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LIFE GROUPS KICKOFF PARTY IS THIS SUNDAY NIGHT!
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This Past Sunday and Multiply Conference….true leadership training/encouragement
Check out https://www.facebook.com/discoverpointchurch to see pictures of Multiply Conference and All out Sunday!
*The band rocked it out Friday Night….for Jesus. It was great.
*Leadership Forum to open up the M-Conference informed and entertained.
*Saturday Morning was full of breakout sessions from DP Students to DKids to FAQ with Brad Williams….
*Philip shared about leadership with us that morning….great to have him up there again.
Sunday Mornings are always amazing!
*Jeremy shared about being Desperate for a Savior…sometimes we don’t even know it!
*11am service was almost too packed!
*We gotta get some of those people up a little earlier next Sunday for the 9:30am.
*Anyone wanna go eat breakfast at Waffle house after church?! Then the 8:15am service is for you!
NEXT WEEK….
MAN VS WIFE….and Philip will be speaking this week! Can’t wait!
Tebow or Not Tebow – That is the question…..
If you have not heard the name Tebow in the last 7 days, you have probably been stuck in an avalanche in Sri Lanka. What an impact this guy has had on the nation as well as, sometimes most hurtfully, the state of Georgia. For those who have been stuck in an avalanche, Tim Tebow is the quarterback for the Denver Broncos and previously was the quarterback for the vile bunch of people known as the Florida Gators.
Last Sunday in the NFL Wild Card Playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, The Denver Broncos had a very impressive game that ended in a tie at the end of regulation. The NFL has instituted a new set of playoff rules regarding overtime and for the sake of the length of this post, I will describe these rules as this – If the offense scores a touchdown the game is over, If the defense scores the game is over – But if the offense scores a field goal the other team gets a chance to tie the game or take the lead with a touchdown.
The Denver Broncos and Tim Tebow get the ball to start overtime. In the first play of overtime, Tebow connects with a receiver for an 80-yard touchdown reception. While this was enough to get me, who had not a care in the world about the outcome of the game, to jump out of my seat, Tim Tebow’s actions after the touchdown was what got him the most attention, and has all of his career.
After scoring the game winning touchdown, in overtime, in the playoffs, in the NFL, against a very stingy Pittsburgh Steelers defense, Tim Tebow dropped to a knee and prayed. Tebow has been no stranger to showing his faith. In college, his eye black patches had a bible verse on them every game; the first thing that he does when asked about a win – thank his “Lord and Saviour” but this week felt different, It was unavoidable. Everyone was talking about it.
This really started to bother me. Why is it that Tim Tebow is getting all of this attention? There is even an internet phenomenon surrounding him and his prayers – Google “Tebowing” for examples. This week was very different – People started to actually question aloud “what could cause this guy to go this far with his faith?”
The great part about this whole situation is that people are starting to talk about God and starting to have very deep conversations about who God is and Why God is and Why Tim Tebow loves God so much – but it still concerned me because people were not talking about God. They were talking about Tim Tebow’s god.
It has sat on my heart all week about how people are starting to put God on this Laz-E-boy pedestal and giving him credit for winning ball games (it also did not help that Tebow threw for 316 yards averaging 31.6 yards per pass play and the only bible verse that EVERYONE knows is John 3:16). God doesn’t win ball games – God provides. He gives life. He loves. He cares. He forgives.
I may regret saying this but I hope that Tim Tebow does well the rest of his career/life but I would like for him to change his message a little bit to show that God doesn’t complete passes – God completes lives. Because one day, Tim Tebow is not going to be a winner and those who do not know God are going to then blame God and ridicule him for not providing those prescious wins and there will be damage to the understand of what God really is.
So Tim Tebow, I salute you and say continue to spread the good word but please help people to remember that God has provided a lot for you but that God will provide for them in the same way in their lives.
Monday Morning Quarterback….
*Awesome start to the Series Desperate!
*Brad shared that we get the honor of being uncomfortable for Jesus.
*The mission is God’s….not ours. For His Glory.
*The band rocked it…
*I am amazed at the number of people who signed up to volunteer.
*That’s a good first step in having God use you.
*Lots of people were at DPC this past week! Who knows….3 services might not be enough?!
*Keep praying for God to reach this area with His Glorious truth!!!
*Keep praying about our next campus….alot has to happen before we can move into Newton County.
*ALOT!!!!
*Desperate Series continues next week…..Bring a friend….
*I can’t wait to share a song written by Gungor next week….it’s gonna be awesome.
-David
New Year New Goals
Happy New Year. I hope that 2011 was a blessing for you and that you are looking forward to 2012. This year I am going to do things different from years past – how many times have we said that on January 1st and by the 3rd we have done the same things as the previous years. This year is going to be different for me this year for certain and I can assure you of that because I am not making resolutions, I am making goals and I am not making a year long goal – I just don’t have the attention span to be able to make those happen. I am taking my goals in smaller chunks. I posted on Facebook last night that I have 3 goals for the first quarter of 2012- 1) read the bible 2) finish reading Vintage Jesus and 3) start and finish reading Real Marriage (which comes out in 2 days and I am so stoked!)
