Hi folks,
Have you ever went to a place that required someone to assist you and found the experience to be less than desired? You are thinking of those place now because you will not shop or go there. Now think about the places that you do go, the folks that help you probably know your name (CHEERS), your favorite food or special ingedients for that great cup of coffee.
Ever been invited to a party that where you were made you feel unwanted? You were treated like the partry crasher.
But how about when you were invited and found yourself to be the special guest. Now we are having fun!
Your guest service team has been reading and working on ways to create a new VIP Experience for First Time Attendees. We will be trying some new things in the weeks to come and ask you join us by doing some simple things.
1. Allow guest to park in the VIP Parking area.
2. Move to the center of the row, leave the aisle seats open.
3. Greet people all around.
4. Invite your friends to join you in making first timers feel special.
When First Timers show up they will think, “Wow! These folks were expexting me and were happy to see me.
Plan now to join in the Fellowship church VIP Experience!

Jesus is the main story of our faith.  The fact that He came from Heaven to Earth, to redeem man from their sin, because God’s love for us caused Him to provide a way back to Him. Therefore our story should be the same, Jesus saves, redeems, forgives, heals, loves, and provides redemption back to God.   At Fellowship Church, His story is our story, and we seek to tell others about Jesus.  It is all the more important for me to post this Value today as we approach Easter Sunday, the day we remember and revere Christ resurrection from the dead. Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:19-20, John 14:6, Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:23, 10:9-10, 13

So, how do we share the story of Jesus?  There are several ways, but we teach at Fellowship Church to invest and invite.  Invest in the people God puts in your life, each one is an opportunity to share; and, then as the Holy Spirit leads, invite them into a relationship with Jesus.  You can do this in several ways, invite them to church (FC provides an environment for people to follow Jesus), you can simple tell your story about how Jesus has changed your life, or you can learn several approaches from scripture that will help you guide them to faith in Jesus.  I have found the most powerful way to share with someone is my story, the story of how Jesus changed me.  People may not believe in church, the Bible or even God, but when you tell them what has happened in your life and they see the change it is hard to refute.

Now to the timing of this post.  What better time to Tell the Story?  Easter Sunday is the most attended church service of the year.  More people who would never attend church do so on Easter.  Why not make this Easter special by investing and inviting someone to church with you and begin a long relationship of guiding them to Jesus.  Could it be the person you work with, your neighbor, a waitress, your banker, the parents from your little league team…who is God placing in your life right now that God is wanting you to Tell about Him?

This past Sunday was incredible at Fellowship.  The worship team lead us in celebrating Jesus and then I shared the message of Faith to conclude our series on Faith.  When I finished my talk, I felt an incredible sense that God was not through, and I invited people to follow Jesus.  Five people raised their hands for prayer and then I invited them to stand, they did!  Next I asked everyone to stand for prayer and invited the five to come forward to talk to someone about faith, all but one came forward and we shared with them and we will follow up with the one.  The only word I can used for what God did was, Blessed!  God showed up, and I for one was blessed beyond what I can express here.  God is faithful!!!!!!!

Just a reminder, Sunday we begin at 11:00 am.  Invite those God places on your heart to come and tell them to get here at 10:45 for a good seat.  I can promise this: the worship will be incredible and the message filled with Hope.  See you on Sunday.

1. Feast on the Word

2. Give Freely

Today, I will share another value as part of the Vision and Values blogs – Do Life Together:

In the beginning, God created the earth, day/night, animals, plants, stars, sun and moon.  He then created man in His own image.  Immediately, God saw that it was not good for man to be alone, so He created a woman.  You can read more about this in the first three chapters of Genesis.  Now, God could have just settled with one man and spent time with him everyday, however God saw that the man was alone.

Aloneness is still one of the biggest problems in our culture today.  We have more technology to connect us with one another, however we have found ways to avoid relationships, therefore loneliness still exist.   Talk to any single person and they will tell you that loneliness is not a good way of life.  Facebook in its original form was to connect people on a college campus, people who were confined by classes within a several square mile campus.  It has now grown into a mega meeting place for millions around the world.  One might think that it would fill the void of aloneness; however, a quick review of the average Facebook page, will find a lot of lonely people.  So, a tool for connections, has turned into more of a voyeur’s site for entertainment.

In the book of Acts, the first church was modeled for us.  Acts 2:42 says that as the church began, the people “committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.”  I think this is important to point out for one simple fact, they didn’t just come together for teaching, they came together and did life together.  And for all the “small church” lovers out there, this church had 3,000+ members added on it’s first day!  This passage goes on to tell us that there was unity, commonality, benevolence, care, Bible study, meals (BBQ, yeah baby), and praise.  As this happened, the church continued to grow by the day.

Through the Bible, we read the importance of Doing Life Together.  In the OT, it tells us that “iron sharpens iron”, meaning that we need others in our life to help us grow spiritually.  Other places tell us not to be careful to not meet together for worship and fellowship, and still others that encourage us to support a fallen brother/sister in the faith and restore them.  In the NT alone, there are many places where you will find the term, “one another”, implying that we are to Do Life Together as followers of Jesus.

