Sunday Night Reflections January 3, 2010

A few thoughts on a GREAT day at NewSpring Church

• It was SOOOO great to rest this past week…not preparing a sermon was a nice break, but today I wanted to preach SO bad, I felt like a caged animal!
• REALLY looking forward to the message on the 10th and 17th…it’s taken me 10 years to get the material for these messages!
• I’m not just looking forward to all that Jesus is going to do in this next year…but also in this next decade!
• We’ve seen over 6,900 people receive Christ in the past decade of ministry here at NewSpring…if that’s the FIRST ten years then I can’t WAIT to see what the next 10 years look like!!!
• Today was a GREAT time to celebrate all that Jesus has done at NewSpring Church this past year!  We saw HUNDREDS of decisions for Christ…so excited about EVERY SINGLE ONE…but even more excited about the THOUSANDS that we are GOING to cross over from death to life!
• Acts 1:8 is our vision…and we are seeing it fulfilled one life at a time.
• Watching the video from the Gauntlet this past summer has me excited out of my mind about this years trip.  Seriously…I honestly believe it is going to be the BEST youth summer trip we’ve EVER had…I am so blessed to be a part of this thing.
• Super excited about Christine Cain coming to our church in a few weeks…more information on this later…but, let me just go on record as saying I believe she is one of the BEST speakers I’ve EVER heard…EVER!
• Super excited about the steps NewSpring Church is taking to get involved in rescuing people from the sex slave trade…seeing the information on this stuff has been HEART BREAKING…but knowing that God has called us to make a difference has me excited about the possibilities of getting people out of their earthly prison!
• I read John 4:35-38 in my quiet time this morning…and I could not help but think, “we are seeing THIS happen!”
• I went to the BI-LO center on Wednesday night to see Jeff Dunham, and all I could think was, “we are going to be doing church here on the 24th!”  I can’t WAIT to hear over 15,000 people sing and celebrate together!!!
• Yes, we will CELEBRATE like crazy on that day…of all the people on the planet that SHOULD be able to CELEBRATE, the CHURCH should be LEADING THE WAY!!!  The TOMB is EMPTY…HE IS ALIVE…WE WIN!!!
• In fact, we are going to CELEBRATE LIKE CRAZY the whole month of January…I believe it is a sin to treat God’s blessings as something ordinary…it BLOWS my mind that He saves, calls, equips and empowers…and I STILL believe the BEST IS YET TO COME!
• Charisse, Lucretia and I all had a stomach virus over the Christmas break…but we are all feeling back to normal now!  (Wait–what’s “normal?”)
• I’m still torn…a Harley or a jeep…trying to decide!
• Getting away with a crew of leaders tomorrow for our leadership retreat…could use your prayers and we dream big AND evaluate our current ministry…God ALWAYS stretches the heck out of us when we do this.
• If you didn’t get to see it yet…here is the opener we used for our Christmas Eve services entitled, “Come Home” that tells the story of the lost son in Luke 15…it messes me up EVERY time I watch it!
• Here is the link to the prayer guide that I am asking everyone at NewSpring Church to jump on board with…I really want us to step into the 24th prayed up!
• Seeing the footage from Kenya today was SO moving…here is the link if you are interested in going on a trip next year.
• AND…here is the link if you are a church leader and you haven’t signed up for UNLEASH yet! Tickets are $59 per person…and it is FILLING UP QUICKLY!  AND…this rate ends at the end of the month, after that it will increase to $79.

That’s about it for now…so thankful for the past, so excited about the future!!!