’t been through personal experience, but watching other leaders go through it from a distance. It’s during those times that you see a leader’s true colors and what they’re about.

This has always been the case, even with Old Testament leaders from literally thousands of years ago. In 2 Chronicles 33, the author is detailing the life of Manasseh King of Judah. Most kings fall into one of two categories when it comes to biblical description: good or evil. Manasseh unfortunately fell into the category of evil. This was as unfortunate for him as it was for the people he was leading.

One verse in chapter 33 that jumped out at me was verse 10: “The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.” Wow, what an indictment! You can probably guess the rest of the story; it wasn’t pretty. Ultimately because of his evil, Manasseh led his people down some terrible roads. In those terrible times Manasseh remembered God and turned back to him, but not before he went through some terrible pain.

When I read verse 10, I thought, “I wonder how many times God has been speaking to me and I paid no attention?” It’s really scary to think about, but even scarier to think how easily we can miss it. Paying attention requires time, effort, and intentionality. We have to be intentional to hear the voice of God. We have to spend time listening for God to speak. The really good news is that through that effort we will hear him!

Maybe today you really need a word from God. Maybe you feel like you’re hanging by a thread and if you don’t hear from God today you don’t know what you’re going to do. Keep paying attention; keep listening. God will give you exactly what you need when you need it.

LIFEGROUP Questions 3/28/2010

2010-03-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

3/28/10

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

Spark: Week 2

1. What are some of your favorite Easter memories from when you were a kid, or from more recent years?

2. In the story we heard Sunday, Matthew left everything on the spot and followed Jesus. What does that tell you about Matthew? What does that tell you about Jesus? What would be the most difficult thing(s) for us to abandon to follow Jesus like that?

3. When it comes to igniting a movement of God, what kind of investments do we need to make to see that happen? Give an example of how you’ve seen one of those investments play out in a positive way.

4. What examples have you seen where someone who follows Jesus treats people with hostility and not healing? What does it look like to treat people with healing rather than hostility?

5. Who initially invited you to BridgeWay/church? How has your life changed since you started coming? Who do you know that needs to experience what you have?

6. With Easter coming up, let’s make a list of people that we are going to invite and as a group pray for them every day from now until Easter, that they would come to our Easter services at BridgeWay.

LIFEGROUP Questions 3/21/2010

2010-03-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

3/21/10

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

Spark: Week 1

1. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Do you still desire to do that?

2. What regular occurrences take place in your life that would fall into the category of ‘mundane’ or ‘every day?”

3. Sunday we talked about how Jesus calls the ‘not-good-enoughs.’ What’s your first reaction when you hear that? Do you believe it? Would you consider yourself a ‘not-good-enough?’ Why or why not?

4. For those of you who follow Jesus, what’s been the difference He’s made in your life when it comes to your purpose and having life and having it to the full?

5. We see in Luke 5 that people walk away from everything to follow Jesus and through that sacrifice they see the spark. What areas in our lives do we need to walk away from so that Jesus can do that work in our lives?

LIFEGROUP Questions 3/14/2010

2010-03-12T10:49:00.000-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

3/14/10

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

Healer: Week 2

1. If you could be any character on TV, who would you be and why?

2. This week we heard a story from Chris about his brother who passed away after a battle with leukemia. Who have you known that’s passed away that left a significant positive legacy that affected you? What was their legacy and why was it so meaningful to you?

3. Many people believe in Jesus, some people hope in Jesus, but discovering our Healer means we learn to trust in Jesus. What does it mean to ‘trust’ in Jesus? What does that look like?

4. We know that the tongue has the power of life and death. When was a time when someone spoke words of ‘death’ to you? When was a time someone spoke words of ‘life’ to you? Do you have the tendency to speak more words of life or more words of death? Why?

5. The Bible tells us to carry each other’s burdens and in this way we fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). As a group, who is someone we know that is going through a difficult time that as a group we can help to carry their burdens?

Friday Leadership Post - Battle

2010-03-05T08:49:00.000-08:00

In 1 Kings 20, there’s a story that’s always grabbed my attention and has shaped my understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. Ahab is the current king of Israel and a prophet comes to him and tells him that the Lord is giving Ahab’s enemies into his hands that very day. Ahab responds with, “And who will start the battle?” The prophet answered, “You will.” (1 Kings 20:14)

The Old Testament is filled with battle scenes, kings, prophets and all kinds of stuff that would be rated R if it were turned into a feature Hollywood film. The New Testament is the story of Jesus physically on earth, and His message of peace, hope, and love. We can err in this way of thinking sometimes in going too far. We assume that Jesus wasn’t really in the Old Testament (though He does make many appearances) so the Old Testament is basically irrelevant to our lives today. If we follow this logic, we end up with a picture of Jesus that makes Him look like a folk singer from the 70’s, always happy and wouldn’t even consider the possibility of becoming angry at anyone for anything.