The first goal seems to be the one that I am most afraid of. The Bible is HUGE and there is so much information to take in – how can it be done in 3 months. We are a “youversion” church meaning that we use Youversion as support for our messages each week (read as: If you have it on your phone, you have the notes for the weeks message in the palm of your hand! Check it out at http://www.youversion.com/). Youversion has a TON of bible reading plans and one of the most agressive is the Bible in 90 Days plan which I started yesterday. They even say as you sign up to start the plan that it seems overwhelming – 12 chapters a day – But it can and will be done. Will I miss a couple of days? Yes. Will I make them up? Yes. This is something that I am taking serious this year!
The second goal is a pet peeve of mine and overcoming it will be a miracle! I LOVE to read – I read text books in my free time… I love to read and the iPad will be my downfall – Thousands of Books at my beck and call and an attention span just higher than a 5 year old hopped up on chocolate milk. I started reading Vintage Jesus about 6 months ago and have yet to finish it – though I have finished 6 other books. This book is great and it has really changed the way that I see Jesus. Did you know that Jesus was a man? And that he did man things – like make jokes and have a good time?? It so far has blown my mind about Jesus the way that Sun Stand Still blew my mind about prayer, but I just have not been able to finish it.
My third goal is to read the book by Mark Driscoll and his wife called Real Marriage (http://pastormark.tv/books/real-marriage). The reviews so far have been amazing. I enjoy Mark’s presentation style in what he has written in the past so I am very excited to see what he and his wife have put together for this book. Finishing this book is a continuation of me trying to be the father that I want to be for my kids by being the husband that I should be for Kelly.
The reason that I have changed from resolutions to goals can be clearly shown in a couple of tales about what has happened in the last couple of years. In 2010, I made a list of 10 things that I wanted to do that year (reading the bible was one of them by the way), and on December 30th of 2010, I had done none of the goals so I decided that in 2011 I would refresh that list and make it happen – none of them happened…. So I decided that I was not going to do resolutions at all until yesterday. It is no secret that TJ and I are cut from the same cloth when it comes to sleeping and wake up times. He and I get up early every morning – period. Yesterday, we got up and went to waffle house for breakfast before church. At the end of the meal, I gave TJ the card and the check and told him to go and pay (if you have never done this for your kids, do it…they love it, they feel powerful and respected). After we paid, the cashier gave TJ the receipt, you would have thought it was made of gold. He talked about it all the way to church detailing how he was not going to throw it away, He was going to put it in his pocket and how he was going to keep it forever.
His love for that receipt threw me all day. Receipts to me are a pain in the backside and just trash most of the time but to TJ it was the highlight of his day. It made me think all day about the little things in our lives that we just take for granted and never celebrate. I never celebrate the fact that both of my children are wonderful and healthy and caring and know God. I never celebrate the fact that I have been married to one woman for almost a decade despite my peers going through marriage after marriage (not knocking you if you have, trust me – I know why and how failed marriages happen – I am great a learning new names and people with the family tree that I have!).
All of that said, I am not making any resolutions – I am making goals that are measurable and timed and I am going to celebrate the little things in life that I have taken for granted for so long!
What are your goals for 2012? Is it to find where you belong in the church or in the world? Is it to find your lost socks? Whatever it is – take joy in the little wins because at the end of the day; each time we wake up it is a major victory!
-Tom
New Churches Reach New People!!!
New churches reach new people. That has been one of our core values for the 6 years.
This past September at our 6 year anniversary we started planting churches internationally.
Since then we have planted 12 churches through the Timothy Initiative.
6 in Nepal, which is a country in between India and communist China.
6 in Sudan which is in Africa.
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These Pastors need our prayers not just our money!
Pray for God’s protection of their Families and Ministries from persecution.
Pray for the spiritual growth for the churches they are planting.
Pray for God to use these Pastors to reach people with the salvation of Jesus Christ.
More info on the Timothy Initiative….
The Timothy Initiative is an international church planting organization which was established with the purpose to train and equip “Timothy’s” (Pastors/Church Planters). We specifically target church planters who lack the means and/or availability to receive a balanced Biblical and theological training throughout Asia, Africa, and the America’s. Each church planter trained is expected to plant at least one multiplying and reproducing church. (Taken from ttionline.org)
Stories Series….all I can say is WOW
This current series we are in is really amazing. There is truly power in our God stories! Not just the good stories of our life, but the stories of God’s grace, forgiveness, and power can be life changing for us and others.
We looked at Carla’s Story and Trista’s Story this past Sunday.
These stories really hit home with so many people in our church and this next week is going to be another 2 stories of what God has done.
Let us know what God is doing in your life…
See you Sunday!
David
