Game Day Thoughts: August 14, 2011

I'm an old football player, and Sundays can be something like Game Day.  As a Pastor, it's the day the church convenes for worship.  It's the day many of our staff plan for all week.  Kids are learning, youth are worshiping. It's the day our teams at Grace are on high alert and in full-service mode.  Here are a few of my highlights from today:

1. Focus on the Holy Spirit - This month we are turning our attention to the Holy Spirit at Grace and it has been very impacting for me. This week I realized how great my need is to be 'filled with the Spirit' as I live my life day to day.  Our services were very powerful this weekend as we incorporated some time to pause and reflect on the Spirit and then worshiped as Nathalie Martin expressed the song Indelible by Brooke Fraser in a beautiful worship dance.  Worship was intense and we closed with the song Awakening as we cried out for the Spirit of God to be awakened in our lives.  Here is a little clip from Grace Harborcreek as Dustin, Bryan, and Kaley and Pastor Mike close out the service. 

2. Second Date - I got a chance to check in very briefly on our Second Date reception following the 9:15 service.  I got to meet a bunch of people who are very new to Grace.  To hear them bubble over with excitement about their first impressions is infectious!  One woman said something that I hear quite often - she said "Every time I come here I cry."  (I always check to make sure it's not the preaching!) She's experiencing the Spirit of God and trying to put words to it.  It's a beautiful thing. I also heard there were a handful of families checking out some next steps at Second Date in Harborcreek as well. 

3. 80+ Luncheon - Pastor Al organized a luncheon reception today for the people in our church who are over 80 years old.  They were encouraged to bring some guests with them as well.  It was so cool to go table to table in that room and shake hands and give hugs to the people who are the solid building blocks upon which our entire church is built. It was their sacrifice, their bold prayers, their encouragement, their sacrificial giving, their positive attitudes that have allowed us to be where we are today as a church.  Joel Nelson (a missionary who grew up at Grace) was even with us to share some memories about growing up at Grace and how things have changed over the years.  It was wonderful to see these pillars of faith - with generations of their family gathered - giving thanks to God for how he has blessed their lives. 

I love our church.

If you were at Grace this weekend - what was one of your highlights?

Game Day Thoughts: April 17, 2011

I'm an old football player, and Sunday is like Game Day.  As a Pastor, it's the day the church convenes for worship.  It's the day many of our staff plan for all week.  It's the day our teams at Grace are on high alert and in full-service mode.  It's game day. Here are a few of my highlights from today:

1.  Stories. Our theme this morning at Grace was "the gospel still works in 2011."  There was no official sermon, but at each campus we heard 4 different life stories from people who have had their lives radically changed by Jesus.  It was amazing.  We traced some of Jesus' encounters as he was making his way to Jerusalem to die for humanity.  It has always amazed me that on his way to rescue the whole world, He still had time for individuals.  We read about the woman at Bethany, Zacchaeus, and the 10 lepers who were healed by Jesus.  In the same way - God is still at work in the lives of individuals.  I was so inspired to hear from Michael and Christine Yost, Erika Zerkel, Heiden Ratner, Roy Nordin, Eve Wozniak, and Jon Coyne. (I wasn't able to hear the stories of Penny Roose and Michelle Pfeifel in the Commons but heard they were strong). I love to hear about how God is at work in the lives of our people - and these were powerful stories of the strength of the gospel at work today.  Awesome.

2. Grace Harbor Creek visit - I hosted the service at 9:15 at Grace McKean and then picked up my family and hustled out to Grace Harbor Creek  for the 11:00 service.  It was our last preview service before the official launch on Easter Sunday and it was my first visit since we've been in operation out there.  Wow, was I blown away.  The team was on point - so friendly and energetic at every turn.  The facility was beautiful - totally transformed from a high school into a church. Pastor Mike and Dustin were fantastic - they brought truth and insight into every part of the service.  Melanie and all the support teams were so focused - they were still taking notes throughout the whole experience evaluating and adjusting so that by next weekend all the bugs are worked out.  If you live in Wesleyville, Lawrence Park, North East, or Harbor Creek and you don't have a church home, I want to invite you to join us at Harbor Creek High School next Sunday at 11 AM for Easter Service.  It's going to be awesome.  I was amazed to see years of prayer and planning finally coming into focus at Grace Harbor Creek ... humbling.  