The truth of the matter though, is that what we face daily is spiritual warfare. I recently heard a teacher talk about how in the Hebrew language, there’s no word for ‘spiritual.’ Meaning that if you asked someone “how’s your spiritual life?” they wouldn’t know what you’re referring to because in their culture, everything was part of your spiritual life.

Jesus is definitely about love and peace and all of those things, but He is also a mighty warrior that calls us to fight with Him. So many Christians walk around acting beat down when we should be the one’s doing the beating. God told Ahab that He has already given these enemies into Ahab’s hands and all Ahab has to do is follow what God tells Him to do – namely, start the battle.

In the same way, Jesus ultimately defeated all the enemies we face today. Whatever it is that you’re dealing with today, the cross of Christ is sufficient to deal with that struggle, hurt, brokenness, worry, etc.

So start the battle! Find your hope in Jesus Christ. Focus on Him, not on your problem. Surround yourself with people who love Jesus and will support you through this time. Jesus wants to see you through to victory. Keep battling. Keep fighting. The victory is found in Jesus!

LIFEGROUP Questions 3/7/10

2010-03-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

3/7/10

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

Healer: Week 1

1. What’s the most miraculous ‘healing’ you’ve ever seen, been a part of, or experienced personally?

2. Craig’s testimony was about being diagnosed with cancer and given 2 months to live. How do you think you’d react if you were put in that situation? What impact would that have on you spiritually?

3. Craig talked about how God’s presence was with him especially in His darkest times. Has there been a moment in your life when you could sense God’s presence with you? Can you describe that time?

4. In Philippians 3:10, Paul talks about identifying with Christ in His suffering. Have you ever felt like you were ‘suffering’? Do you have a desire like Paul to suffer in order to know Christ more? Why or why not? If you knew the only way you could grow in your relationship with Jesus was through suffering, would you suffer? Why or why not?

5. What needs do we see in our friends and families that we need to pray for God to heal? What needs do we have in our own lives that we need to ask God to heal?

Friday Leadership Post - I'll Pray for You

2010-02-27T07:37:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, I developed a pretty bad lying habit. It wasn’t intentional, but I found myself continually lying about something that is probably one of the worst things you can lie about: prayer. My lying conversations always had good intentions, but they would go like this:

“Hey Matt, I’m going through some hard stuff right now.”

Me: “Thanks for sharing that; I’ll be praying for you.”

The problem was, I seldom did. It wasn’t because I was trying to be a jerk or anything like that. I just forgot. God has helped to show me that this just wasn’t an issue of being forgetful, but having my priorities in the wrong order.

I was reminded of this idea this week as I was reading in 1 Samuel. In chapter 12, Samuel is leaving his people as Saul transitions into kingship. As he leaves he says, “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.” (verse 23)

Samuel never even said, “I’ll be praying for you.” Yet, he believed so strongly in the power of prayer and his call to spiritual leadership that he considered it a sin not to pray for those he was leaving.

God’s been growing me in this same way. He’s been showing me what an awesome privilege it is to pray for those who I’ve been called to lead. Today, you may not consider yourself a leader, but indeed you are. You are at least the leader of yourself, so never underestimate the power of prayer not only in your own life, but as you pray for others as well.

LIFEGROUP Questions for 2/28/2010 (Single)

2010-02-25T15:00:00.003-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

2/28/10

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

Til Death Week 4: Protect

1. If you could be an Olympian in any of the winter Olympic events, which one would it be and why?

2. We talked about protecting marriages this week, but we are told to protect our relationship to God in the same way. When you think of protecting your relationship with God, what does that mean?

3. The Bible talks about Adam and Eve both being ‘naked, and they felt no shame.’ While this was a physical nakedness, it also was representative of being completely transparent with one another. Is it ever a struggle to be completely transparent with God? Why or why not?

4. When you meet someone new, how long does it take you before you completely trust them? What does it take for you to trust them? Do you completely trust God in that same way? If not, what will it take for you to completely trust Him?

5. Over this series, there has been a lot of advice given about our relationship with others and with God. What has been the biggest takeaway from this series for you?

