"Big Ships, Small Ships, But the Best Ship of All: Friendship"

So Agape Night was out of this world! So overwhelmed with the incredible leaders we have - and this step of faith for me as a pastor was rewarded tonight. I felt that the connections and friendships made tonight were ones that will launch us to the next level as a ministry!

Can't wait for IONs this weekend! Here are the message slides from tonight:

'Til tomorrow!

pcraig

An All Star Team!

We are only a few days away from the launch of our IONs now...and I could not be any more excited! The importance of authentic biblical community is so overlooked in our day and age.

Last Thursday night, I gave to you seven reasons why you should be involved in an ION. Let me quickly recap them again.

1) Pastoral Care. Everyone needs to be cared for by pastoral care. The only way to effectively minister to people in our community is to break down into small groups. We must allow people to minister to one another. The health of the church is determined by how the people are cared for. We must stop being so independent and wanting to do our own thing all the time. We have to give ministry away.

2) Learning how to love. Love does not come natural to most of us. Small groups teach us how to work thru difficult relationships. Jesus said that others will know we are His disciples if we love one another. Small groups stretch us. They create opportunities for us to love people right where they are.

3) Discipleship. He wants us to make disciples. To move up the ladder of discipleship, small groups must be required because they challenge us and hold us accountable in a place of growth. IONs are the place for your questions to be answered. Way too many Christians are surface level with their belief system. They need small groups to talk it out, to work out their salvation.

4) Sharing our gifts together. Small groups are the avenue by which God begins to use you in your gifts. Your ministry gifts are improved in a small group setting. It is very hard to get your gifts operating in a worship service because you are always on the receiving end. Small groups put you on the giving end.

5) Accountability. Small groups hold you accountable. You need to have people in your life who have the freedom to bring correction in your life. Who sees what you are really doing? Way too many Christians are spending their life energy hiding sin instead of confessing it and living for the glory of God.

6) Sharing your life together. We need people we can do life with. Who are you sharing your life with. There is no such thing as solitary religion. Small groups create relationships with people you can do life with. If God is your Father, man is your brother.

7) So we can do effective community outreach. We are in the process of trying to take the church outside the walls. All of our community outreach from this point on will take place in our IONs. All REACH events from this point will be facilitated through our IONs.

This is what it looks like when the universal church goes local!

So let me introduce you to our team:

Female IONs

Leaders: Katie House (right) and Lori Pugh (left)

Where: Katie House's Home

Address: 4505 JM Turk Road Flowery Branch, GA 30542

Leaders: Alina (left), Julia (middle), & Karina (right) Psareva

Where: Free Chapel North Campus

Address: 1290 McEver Road Gainesville, GA 30504

Leader: JoAnna Burdette

Where: JoAnna Burdette's Home

Address: 4185 Deer Springs Way Gainesville, GA 30506

Male IONs

Leaders: Nick Pugh (left) and Cody Sweat (right)

Where: Cody Sweat's Home

Address: 1008 Canterbury Road Gainesville, GA 30504

Leader: Alex Gailey

Where: Jenna and Brandon Helmers' Home

Address: 4129 Village Preserve Way Gainesville, GA 30506

Leader: Christian Parker

Where: Glenis Heap's Home

Address: 5220 Wild Cedar Drive Buford, GA 30518

Get connected this week to an ION - your life will never be the same!

IONs meet every first and third Sunday nights of each month from 6:00pm-8:00pm!

May 2 and May 16 for this month....

See you Thursday night!

pcraig

Week 7 - "Music to My Ears"

It is Monday once again - if you have missed out on any of these Monday prayer devotionals, you definitely need to go back and read the previous weeks. What a beautiful prayer of love and sacrifice and meaning....

As a recap, here is the great prayer from Elizabeth Rhodes:

"Grant me, gracious Lord, a pure intention of heart, and a steadfast regard to your glory in all my actions. Possess my mind continually with your presence, and fill it with your love, that my whole delight may be to repose in the arms of your protection. Be light to my eyes, music to my ears, sweetness to my taste, and full contentment to my heart. Be my sunshine in the day, my food at the table, my repose in the night, my clothing in company, my succor in all necessities.
Lord Jesus, I give you my body, my soul, my substance, my fame, my friends, my liberty, and my life. Dispose of me, and all that is mine, as seems best to you, and to the glory of your blessed name. I am not my own, but yours; therefore claim me as your right, keep me as your charge, and love me as your child. Fight for me when I am assailed, heal me when I am wounded, and revive me when I am destroyed.
My Lord and my God, I ask you to give me patience in troubles, humility in comforts, constancy in temptations, and victory over all my ghostly enemies. Grant me sorrow for my sins, thankfulness for my benefits, fear of your judgments, love of your mercies, and mindfulness of your presence for evermore. Make me humble to my superiors and friendly to my equals, ready to please all and loathe to offend any; loving to my friends and charitable to my enemies. Give me modesty in my countenance, gravity in my behavior, deliberation in my speech, holiness in my thoughts, and righteousness in all my actions. Let your mercy cleanse me from my sins, and your grace bring forth in me the fruits of everlasting life.
Lord, let me be obedient without arguing, humble without feigning, patient without grudging, pure without corruption, mercy without lightness, sad without mistrust, sober without dullness, true without duplicity, fearing you without desperation, and trusting you without presumption. Let me joyful for nothing but that which pleases you, and sorrowful for nothing but what displeases you: that labor be my delight which is for you, and let all weary me that is not in you. Give me a waking spirit, and a diligent soul, that I may seek to know your will, and when I know it may I perform it faithfully to the honor and glory of your ever blessed name. Amen."