3. Final Preparations - I just sensed a final mood of preparation for Easter.  As I looked at all the cards hanging around each worship space with names of friends and relatives and neighbors on them - I believe the people of Grace are more serious than ever about inviting folks to join them at church next weekend.  There is a prayerful anticipation about what God is going to do in our midst.  I can't wait! This week...

Good Friday Service 

6:30 PM on Friday the 22nd at Grace McKean only

Easter Services

9:15 and 11:00 at Grace McKean (please attend at 9:15 for crowd considerations)

11:00 at Grace Harbor Creek

Click through for some more details here

If you attended worship services today - what were your highlights?

Game Day Thoughts: March 27, 2011

I'm an old football player, and Sunday is like Game Day.  As a Pastor, it's the day the church convenes for worship.  It's the day many of our staff plan for all week.  It's the day our teams at Grace are on high alert and in full-service mode.  It's game day. Here are a few of my highlights from today:


1.  It was the last day for our Grace Harbor Creek core team to officially worship at Grace McKean. It's amazing to me that this day has arrived.  Next Sunday this team will be worshiping at Harbor Creek High School for some preview services leading up to our official launch on Easter Sunday. We spent some time gathering around, laying hands, and praying for this team.  I was reminded of this passage of scripture in Acts 13:2-3 and the rich history that is before us as we embark on this new endeavor.  While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.  After the services today, teams moved all of our supplies into storage rooms in Harborcreek and practiced their first setup in the High School.  Next weekend a new adventure begins.  God help us!

2.  Bryan Auton - I always love to see how God brings people to our church.  I'm a firm believer that God knows how to make churches. He brings people at the right time with the right gifts right on time.  Bryan is from Atlanta and he and his family moved to Erie last year.  Bryan led worship this morning and did a great job.  He and his family are headed to Grace Harbor Creek and I'm excited to see what God will do through them.  Bryan and Kaley are an example of a family who came in and sought the Lord and got involved.  I was really proud to serve alongside Bryan and the team this morning as they led the church in worship.


3.  "Step Up.  It really had nothing to do with my sermon this morning but I felt so impressed by God to challenge the church to step up today at the beginning and the end of my sermon.  This is a huge month for us.  We're headed into uncharted waters.  We are going to be sending out up to 100 people to Harbor Creek and we're going to feel a bit of a void when that team leaves.  It's time for the people of Grace to step up. We need to pray bold prayers, make bold invitations to our friends and neighbors, have deep conversations.  Some who have been sitting on the sidelines need to step up and serve, some need to step up and go to Harbor Creek, some need to step up in their preparation and participation in corporate worship, some need to step up and grow in their faith and stop accepting their tendency to coast.  It's time.  And I'm convinced we're ready.


This week we also launched a new website.  Our communications director Danielle did a phenomenal job with this project and re-thinking our web presence while being one church in multiple locations.  


We are heading into Romans 10 for the next two weeks if you'd like to read ahead.  It's going to be a great journey as a church as we head toward Easter.

Game Day Thoughts: March 6, 2011

Sunday is Game Day.  As a Pastor, it's the day the church convenes for worship.  It's the day our staff plans for all week.  It's the day our teams at Grace are on high alert and in full-service mode.  It's game day. Here are a few of my highlights from today:

1. Grace Harborcreek worship launch in the commons - Today nearly 60 people gathered for worship in the Commons at Grace to do church.  This is the team that will launch a campus in Harborcreek starting next month.  They're using this month to continue to build community and camaraderie among the team, practice setting things up and working together, and discover the roles that they will fill in making church happen in Harborcreek.  They had a great launch - the spirit in the room was great - and God is building His church.
2. Stories - today I spoke on the text in Mark 4 where Jesus calms the storm.  You can catch up with the sermon and resources here (will be posted Monday 3/7 sometime due to my coughing fit at 9:15). I got to tell the story of my friend Kristin and her journey through the storm of losing her husband far too soon.  As I preached today, I became aware of deep heart-work going on in the room. Despite the fact that I was really sick, coughing up a lung, and sounded like I had the voice of an ax-murderer - the Word of God did its thing with the help of the Holy Spirit. I found out after the service as people came forward that there are stories in the works through some of the people of Grace that are incredible. People spoke to me about getting clarity on storms that they are navigating, new levels of courage that they are achieving in walking with others through storms, new heights of faith in Christ, and one particular person who recently went through the unspeakable pain of a spouse who committed suicide - approached me to let me know that they are willing to tell their story to the church. So they might help others who are going through difficulties. God is at work in a big way in the lives of people at Grace.  I was also moved by Heiden's introduction to the Lord's Supper today. This college student/athlete is going to have a huge kingdom impact. 
3. Mid-Course Correction - This may seem minor to some but I've been around Pastors enough who have dysfunctional teams to appreciate this little moment. In between services a few of our staff had about a 3 minute conversation about a video element that we did at the 9:15 service that seemed abrupt and disrupted the flow of the service.  We instantly pulled it from 11:00 with no questions asked. No drama, no egos, no agendas, no bickering, just action.  Tomorrow morning the decision will be reviewed to see if it was the right one, but for now I'm just loving the unity and single-mindedness of our team. That kind of stuff makes me very happy ... and grateful.

There was also an amazing thing that happened tonight at GraceYouth. I won't spill the beans here because there is a letter going out to the church tomorrow with all the details.  Let's put it this way - the future of that ministry is a little clearer these days... stay tuned. 

I will post a recap of the sermon and some other stuff later this week.  If you were at Grace this weekend - what were some of your highlights?

Game Day Thoughts

Sunday is Game Day.  Not because of the NFL or NBA or any other sports. But as a Pastor, it's the day the church convenes for worship.  It's the day our staff plans for all week.  It's the day our teams at Grace are on high alert and in full-service mode.  It's game day. Here are a few of my highlights from today:

1. Baptizing my son Chase - What an honor it was to baptize my 9 year old. He started asking some deep faith questions over the summer - and decided it was time to take the plunge.  I wish you all could have been in my office before the services this morning as we prayed together.  I prayed that God would use this moment and this experience to breathe faith and love into Chase. That no matter what he will go through in his life - the highs and lows, the disappointments and victories - that he would be able to point back to this day as a marker and a reminder of God's love and faithfulness to him.  I'm excited to see what God has in store for his life - he's such a cool and unique kid. Here's the video.  

    

2. Next Step Coaches at work - We had a really cool response after both services today.  Lots of people came forward to take a step in their relationship with God. I'm already getting some intense emails of God at work.  After 11:00 in particular it was so cool to see some of our leaders and Next Step Coaches kick into action having conversations with the folks who came forward to do business. These coaches are part of a new initiative at Grace designed to help personalize the discipleship process for people.  We recognized a while ago that the spiritual journey is an individual one and that God is a hand-crafter and not a mass producer.  We want to provide coaches or personal spiritual advisors at every step of the journey for people.  We need more coaches - if you're interested in serving in this role you can contact Doris for more info.  There is an informational/training meeting coming up this weekend.  This is one of the most important ministries in the church right now.  As we continue to grow as a church - this will help to personalize people's experience at Grace - and help them to progress in their faith journey in a way that makes sense for them.