6. How can we pray for one another as we close this time together?

LIFEGROUP Questions for 2/28/2010 (Married)

2010-02-25T14:58:00.000-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

2/28/10

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

Til Death Week 4: Protect

1. Describe the first ‘date’ that you and your spouse had. When did you know that they were ‘the one?’

2. When you think of protecting your marriage, what comes to mind?

3. The Bible talks about Adam and Eve both being ‘naked, and they felt no shame.’ Why do you think some people fear being completely 100% honest and transparent with their spouse?

4. The Bible talks about wives respecting their husbands and husbands loving their wives. (Ephesians 5:33) Why do you think the Bible makes this distinction? How have you seen the concepts of love and respect play out in your marriage? How do they go hand in hand?

5. Over this series, there has been a lot of advice given to married folks. What has been your biggest takeaway as an individual during these four weeks? What has been your biggest takeaway as a couple during these four weeks?

6. How can we pray for one another as we close this time together?

Friday Leadership Post - Be Strong

2010-02-19T14:41:00.000-08:00

I’ve said this before, but it never ceases to amaze me at how God prepares us through His word for things that we’re going to face. This week has been exhausting. It’s primarily been good, but as I sit in my office on Friday afternoon and reflect on the week that was there’s a lot to be thankful for.

One thing in particular that I’m thankful for was my journey through the book of Joshua over the last couple days. Joshua is a leader who has been groomed by Moses to take over as leader of the Israelites. Moses has died, and now Joshua is in charge. Not only is he leading hundreds of thousands of people, he has to lead them into war to claim a land that God had promised them. This would be a tough task for a leader with experience, but this cat’s a rookie. Tough break buddy, get to it!

God gives Joshua some helpful advice: “Be strong and courageous.” He says this to Joshua 3 different times within the first 9 verses of the book, and again 9 verses later. At first glance it seems as though God is saying, “Don’t be a sissy. Get in there and get the job done!” While that might have been it on some level, I think it was intended more like this: “Joshua, I’m God. I’ve got your back. Everything you need to succeed you have in me. So therefore, be strong and courageous, because I AM GOD!”

What’s even cooler about this is that this phrase of “be strong” is one of the last sentiments that Joshua gives to the people before he dies (Joshua 23:6). Joshua lived his life as God instructed, so when it was all said and done, he knew there was no better advice he could give his followers than the advice that God had given Him: “be strong.”

I don’t know about you, but I needed that this week. It such a comfort to know that whatever situation you find yourself in, God has given you everything you need in His son Jesus to get through it. So (as if I need to say it), “BE STRONG!”

LIFEGROUP Questions 2/21/10 (Single folks)

2010-02-19T14:30:00.001-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

2/21/10

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

Til Death Week 3: Partnership

1. Who is one of your best friends? What makes them such a great friend?

2. When you think about friendships or dating relationships, what personality traits do you look for in those people?

3. Jesus describes His relationship to us as a marriage. Have you ever thought about your relationship with Jesus that way? What would be different about it if you lived as though you and Jesus had that close of a relationship?

4. In Ephesians, Paul describes Jesus and the church in a marriage and that in that marriage we submit to Jesus. What does submission to Jesus mean? What does it look like as it plays out in our lives?

5. How can you spiritually ready yourself for a future romantic relationship? How does being submitted to Jesus fit into that relationship?

6. This week’s assignments were to deal with past relationships as a couple, and to develop 4-7 values you are going to have in your marriage. Does anyone have their values developed that they would like to share with the group? Let’s pray that God would continue to help us develop these values and focus on developing these partnerships.

LIFEGROUP Questions 2/21/10 (Married folks)

2010-02-19T14:29:00.000-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

2/21/10

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

Til Death Week 3: Partnership

1. What’s the attribute (not physical) of your spouse that you love and admire the most that you don’t have?

2. This week we talked about marriage in terms of partnership (being about ‘we’ and not ‘me’). What are areas that you as a couple are really successful at ‘partnering’ in (i.e. household chores, parenting, working, social life, spiritual capacity, etc.)? What are areas that you and your spouse struggle to ‘partner’ in?

3. Part of partnership is mutual submission (Ephesians 5:21). What does that mean? What does that look like in your marriage?

4. In Ephesians 5, Jesus compares himself as a groom, and the church as His bride. He instructs us to treat one another the same way as He treats us. How would we treat our spouse differently if we operated like Jesus does towards His church all the time?

5. Being a partner means more than simply partnership, but that you and your spouse are completely welded together. What areas of your marriage do you not see eye to eye in that you can work on to become even more closely welded together?

Friday Leadership Post - Savor the Moment

2010-02-12T09:49:00.000-08:00

As a leader I have some propensities to always be looking forward in planning and even looking forward to what God is going to do. While this isn’t a bad thing, God is showing me to appreciate the moments I’m in more than I have been, rather than looking forward all the time.