Chilcote took this prayer that is divided into four roughly equal parts and provided a theme for each section:
Part 1: Who is God to me? (first paragraph of prayer)
Part 2: What can I give to and ask of God? (second)
Part 3: How does God shape my life? (third)
Part 4: How do I live as a disciple of Christ? (fourth)

Today, we continue with part one from Chilcote.

Scripture

“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” - Colossians 3:14-17

Meditation

Charles Wesley loved music. With two sons who were music prodigies, Charles and Sally Wesley’s home was always filled with sounds of instruments and voices raised in song. Little wonder that Charles turned to the metaphors of music and song to describe the life of the community of faith – the people of God bound together by the love of Christ. For the believer, life is a concert of praise; indeed, ones whole life is a song to be sung, a melodious act of gratitude to the One who has given us life and redeemed us by grace. But while solos have their place, it is a chorus – the whole company of God’s faithful people – that sings “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.” Wesley, in his hymn, describes a “rapturous song” of a “glorified throng” whose sacrifice of praise is the perfect harmony of lives tuned to the keynote of Christ’s love. The Hebrew word hallelujah – let us praise God – captures the spirit of the choir and the nature of the song. According to Paul, more than anything else, thanksgiving and gratitude characterize life in Christ. If we surround ourselves with the love of Jesus – if the love of God envelops us in the same way that our clothes cover our bodies – then God gifts the community and the world with harmony. Peace rules. Unity prevails. All creation becomes a song of praise. What part do you play in this great harmony of ages?

Prayer

Gracious Lord, you sang all that exists into being: give me a voice to sing your praise in all that I do, a heart to seek harmony with all your creation, and a spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving to tune my heart to the keynote of my life, my Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Part Eight coming next Monday...
pcraig

A Saturday Thought

Just a Saturday thought:

You know that I have been worried for years now about the rapid spread of this altogether gospel" that is spreading across this nation. Just a few more thoughts for today.

We are observing the effect of the prosperity gospel in the presentation of the gospel. Instead of preaching to others to repent of their sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of their sin, people are preaching another gospel where we simply believe on His name and He will begin to bless us. We preach of a Jesus who is an accessory to our life that will help us pursue our own selfish ambitions, instead of preaching the biblical Jesus... One who gave up the riches of heaven to descend to our level and bring us redemption. The cross of Christ is no longer preached in this gospel because it undermines its message. When a believer truly understands the wrath that should have fallen on him and the penalty that Christ took as a substitute on the cross, he will no longer live for himself, but his life will be radically centered on God. This man will regard gold and earthly riches in the same way that heaven regards them- under his feet and out of his heart. However, the man that came to Christ based on this "new gospel" will serve God joyfully when God blesses his labor, and will make demands upon God whenever his wants aren't satisfied. Truly, this is a man-centered gospel and any gospel where man is exalted above the sovereignty of God is earthly and demonic. I believe this wholeheartedly.

First-Ever Agape Night

This Thursday night, we are capping off our April series with "Agape Night!"

Back in the first century, the earliest Christians would meet together on a regular basis to eat together, fellowship, and partake of the Lord's Supper. The Agape Feast was a very integral part of their faith.

This week, we are going back to move forward! Bring a van full with you - it will be a very unique night here at theTURN!

theTURN will have its very first Agape Night..we will have an abbreviated service, and then head over to the arena to partake of first-century food items. This is the night we will connect everyone with a small group - because we launch next Sunday night!

For your convenience, here are a list again of the IONs that are launching next weekend:

Cody Sweat and Nick Pugh

Alex Gailey

Christian Parker

Alina, Karina, and Julia Psareva

JoAnna Burdette

Katie House and Lori Pugh

Get connected this week!

See you soon!

pcraig

Pastor Clay's THUNDER!

Here are the message slides from Pastor Clay's THUNDER delivered at theTURN last Thursday night - love to hear him preach and have heard incredible things about the message. See you tonight for an even better night! Enjoy the slides:

REACH Secret Service Recap

Last Saturday, theTURN had another REACH Secret Service opportunity! We had 29 people show up to participate in Kid's LIFE with Pastor Jason and the outreach he does here in the local community!

It was a great day full of sharing love with kids and having a blast all the while. I think you can see that from the faces below. We were also able to pray with the kids and even do a feet washing ceremony with each of the kids. Looking forward to serving here again!