The hardest part of Doing Life Together in our culture, is we are so afraid of relationships, we aren’t willing to open up and allow others in.  I am fully convinced that until you and I allow others to Do Life with us, we will never fully see what the church could be in changing our world.

John 13:35 (MSG)
35 This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other."

Psalm 119:105: You word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

There is one thing I love to do and do it often, eat.  There is nothing better than a good meal.  I have been known to travel great distances to eat at restaurants that have great food; this is especially true when it comes to BBQ.  When I hear the word feast, an image comes to mind from my upbringing in Carnesville, GA where my great grandmother lived.

What I remember most was how we would arrive at the 100 year old rough-cut wood frame house situated on the front portion of a small farm.  As we rolled up to the old family home place we would be greeted by all sorts of animals and someone would have to come out on the porch to get us around the farm dog, Blacky, a jet black yard dog that would sometimes bite.  Once the pleasantries were exchanged and everyone was hugged we would enter the house through a wood framed screen door situated in the center of a u-shaped porch.

Inside you could turn right to enter the living room, a room with 12-foot ceilings, linoleum rug and a coal burning heater in the middle.  The only light was from a single bulb fixture hanging from a wire at the center of the room, running down beside the vent for the heater.  But if you turned left at the front door, you were greeted by a large table (seemed like 20+ feet as a small child) and it would be covered with a white sheet.  The smell of fresh fried chicken and garden fresh vegetables filled the room, creating an immediate hunger that cried out to be satisfied.  At the end of the table was the kitchen and usually it would be filled to capacity with the ladies putting the final touches on the meal.  Soon the family would gather around the table in our designated spots and the cloth would be removed.  What would be revealed was enough food to feed a small army and following a family prayer, we would dig in.  My favorite part of the meal was the biscuits and gravy, if my great grandmother knew I was coming she would prepare them just for me and I would feast on them until I was almost sick, enjoying every bite along the way.

My memory of the feast I would enjoy in my childhood also ignites in me the desire I have as a pastor to see Fellowship Church feast on the Word of God.

At Fellowship Church we believe, study and hold high the Word of God.  We believe the Bible is God’s inspired Word, imparted to the writers as the Holy Spirit guided them.  It does not contain any errors and can be trusted as a reliable source of truth.  We do not believe it is a antiquated good book, but a book that is as relevant today as it was when written.

As Psalm 109:105 says, the Bible is our guide.   It can be considered a flashlight that guides our every step.  Therefore, Feasting on the Word is a value we hold important to our faith, church life and worldview.  We encourage those who partner with Fellowship Church to make time to join God in reading, meditating, memorizing and enjoying His Word.  In doing so we allow ourselves to mature through the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is like eating to the human body, we eat for nutrition and strength.  Feasting on The Word will give you necessary ingredients to survive and thrive as you follow Christ.

We also consider Feast on the Word a part of our worship each week as we gather to celebrate Jesus as Lord.  During every meeting of Fellowship Church, our goal is to impart some truth from God’s Word.  Whether we are sharing in family fellowship, Sunday Worship, activities, community outreach, etc. each gathering will include God’s Word.  Together as we Feast on the buffet of truth and hope we believe it, will encourage us in our faith.

Will you take the time today to consider how you Feast on The Word?

Here as some suggestions:

1. Make time (set a calendar reminder, alarm or whatever) to read God’s Word.

2. Once you read a passage or verse allow it to bake in your soul.  Ask God to reveal truths that you need for the moment of your life and then respond to His teachings.

3. Join other believers in Feasting on the Word.  The Bible teaches us that iron sharpens iron and others will help you enjoy the table of blessings found in God’s Word.

4. Seek to listen to more of God’s Word through, radio, TV, podcast and internet resources.  The more you listen the more you will desire.

5. Take notes about your Feast, you never know what God wants to remind you of in the future.

6. Share your Feast with others.  God wants to use what you enjoy to encourage and challenge follow believers.

It has been a joy sharing each week the exciting things God has in store for Fellowship Church and how God is working. Already this year, we have had over 40 first time guest with us and the spirit has been incredible as God has been present with us.

One other area we have been focusing on is the Values at Fellowship. A value is the timeless belief that guides all decisions and goals as we seek to honor Christ in all that we do. These values will set the stage for us as we move into the next phase of our ministry and clarify how we do things.

Over the next several weeks, I will be sharing one of the nine values we believe God has challenged us with here on the blog. I hope you will take a moment each week to revisit this page and read about those things that guide us in ministry.

After much review, prayer, talking, and struggling, these are the nine values of Fellowship Church:
1. Feast on the Word
2. Do Life Together
3. Tell the Story
4. Connect with God
5. Give Freely
6. It’s Not About Me
7. Raise the Water in the Lake
8. Focus on the Future
9. Own It

Great things are happening at Fellowship Church and I am glad God has me here, I sincerely pray that each of you feel the same. Get ready for greater days!