Just recently I had a meeting scheduled with a couple from BridgeWay. It was a pretty light meeting to touch base on some stuff; nothing urgent. A couple hours beforehand, we talked on the phone debating whether or not to meet, and ultimately, decided to. They arrived and we talked business for about 15 minutes and were really ready to wrap up. Then out of nowhere, we started talking about life and they began to share about things that God was doing in them and what He had been teaching them. It was incredible! We shared laughs, tears, smiles, and prayers. It was a wonderful night! I left the meeting thinking, “Wow, I’m so glad we didn’t cancel that meeting!”

I’m learning that every encounter with folks can move in that way if we take the time to listen for it. When it comes to leading LIFEGROUPS especially, sometimes we can get so wrapped up in group size or who’s here or who’s not, that we lose focus of the people that God has brought together for that evening for His purposes. Never, EVER take for granted who is present at your meetings and why they might be there. SAVOR THE MOMENT! Let God do what He needs to do. The trick is, that YOU as a leader have to be spiritually prepared for what HE wants to do.

Be prepared, be excited, and be expecting!

LIFEGROUP Questions 2/14/10 (Married folks)

2010-02-12T09:30:00.000-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

2/14/10

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

Til Death Week 2: Pursuit

1. Ladies, what’s the best romantic/pursuit moment you remember from when you and your husband were dating? Guys, what was the most romantic moment you pulled off while you were dating your wife?

2. Since you’ve been married, have you had the same level of ‘pursuit’ for one another that you had when you were dating? Why or why not?

3. 2 Samuel 14:14 says that “God does not take away life; instead He devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from Him.” When you look at your life, how have you seen God ‘devising ways’ to get your attention and bring you closer to Him?

4. Ephesians 5:25-29 gives us a good picture of what it means to pursue our spouses: sacrifice, serving, and supplying their needs. When it comes to your spouse, what sacrifices might you need to make personally to show your commitment to pursue your spouse?

5. How can we serve our spouses to show our pursuit of them? What needs of our spouse have we been neglecting that we need to focus on more?

6. Each person in here commit to one of the ways we can pursue our spouse this week. Next week, the spouse will bring back a report of how you did at your duty. Let’s pray that God will help us all pursue our spouses like He pursues us.

LIFEGROUP Questions 2/14/10 (Single folks)

2010-02-12T09:28:00.000-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

2/14/10

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

Til Death Week 2: Pursuit

1. What’s something that you pursued more than anything else, and finally got it? Why did you want it so much? What did it mean to you when you got it? After awhile, did it have the same excitement as it did before?

2. Has anyone ever pursued a relationship with you before (dating, parenting, brother/sister, grandparent, aunt/uncle, etc.)? What did they do to get your attention? Were their efforts effective?

4. Ephesians 5:25-29 gives us a good picture of what it means to pursue God: sacrifice, serving, and supplying their needs. When it comes to God, what sacrifices might you need to make personally to show your commitment to pursue Him?

5. How can we serve God to show our pursuit of Him? How does our relationship with God now as single folks impact our futures with our spouses?

6. Each person in here commit to one of the ways we can pursue God this week. Let’s check in with each other next week to see how we’ve been doing and how God has impacted us through our pursuit of Him. Let’s pray for each other now that we would be faithful to this challenge.

Friday Leadership Post - Fire

2010-01-08T12:22:00.000-08:00

Every year during this time, a special event is taking place – the NFL playoffs (something NCAA division one football could learn from, but I digress). During this time, the cream of the NFL rises to the top, while everyone else, to quote Mike Tyson, “fades into bolivian.” What amazes me about this time even more than the competition, are the fans. These fans are insane! They are crazed, they pay hundreds of dollars for a ticket, they arrive hours early and tailgate in below freezing weather, they wear expensive authentic jerseys of their favorite stars, they paint their faces, they scream until their ears bleed, and they yell at others for not screaming enough on 3^rd down situations. They are on fire for their team.

Inevitably, only one of these team’s fan bases gets to celebrate the fact that their team won the ultimate prize, while the rest will always ponder, ‘if I just would have screamed louder on third down…’

What I’ve noticed about these fans is that it’s hard to be around them without getting equally as excited in the game. For me, if I like the team they do, I gain more interest in the game and root even harder for that team. If I dislike the team they’re rooting for, I inevitably root even harder for their competition. Human nature I guess.

I’ve found this to be the case with all sorts of stuff, especially Jesus. When I first arrived at BridgeWay, I had a fire in my heart that I thought was burning hot – then I met the worship band. After a couple weeks rubbing elbows with those guys, it was like someone threw gasoline on the fire of my heart.

