The Lid

I had a conversation with someone this week and they said, "It just doesn't seem like anything is happening right now in my life." My response: What are you praying might happen in your life?

I remember hearing that advice from a pastor. That's such good council. Let me ask you, what are you believing God is going to do through you?


Is there a person God wants you to bless?
Is there a friend God wants you to invite to church?
Is there a co-worker God wants you to pray for?
Is there an area God wants you to give to Him?

I've found that a lot of times if we will just obey God and trust Him there is nothing to prevent His favor from exploding in our lives.

It's a lot like the lid on a bottle of pepsi. Have you ever shaken the bottle and then opened it? That's fun!

The lid is holding back the potential explosion. The bottle has been shaken and it's ready to explode but the lid is preventing what could happen. I've found a lot of times that I'm the lid when comes to God doing what He wants to do in my life.

I've been shaken (God speaks to me) and my spirit is ready to explode (do what God wants me to do) but I (aka: The Lid of self) prevent what could happen.

Let me encourage you, to trust God and remove doubt and enjoy the cup God has for you.

Anyone thirsty?

What a great service...

Sunday was great! We talked about how to overcome fear as we continued our 'ask me about c1' series. We ended the service having people write names on posters of people who are: unsaved and need a savior or unchurched and need a church. The response was overwhelming.

In all over 600 names were recorded!

That's a lot of potential world changers.

Let me encourage you to begin now taking action steps make this prayer a reality. Make room for God to use you. I believe that if you'll pray and seek God's best He'll provide an opportunity for you to invest in that person.

Work Out!

For about the last five years I've been pretty committed to working out. I try to lift 3-4 times a week. It's really a discipline. I value growth. Whether the growth is physcial, mental, spiritual, or relational it's important. One of the main reasons I value growth so much is it's measureable. While watching the half-time show of the Pro Bowl a few weeks ago they had a bench press competition. These guys were amazing! An offensive lineman won the competition by bench pressing 225 lbs. 40 times.

In case you're wondering, the average man can bench press 135 lbs. ONE time.

That got me thinking...how many times could I bench 225 lbs. I set a goal to bench 225 lbs. 25 times this year.

You see I have found that how I'm doing physically and how I'm doing spiritually are connected. If I feel good about myself physcially I feel good spiritually. If I feel good spiritually I feel good about myself physcially.

Jesus valued growth. He said in the gospel of Luke that if a tree doesn't bear fruit he's going to cut it down.

What steps are you taking to grow in your life?

By the way...I benched 225 lbs. 14 times this week. I'll update you as I get closer to my goal!

Married Life Live

We kicked off a new ministry at C1 last week. Married Life Live (a Northpoint Church resource) started off with 12 couples on a snowy Saturday night. Beth and I are very pumped about the opportunity to invest in the married (or soon to be) couples in our community.

There are six key essentials of this ministry:

• Trust God
• Hurry Home
• Cultivate Communication
• Nurture Romance
• Celebrate Differences
• Finish Together

We are also connecting our quarterly events with a weekly Life Group that meets on Sunday's at 9:30 AM.

Coming soon to www.c1church.com will be a Married Life resource page listing upcoming events, reading resources, and other great materials to enhance your marriage.

One of the main points of Married Life is take your wife on a date once a week. I believe a Healthy Marriage leads to a Healthy Home.

Gotta go...need to plan a date night with my wife now...

Sunday Update

We had a great service @ C1 yesterday. Our worship time was amazing...great job Mike! The momentum in our church is building and you can feel the energy growing week by week. I'm excited about God has in store for us.

Trademark Youth led the service and Pastor Matt did a great job speaking. Our youth ministry is growing and their passion is contagious.

We've been talking about how to start spirtual conversations and how to look for opportunties to have them.

So this morning as I was getting the oil changed, in my 4Runner, a guy sat down next to me and after a few minutes of "how's the weather" he asked me what I did for living. For the next twenty minutes we talked about church, missions, serving, and he ended by asking me where I pastor. So I hope to see him soon at C1.

I think it's so important to not be afraid to talk about what Jesus has done in your life. Your story may lead someone to salvation.

Sunday Stats:
Attendance: #160 (last year same week: #125)
First Time Guests: #3

This Sunday we're going to answer the question: "Do I have to tell my friends they're going to Hell without Jesus?"

And the video illustration is going to be amazing!

Jump Rope

Gabriel & Brooklyn's Jump Rope for Heart Day

Yesterday I was privileged to attend my children's Jump Rope for Heart Day. About 500 students (K-2) participated in the day and it was an amazing site to see. In all $6300 was raised to help promote the value of physical activity while showing kids that they help contribute to their communities welfare.

The students raised money for the fight against heart disease and stroke while learning about

• the seriousness of heart disease and stroke
• the lifelong benefits of physical activity
• the importance of living a heart-healthy lifestyle.

As I watched the students jump rope for heart I couldn't help but ask myself how my communities spiritual hearts were. I read a few months ago that only 11% of my community attends church.

I believe God is a BIG God and has big plans for C1 and I want our church to be as passionate as these kids were about saving lives. The stakes are just as high if not higher.

Maybe now is a good time to call that friend and invite them to C1 tomorrow.

I really wasn't scared...

So I came into my office this morning and started checking my email. Then I heard this sratching. That began my battle with a bat! I wasn't scared...really...well maybe a little. My son, Gabriel, and I pray every night and one of our prayers is that we can anything with God's help and that we don't have to be afraid of anything.

Bottom Line: Bat is Dead!

And oh...by the way...it looks a lot bigger when it's moving!

Any fears you need to overcome today?

Stuck!

So I'm driving to church this morning during a blizzard. Seriously, there is over 2 feet of snow blowing around Conneaut.