3. Multi-Site Team lunch meeting - following the service today we had a meeting with all the Grace Harborcreek team leaders and their ministry counterparts at Grace McKean.  I presented some information about the ways in which the two campuses will stay connected at the ministry level and how each ministry (kids, youth, small groups, communications, etc) possesses constants that will keep our ministries on track when we're in two locations and will assure that each campus will still feel like Grace even if there are some differences in how we do things.  It was awesome then to hear the chatter around tables as these leaders interacted and began the collaborative process of starting a new campus at the most basic level.  I'm so pumped for Easter when we launch Grace Harborcreek. The stage is being set for a solid new body of believers who are passionate about doing the work of Christ in this world. 

On to a new week - will be sermon prepping on Monday and Tuesday.  I'm preaching on the Parable of the Sower this weekend.  Sometimes the familiar passages are the hardest ones to preach.  This one has a very difficult section about Jesus teaching in parables in order to cause confusion and not understanding - it will be a challenge to bring meaning and understanding to that concept.  

If you were at Grace this weekend- what were some of your highlights?

Game Day Thoughts

Sunday is Game Day.  Not because of the NFL or NBA or any other sports. But as a Pastor, it's the day the church convenes for worship.  It's the day our staff plans for all week.  It's the day our teams at Grace are on high alert and in full-service mode.  It's game day. Here are a few of my highlights from today:

1. Grace Harborcreek Worship Team- Whoa ... I'm not sure what to say about this. I was so blown away by the quality and presence of this team of musicians. This is the team that will lead worship at our brand new campus in Harborcreek launching this Easter. This was their first time playing together, they practiced for about 90 minutes on Saturday, and then just blew the roof off the place this morning. Each member was in their element.  It was like a microcosm of the whole church - everyone playing their part, fulfilling their role.  It was a beautiful picture.  I was near tears several times.  It was also a great reminder that when we step out and take risks as a church, that people will step up to the plate in roles of leadership.  God brought the perfect people to this team. Even people who had been at Grace for a long time and never been involved in our music ministry. Suddenly this new initiative compelled them to get involved.  I'm excited to see more of that as we move forward. You can follow progress with Grace Harborcreek and stay up to date on all our prayer needs at the Facebook page here.  (You can also see a clip of today's worship team in action). 
2. Open Sourced Service - I was really happy with our grand experiment to open source our services. I was so burdened this past summer with how to involve more people in our worship gatherings. So we opened it up - asked people to submit life stories, home made videos for calls to worship, offering moments, invited the people of Grace to give feedback on which songs to sing and some input on my sermon content. I loved the involvement - I loved the variety - I loved the energy from the guys at Mercyhurst College who called us to worship, the honesty of Nikki as she shared about a strained relationship with her mom, the faith of David who talked about God's faithfulness after his recent decision to be generous, Matthew's heart-felt prayer for me at the beginning of my sermon. I loved what God did in our midst through the people of Grace. 
3. Commons Service - If you don't know - we have 2 services happening at 9:15 every Sunday. Our service in the Commons worships in a more traditional style than our Worship Center venue.  They typically receive the sermon by video on the big screen in there.  There are some amazing Godly people who worship with us there.  I'm excited for Pastor Al to bring ongoing leadership to that congregation as we move forward. We had some special guests, the FOCUS Quartet, leading worship this morning.  It was fun to peek in and see nearly 100 people worshiping God in that room.  God has big plans for our Commons Service. 
4. State of the Church - On the week of our nation's State of the Union Address - I thought I would give a State of the Church Address.  To be honest it was an uphill battle all week in preparation.  I couldn't tape on Wednesday as I normally do because it was coming so slow. We postponed taping until Friday.  When I went in to my computer on Thursday afternoon at 4:30 to put the finishing touches on it - I discovered that all my work (nearly 20 hours) was gone - totally deleted.   I won't bore you with the details, but after an hour on the phone with our I.T. guru it became apparent that it was totally un-recoverable.  So on Friday morning I started from scratch, and worked until Saturday night at 6:30 when I taped the sermon for the Commons. Needless to say I took about a 2 hour nap this afternoon!  Anyway- it was a blast to unveil our 9 values at Grace as we head into being a multi-site church. Although I had a few difficult things to talk about, as usual, the people at Grace were gracious in receiving the word, and motivated to action.  The texts and emails are rolling in already from people who are ready to step up.  I love our church and can't wait for the next chapter together.  If you're interested you can check out the sermon here (you can also find some resources for personal study and for group study).  I will also post a 3 part blog series this week covering our 9 values. 