When we lead people, they inevitably become passionate about the things we are leading them in, or not, depending on how we lead them. If we’re not on fire for that thing ourselves, no one else will be either. But as we get more and more on fire, in this case for Jesus, it’s inevitable that that fire will rub off on those around us.

In Dale’s blog recently, he posted the question: if you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? The same applies here. Do people know what the passion of your heart is? Are people more on fire, passionate, or curious about Jesus after you’ve spent time with them? Let’s make the answer to those questions a resounding “YES!”

Friday Leadership Post - Mowing the Ditch

2009-12-11T12:17:00.000-08:00

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 for 12/13/09

2009-12-11T11:58:00.000-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

12/13/09

***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.

LIFEGROUP Questions for 11/29/09

2009-11-25T08:50:00.000-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

11/29/09

***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.

Friday Leadership Post - Most Excellent Way

2009-11-20T12:47:00.001-08:00

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 for 11/22/09

2009-11-20T12:16:00.000-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

11/22/09

***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.

Greater Things Gathering

2009-11-14T08:36:00.000-08:00

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.

If you missed it, don't worry there's one more Greater Things Gathering:

Thursday, November 19 @ 7:00 pm

BridgeWay Ministry Center

Field Shopping Center

Morton, IL 61550

See you there!

LIFEGROUP Questions for 11/15/09

2009-11-14T08:34:00.000-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

11/15/09

***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.

LIFEGROUP Questions for 11/8/09

2009-11-07T17:47:00.000-08:00

LIFEGROUP Questions

11/8/09

***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.

Friday Leadership Post - Pride

2009-11-06T14:25:00.000-08:00

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.

Pekin Campus Location Update

2009-11-04T07:38:00.000-08:00

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!

Sunday Night Reflections - Pekin Campus Edition

2009-11-01T16:40:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-31T13:20:00.000-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions for Both Campuses

11/1/09

***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?

Sunday Night Reflections - Pekin Campus Edition

2009-10-25T17:24:00.001-07:00

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!

Pekin Campus Life Group Questions for 10/25/09

2009-10-23T13:18:00.000-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions for the Pekin Campus

10/25/09

***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?

Morton Campus Life Group Questions for 10/25/09

2009-10-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions for the Morton Campus

10/25/09

***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?

Sunday Reflections

2009-10-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

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!

Morton Campus Life Group Questions for 10/18/09

2009-10-16T07:36:00.001-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions for the Morton Campus

10/18/09

***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?

Pekin Campus Life Group Questions for 10/18/09

2009-10-16T07:34:00.001-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions for the Pekin Campus

10/18/09

***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.

Sunday Reflections - Pekin Campus Edition

2009-10-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

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!

Morton Campus Life Group Questions for 10/11/09

2009-10-09T11:24:00.001-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions for the Morton Campus

10/11/09

***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?

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.

Pekin Campus Life Group Questions for 10/11/09

2009-10-09T11:21:00.000-07:00

LIFEGROUP Questions for the Pekin Campus

10/11/09

***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?

Sunday Night Reflections - Pekin Campus Edition

2009-10-04T15:34:00.001-07:00

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!

Sunday Night Reflections - Pekin Campus Edition

2009-09-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

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!

Sunday Night Reflections - Pekin Campus Edition

2009-09-20T16:29:00.000-07:00

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!

Why LIFEGROUPs Matter - Part 1

2009-09-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

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.

Sunday Reflections - Grand Opening Edition!

2009-09-13T14:16:00.000-07:00

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.

Friday Leadership Post - Preparation

2009-09-11T06:02:00.000-07:00

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.

5 Keys to an Unforgettable Launch

2009-09-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

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!

Sunday Night Reflections - Pekin Campus Edition

2009-08-30T15:31:00.000-07:00

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!

New BridgeWay Logo (pretty cool, eh?)

2009-08-21T07:11:00.000-07:00

Friday Leadership Post - Surrender

2009-08-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

I heard a message the other day by Dr. J.K. Warrick that has been killing me ever since and I’m going to do my best to summarize it here.

In John 6, there is a story about Jesus feeding 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. That is pretty amazing, but the path Jesus took to get there was even cooler. There are thousands of hungry people around and Jesus poses the question (paraphrase), “how are we to feed these people?” Philip speaks up and basically says, “Come on, Jesus! Be serious, there is no way we can feed these people!” Andrew at least makes an effort, coming back to Jesus with 5 loaves and two fish. Even then, he is still not sure saying, “How in the world is this going to do any good among so many people?” Andrew however, received the food from “a boy.” We don’t know his name, but he was the smartest one out there apparently since he was the only one to bring food in the first place.