As I pull into the empty church parking lot I see snow drifts that make my 4Runner rev up. So as I hit the snow drift I begin to slow down and then stop. My first thought, "Oh man, am I stuck?" You see I wasn't able to tell how deep the snow drift was. In case you're wondering I was looking out of my window eye level with snow.

I wasn't able to tell how deep the drift was...I thought about that for awhile. A lot of times as Christians we wonder how close to the line we can get without sinning. But the problem with that attitude is often times we don't realize how deep the sin we're playing with is and before we know it - we're stuck.

Everyone deals with temptation.

I heard a pastor talk about temptation, he said, "Temptation is not just a test of your self control it's a test of how much you trust God."

Are you trusting God with every area of your life?

I Cor. 10:13 says, "No temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it."

I was able to come through the snow drift - I have a lot of trust in my four-wheel drive too!

200!

We're close...friends we're close...200 people attending C1 now seems like it is a reality. We had a great crowd Sunday morning and I feel like momentum is growing.

What does it take for a church to grow?

Well first off let me share with you that there are 350,000 churches in America and of those churches the average attendance is 87.

So the average church in America is a small church.

I personally believe that God wants C1 to grow. How BIG? I'm sure about that but growth doesn't have to be a number.

The number #1 barrier to church growth is you and I deciding that we are going to grow.

What is the next step in your journey with Jesus?

You see when you and I, who make up C1 Church, decide to grow that means that C1 church will grow.

Over the next several days I'm going to break down our strategy for growth.

Here's an easy way to see it...

• Invest & Invite
• Read the bible
• Sow a Seed
• Connect
• Serve

Sunday Stats
Attendance: #167 (last year same week: #120)
First Time Guests: #2

ask me about c1

We kicked off our new series 'ask me about c1' yesterday. I talked about the Top 3 Questions people have about our church.

They are:



1. What do you believe about speaking tongues?
2. Do I have give all my money to your church?
3. Why do bad things happen to good people?

I had some great feedback...if you want to listen to yesterday's talk you can download here - http://www.c1church.com

I've spent a lot of time planning for this series and the BIG POINT is to be a follower of Christ you've got to fish - 'that to follow is to fish.'

And when we are willing to engage our world and lead people to Christ BIG things can happen.

We started off the year by asking a question: What BIG prayer are you praying that will honor God's greatness?

What's your BIG prayer?

emma

The family and I went to Erie, PA last night. Our youngest, Emma, turns 4 on Saturday. So we went to Chuck E Cheese. Is there any place to spend a birthday if you're a kid?

After two hours, 200 tokens, and over 800 hard-earned tickets we were tired!

Emma hit the jackpot on one of the games and received 187 tickets. Not a bad return on her one token investment.


I think God is a lot like that. He'll take our one life and if we give that life completely to Him, He'll turn it into something beyond our imagination.

Imagine the return our lives could produce because of one invitation, one phone call, one act of serving?

Happy Birthday Emma!

Phase One - check!

So Phase I of the 'enhance our fellowship experience' is done!

Check this out - it's our new state of the art boiler.

It's amazing! It runs so smooth and quiet!

The old boiler made this awful sound - in fact, new guests would ask, "what's that horrible noise?" We would just pretend they were hearing things...good bye horrible sound.

Beginning this project has been a real step of faith. The project is going to cost $20,000 and we just spent $8,500 in faith that the money will come in.

I really believe in the principle of giving. That if I am faithful in the little things God will bless with me more.

Whatever you give will be given back to you!

Here's our project verse:

II Cor. 9:8
When we give, God is able to make it all up to us by giving us everything we need and more so that there will not only enough for our needs, but we will have plenty left over so that we can give joyfully to others.

Finally...

Last week @ C1 we started a project to raise $20,000! One of the major reasons is because the room dividers (above pic) that were installed in 1969 are in such terrible shape. It's amazing to see them today. The have served their purpose and it's TIME for them to move on. My goal is to have them removed before our Easter Service.

Last year C1 sponsored an Easter community breakfast in our Fellowship Hall and I'm daydreaming about how much nicer that room will look without these room dividers.

I'm excited about the project and the fresh look it's going to bring to that room. We're calling the project 'enhance our fellowship experience.' During the morning service we took committments from our people and we've recieved over $12,000 in pledges!

We've also got to replace our boiler system, purchase new lights, add some A/V, and new tables.

Super Bowl

We're starting a new series this week I am pumped about - it's called 'ask me about c1.'

Our goal is to generate a buzz in our community that will have people asking: What is C1?

I believe that living a compromise free life will create that buzz and have people ask questions about our lives.

Last night as I was watching the SuperBowl the announcers commented about the Colts coach, Tony Dungee. They said his coaching style is one that motivates his players to play their best and that they want to play their best, for him because they respect him so much and not that they fear him.

What if people who watched our daily lives were motivated to be their best because they respect our Godly example so much?

I'm convinced God wants C1 to be a church that impacts our community by doing things the right way!

Reward

I'm finding more and more that every reward comes with a risk.

In life you have to be willing to trust that God has great plans for you.

We are all created to be givers not takers.

In reading 'Your Best Life Now' Joel Osteen talks about how when I'm tempted to be upset or worried, or when I lose my JOY, the first thing I need to ask myself is, "What am I focused on?" And here's the thing, 9 times out of 10


I'm thinking about myself, my problems, my frustrations, my concerns.

When I get caught up in ME it's a perfect receipe for depression & discouragement.

We need to be able to lend a hand more, volunteer more, give more and I'm confident that God will be seen more in our lives.

That's where the reward comes in!

The bible says "When you feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and encourage the oppressed, THEN your life is going to break forth like the dawn."

In other words when you help meet other people's needs God's going to make sure that your needs are provided supplied.