On to a new week - I'm ready for it!

If you were at Grace this weekend - what were some of your highlights?

Game Day Thoughts

Sunday is Game Day.  Not because of the NFL or NBA or any other sports. But as a Pastor, it's the day the church convenes for worship.  It's the day our staff plans for all week.  It's the day our teams at Grace are on high alert and in full-service mode.  It's game day. Here are a few of my highlights from today:

1. One of those "God is at work" moments - It doesn't happen all the time.  In fact I would say there have only been about a dozen moments in the last 15 years of my ministry like today. About 1/2 way through the sermon at 11:00 I just had the sense that God was at work in the room. Eyes and hearts were locked in and there was a sense that people were doing business with God and He was pressing them forward. It's very humbling to be in that moment. People responded with abandon at the end of the service. I could sense that people were ready to go earlier in the service when Brian and his team led us through The Stand.  It continued on through to the end. 
2. Membership - it's always awesome to receive new folks into membership.  We have a powerhouse group coming in this time.  I'm always on the edge of my seat to see how God will use the new folks that join our church.  God is an expert at making churches and He knows just who we need right now. Congrats to those of you who joined our community today!
3. Offering moment by Danielle - This probably seems like a weird one - but one of my close friends and colleagues, Danielle, hosted our service today.  She did an amazing job introducing the offering time. She explained how the offering isn't like membership dues, and it's not a tax, and it's not an insurance policy to get something that we want from God.  We don't give so that we can receive - but we give because we have already received. Danielle accepted Jesus when she was a high school student in my youth group. I have had a front row seat to watch her grow and thrive over the years.  Now she is on staff at Grace and it was so cool to watch her challenge and teach the church today during that time. Loved it!

I will post a recap of the sermon and some other stuff later this week.  If you were at Grace this weekend - what were some of your highlights?

Game Day Thoughts

Sunday is Game Day.  Not because of the NFL or NBA or any other sports. But as a Pastor, it's the day the church convenes for worship.  It's the day our staff plans for all week.  It's the day our teams at Grace are on high alert and in full-service mode.  It's game day. Here are a few of my highlights from today:

1. Open Sourced Service - we let the cat out of the bag about our open sourced service on January 30. I'm really excited - I'm not aware of another church like ours trying it. In recent months, I've been really convicted about the need for the people of Grace to participate more in our corporate worship experience and to take 1 Cor. 14:26 seriously. So we're going to try it! If there is a passage of scripture that has been meaningful to you that you'd like to share, maybe a story of something that God has been up to in your life, even an encouragement for the church before the offering time we'd love to hear it.  You also have the chance to give some feedback for my sermon and to help select the songs we do that day.  Check it out.
2. Pre-Marriage Class -I love each time we launch a new pre-marriage class. Nearly a dozen couples coming together for an 8 week experience of learning and growing together in preparation for a life of marriage.  It's always so awkward the first week - it's funny.  Soon they will be talking and laughing and learning together with Scott and Miriam at the helm. I heard the other classes launched well this morning too.  It's not too late to get in on one of them that's of interest...
3. Second date - I'm so proud of this team that helps people connect at Grace each month - I peeked in on them after 11:00 and it is such a blast to see vibrant and meaningful conversations going on in an effort to help newer people to find their way into the community at Grace.  The Second Date team is only about a year old and has launched this brand new ministry.  They have successfully made changes and adjustments as needed to make Second Date a very meaningful experience for people. 

I love my church!  Week 2 of this series on Relational Healing was very cool as we explored Anger and Forgiveness.  I'll post sometime this week on a little sermon recap and some additional material that I didn't have time for today.  

If you attended church this weekend (even if you weren't at Grace) What was a highlight for you?