As Warrick was speaking he asked the question, “What if the boy had said, ‘No.’ Or what if he had said to Jesus, ‘You can have 4 loaves and 1 fish, but I’m keeping the rest for myself.’” That line hit me hard. The reason Jesus is able to take this meager amount and make it grand is because it was fully surrendered to Him. Our lives are but meager offerings, meager amounts. Alone we cannot accomplish much. But just like Jesus took this boy’s meager offering and made it huge, he wants to take our meager lives and work through them in remarkable ways.

God seldom works by himself in this world; he typically works through people. If we want to be great leaders, it takes that full surrender to God. What’s holding you back from being used by God? Maybe you’re like Philip and Andrew and would rather make excuses than do what God asks you to do. What are you holding onto that you simply won’t let God have? Maybe you’re the four loaves and one fish kind of person. Don’t let a loaf and a fish keep you from the life God has for you.

Friday Leadership Post - Suffering

2009-08-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

A verse of scripture that continually challenges me is the call in Romans 12 to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” When I first encountered that verse, I thought it meant simply this: don’t sin. As it has implanted itself in my mind, I’ve come to realize that it’s much more than that. The call here is to transform our minds into the mind of Christ. That means we think like Jesus, we act like Jesus, we talk like Jesus, we respond as Jesus would, we see others as Jesus does, etc. The list is endless, the call is great.

One area where my mind has been transformed lately is this idea of suffering. In Philippians 3, Paul is getting in the face of the church at Philippi and ends this section in verse 10 with this statement: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain the resurrection from the dead.”

This is an amazing concept. To be honest though, when I first read it, it went something like this: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection,” (Oh yeah! Sign me up for that! That’s me I want that power too!) “and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings” (Um, not so sure about this part, but that power of the resurrection thing is still pretty cool…) “becoming like him in his death, and so somehow to attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Yeah that resurrection would be awesome!)

Suffering is not something I’m quick to sign up for. I would wager to say most people aren’t. However God has pointed out to me several stories recently about people who have gladly suffered for the message of Jesus. The most recent was a guy who lived in Africa who was martyred by a gruesome decapitation with dull knives. Not only is the story available to hear, but there is a video of this martyr that the killers took to use as a threat to the Christians in the area – “You keep talking about Jesus, we’ll keep doing this!”

If this martyr weren’t amazing enough, the story behind it certainly is. This guy woke up every morning and his prayer time was this: “What do you want me to do for you today Lord?” Every day he received his marching orders. The day he died, he reported to his friends minutes before his death that the Lord had told him that he needed to lay down his life so that the word of God may be spread. Minutes later without warning, Muslim radicals stormed his house, drug him onto the street and cut off his head. Even more amazing was this man didn’t resist a bit. He didn’t fight it or struggle or even make a sound. In those moments, he followed his orders perfectly.

God continually punches me in the gut with stories like this. Regularly God asks me to tell someone about Him or invite someone to church and I hesitate for some reason that I rationalize in my head. Meanwhile, God is asking other people to suffer greatly for the sake of the kingdom and they oblige without question, while I hem and haw around debating whether or not I really should go ring my neighbor’s doorbell.

Maybe that’s not you, but I’m guessing it’s more of us than it’s not. We have this opportunity before us to change our world for Jesus. Every day we have these moments where we get to make the name of Jesus famous without much consequence. Do
we? What’s God calling you to do that your waiting on? Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure it’s not to die so, DO IT NOW! Those words are as much for me as anyone, but let’s do something with this freedom we are afforded. Let’s change the world!

Year of Living Biblically

2009-07-31T09:49:00.000-07:00

I came across this video today of a journalist named A.J. Jacobs who decided to spend a year following every single rule in the entire Bible. Jacobs considers himself to be a 'respectful agnostic'. It's a good picture of how the world sees the Bible and Jesus.

Sunday Night Reflections - Pekin Sneak Peak Edition

2009-07-12T18:24:00.001-07:00

Today was the Pekin Campus Sneak Peak! That means we took the Pekin Campus of BridgeWay LIVE for a week for evaluation to see how 'ready' we were in preparation for our Launch Day on September 13. Here are some thoughts from a fantastic day:

We met at the Pekin Kerasotes Showplace 14 Theater on Route 98 in Pekin. It's a great venue with lots of room to grow!
Aside from location, another difference was that we only had one service instead of two. Our services in Morton are at 9:30 and 11:00. We had one service at 10:00.
We arrived like we do every Sunday at 6:30 am. Even though we had an extra half hour, we kept it the same in case we needed it - which we did...
We had a fantastic set up crew there (as always). They had all four children's areas set up in about half an hour! I'm pretty sure that's some sort of record. The bad news is that these guys have set the bar really high and now they'll have to live up to it every week. Of course, they'll be up to it :)
The lobby also went together quickly, and we had some good feedback from our lobby people about possible improvements there as well.
Theater 3 was our adult worship theater and all things considered, it went together really well and really quickly.
The guys were setting up nearly all new equipment and really flew to get it done as quickly as they did.
We did have some computer issues, but thanks to the sharp minds of our computer guys, the issues were quickly resolved and we were ready to, as my man Wayne would say, "Party on!"
The run through of the service went as well as it does in Morton, as did the service.
Our band was kickin and even though they hadn't played together much as a unit, did a really nice job. As good as those guys are, they'll gel quickly in no time.
I really enjoyed the song at the end by Mark Schultz called "I am." It has very powerful lyrics and you could feel a strong sense of worship in the room as the song went on.
That song was in response to the One Prayer message we heard from a guy named Tim Chambers from a church called Shore Fellowship out in Jersey.
His message was entitled "God is...I AM."
He talked about how we get to know people by their name, but a name isn't just a name, it's who a person is.
A couple of cool lines I liked: In talking about the phrase from Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd," Tim said: "God is is, God was is, and God always will be is."
Another one: "God wants to turn my Am I's? into his I AM's!" - that's good stuff!
On top of all of that, our children's area functioned really well.
Our greeters, BridgeCafe folks, and other First Impressions team members were exceptional as well.
We had some minor bumps, but let me emphasize the word MINOR.
All in all, it was probably about as good as we could have hoped for.
We even had some new families in attendance that had never been here before!
Along with all that from Pekin, our Morton campus was fab as well. It's awesome to see how God is faithful, especially when He calls you to do radical things for Him.
God is good!
I also wanted to give a shout out to my parents, Bruce and Liz, for being here today as well. I'm pretty sure they come to see my son, but I like to think otherwise. Love you guys!
I also want to give a big shout out to all my family at BridgeWay. I received so many birthday wishes today it was ridiculous! The Sneak Peak was a gift that will be tough to top!

Thanks again to the incredible staff, volunteers, and family at BridgeWay. You guys are great and I can't wait til the "Sneak Peak" becomes a weekly expectation of God at work through BridgeWay in Pekin.

Airport Reflections

2009-06-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

The past month or so has been a complete blur. I'm not one to say I'm busy, because everyone thinks they're busier than the next guy. But I'm sitting here in Central Illinois Regional Airport (aka the greatest airport on the planet) and realizing that all that God has done in my life over the last month. Here are some BridgeWay and personal highlights:

May 22 - Brooke, Warrick and I traveled up to Ottawa to attend the wedding of a girl who was in the youth group when we were student pastors in Ottawa. Our first year there we held a Tuesday night Bible study in our house for all the seniors in high school. We had 4 students attend every week. The week after this girl's wedding, the last of the 4 got married! We officially feel old, but couldn't be prouder of the individuals those students have become.
May 30 - We kicked off Celebrate Recovery. I can't tell you how proud I am of Jill and her team as they have been so dedicated and sold out to this ministry. These folks pray and meet as much as any team I've ever seen. They are always open to coaching and making the ministry the best it can be. God is already moving in big ways through that ministry. We are seeing the tip of the iceberg!
May 31 - My family and one of the bands from BridgeWay traveled to Ottawa First Church and cast the vision for the new campus in Pekin. There's a blog post below about that wonderful experience.
June 5 - I celebrated 5 years of marriage with my beautiful wife! I am so blessed to have a wife that loves me more than any other person ever could. She sacrifices so we can be in ministry and NEVER COMPLAINS! I'm pretty amazed by that. Brooke, I love you more than I can describe. Thanks for putting up with me and making me a better person.
June 14 - Traveled with the same group that went to Ottawa to Kokomo First Church of the Nazarene. Completely rockin, loved seeing everyone there. Again, there's a blog post somewhere to that end.
June 17 - Held our BEST Pekin Campus Launch Team yet. We had over 40 people in attendance, 3 new couples sign up, and you could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit all night. I get goose bumps just thinking about it! I love you guys and can't wait to see what God is going to do through you!
June 21 - Celebrated my first Father's Day as a dad. It was pretty sweet. I got a new wallet and a round of golf! Life is good. I got to spend the day hanging out with Brooke and Warrick and diggin on some Chicken Tetrazini. Boo-yah! Gotta love being a dad!
June 23 - Traveling to Orlando with the rest of our staff to participate in General Assembly for the Church of the Nazarene. It's going to be a lot of fun and a very good experience. I am a "delegate to the Nazarene Youth International" which means I sit in meetings and decide the future of millions of people. That's a little exaggerated, but I think you get the picture!

God's so good! I can't wait to see what He has in store. My life to this point truly is more than I could ever ask or imagine. Thank you to our BridgeWay family for being awesome and supporting us the way you do. God bless - see you soon!

Thank you Kokomo First!

2009-06-16T09:40:00.001-07:00

Over this past weekend, we (a BridgeWay Band and myself) had the privilege to travel to Kokomo, IN to Kokomo First Church of the Nazarene. This church is my home church, so it was great to be back and see a lot of friendly faces that I haven't seen in quite awhile.

One of the best parts of going back to a church that you grow up in is seeing how it's changed. This church has changed majorly, as they put on a new addition to the building with a beautiful new auditorium and huge lobby. It's very encouraging for me to see a church that's nearly 90 years old and still has yet to see its best days.

We once again were celebrating as we had about 30 new folks join the email team and received over $1200 in financial contributions! Thanks to this church for their commitment to the work of Jesus in the world today.

Personally it was really great to see family members, friends, and so many new faces that had testimonies about what Jesus has done in their lives. It was also good to see so many people that had invested in me over the years with their time, money, and prayers. I want to encourage you all again that working with children and youth can be tough sometimes; it can feel like one step forward and 10 steps back. But, know that even though it may not seem like it, they are hearing you and they see Jesus in you. Keep doing what you're doing. I am where I am today because people kept investing in me no matter what.

Thanks again for all of your prayers. We are praying for God's continued hand of blessing on Kokomo First in the days and years to come.

Thank you Ottawa First!

2009-06-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

It was a real treat to be able to go and speak at Ottawa First this past Sunday. I really enjoyed getting to see the staff again, be in the building, see old friends, see the students, see the parents, see my old small group, visit the Barn, and even to speak. It was a great day full of hugs and handshakes.

It was cool for me too to see my ‘worlds collide’ in a sense, in merging of our old life at OFC merge with our new life at BridgeWay. We arrived at 6:45 to at team of smiling sound guys and pastors. They were so kind, gracious, and accommodating. The BridgeWay band couldn’t stop talking about the level of professionalism and mutual respect that there was between them and the staff at the church.

I also was really proud of our band. Chuck, Kevin, Ryan, Dave, and Brit all represent themselves so well and their personal relationships with Jesus come through in the music. It’s never a performance with them, it’s always worship. I heard that from so many folks after the services. One of my favorite lines from the morning was when Pastor Brian from OFC introduced the band as “one of the best bands you will ever here.” I guess you could say he was a fan!

At the end of the service Pastor Brian came up and called for a response from the people towards supporting the Pekin Campus. From that, we had 63 people join the prayer team and 14 people committing to join us on Launch Sunday on Sept. 13! If that weren’t enough, the church also gave $2645 on the spot in a love offering!

To Ottawa First, words cannot express how grateful we are here at BridgeWay for your support. I love to see how the body of Christ is still the body of Christ no matter where you are in the world. We celebrate with you as God continues to move in Ottawa, as we know you celebrate with us as God moves here in Tazewell County.

Thank you to all who prayed for us while we were there and we’d ask that you’d continue to pray as on June 14 we are going to Kokomo 1st Church of the Nazarene in Kokomo, IN to ask for their support in this initiative as well. God is moving and we are seeing his dream for BridgeWay fulfilled!

28 Days of Prayer - Acts 28

2009-05-30T13:39:00.000-07:00

Scripture - Acts 28:31 - "Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ."

Observation - I love how this is the last sentence in the book of Acts. The book first introduces Saul as a man who was persecuting the followers of Jesus. At the end of the book, Paul is under arrest in Rome and still preaching the word of God. It's an amazing story of redemption and hope.

Application - Who in my life am I ready to give up on spiritually? When you think about family members who are far from Jesus, do you ever feel like giving up hope? If Saul can be converted to Paul, there's hope for all of us.

Prayer - Dear Lord, I pray for those who are near hopelessness today. I pray for those who have been praying for someone to recognize Jesus as their Savior for days, months, and years and feel like there has been no progress made. Encourage them today Lord. Move on their behalf and on behalf of that friend or family member. May we never lose hope or hunger to see our friends, families, and neighbors follow Jesus. In Jesus' name, Amen.