"Ghost: the Spirit Indwelling"

Last Week's Message PPT:

See you all tomorrow night!

pc

Ghost - October Series Starts this Week!

theTURN October Series

“Ghost: resting upon us” – college and 20-somethings
Ghost: resting upon us. October is usually filled with the colors orange and black, jack-o-lanterns, trick or treating, and horror movies. During this series, we’re going to engage the Spirit and understand what role the Ghost plays in our lives. The Holy Spirit has not been poured out on us to prove how great we are, but to prove the greatness of the Son of God. Scripture is quite clear: Jesus has been glorified, and therefore the Spirit is resting upon us.

Upcoming Events:

theTURN presents: “Costume Bash”

October 29^th at 7:30pm @ North Campus

Get dressed up in your favorite Halloween costume, grab all your friends, and join us for the most extravagant Halloween party decked with free food, pumpkin carving, prizes, bonfires, candy corn, and even a pumpkin pie eating contest! You don't want to miss this night!

See you this Thursday night for night one of "Ghost!" Be sure to not come alone! Let's continue to build on the momentum each week as we pursue after His purpose for our lives...

pcraig

"Call Night" Recap...

I am so proud of our whole team for all of their efforts they put into theTURN each week, and Thursday night was a great celebration of just what the Lord has done over the past three months! More than numerical growth, I am always interested in being faithful to what I believe God has called me to this group for – and that is to win souls and train disciples to the place where they are back serving in the ministry using their God-given gifts and abilities for the glroy of God. As we have just recently sought after that, we have seen great growth and healthiness take root in our people on a weekly basis, and I thank the Lord for it all. Take a quick look:

Last Three Months:

• 11 services
• 1,512 college and 20-somethings in attendance
• 46 salvations
• 134 first-time visitors
• added 14 more weekly leaders to our leadership team
  

And a recap from this past Thursday night “Call Night”:

• 193 people in attendance – growth of 100 people in past few months
• 5 first-time salvations and 3 rededications
• 40 first-time visitors
• Micah Massey and Dillan Powell did unbelievable with worship and a cover song
• gift card giveaways, games, prizes
• and best of all, I got the mohawk!
  

To our staff - Thanks again to everyone who helped out for this past Thursday (I am proud of our team and wanted to celebrate this win with you all) – I believe it is simply a foreshadowing of the great impact God is going to make through our ministry over the next few years!

These are a few pics from Thursday. Enjoy! 

"Called to Run to the Lost"

Tonight was a blast - God's Spirit moved in our hearts - this is for sure. Praise God for the 7 commitments to Christ we saw in the altars tonight.....

And we sold several dvds from last week's service tonight - but here are the Scripture slides from tonight's message. You can buy tonight's dvd next week in service for only $2.00, but in the meantime, here are the Scriptures at least.

"If you can't identify people in your life who are far from God and need Jesus, then you yourself are starting to get far from Jesus. Jesus always was about being around people who were far from God. He was one who welcomed sinners and ate with tax collectors."

Help us all Lord to run to the lost.

See you in one week - "Call Night!"

pcraig

"Called to an Identity in Christ"

Every week, I find it very difficult to take what I preach on Thursday nights and put that into words on a blog - I find myself needing page after page after page. So for last night, I am simply posting my few ppt slides that I used during the message. True, they do leave about 90% of my message out, but several have requested to see them so here they are:

So have at it....

And remember - two weeks away - September 24th @ 7:30 "Call Night"!

See you Thursday!

pcraig

KALEO: to this you were called...

We start a brand new series here at theTURN tomorrow night, and I am so excited about what God is going to do in and through our lives! Throughout the whole month I will be preaching about the call of God on our lives individually as well as corporately - there is no telling what might happen over the next few weeks!

“Kaleo: to this you were called” – college and 20-somethings
Kaleo: to call; to utter in a loud voice. Join theTURN all month long as we learn God’s call on each of our lives. What does it mean to be called to greatness? Absolute submission. Ultimate sacrifice. And relentless pursuit of that which is promised to those who will follow. God is calling the college-and-20-somethings to be ready to follow His divine calling.

And I want to take the opportunity to celebrate and thank God for what He did here at theTURN over the month of August:

• 21 new commitments to Christ in our altars over 4 weeks
• 575 + college and 20-somethings attended our 4 worship experiences
• 33 visitors over the month on our Thursday nights
• 27 students served with us for two days in our "Dorm Raiders" event on Aug. 15-16
• helped 400 college students move in over 12 hours in two days
• our team carried a combined 82,000 pounds in one weekend!
• launched our first TURN OC service on Aug. 21 and had 78 people in attendance in our first worship experience
• had 4 prayer meetings with our TURN leaders over the month

To say the least, I am pumped about what the near future holds for this unified community as we continue to move forward!

I would not miss a single week if I were you.....

See you tomorrow night - I am making the kaleo!

pcraig

"Holy Cow" Party Was a Blast!

The night was great; food was free; and all had fun!

Just some message recaps for those who are asking:

A UNIFIED COMMUNITY

1 Cor. 12:12-24

A unified community = authentic relationships committed to a common vision. The church has the most potential for beautiful community and meaningful relationships than any other organization can offer in the world. You can't escape the presence of the value of community in the Scriptures.

Community is not the goal of what we do - it is the byproduct. When we make friendships and community the goal, the focus of what we do turns in. But the focus has to be on Jesus - making Jesus known, worshiping Him, lifting Him up. Start thinking battleship, not cruise ship. A battleship is about mission; a cruise ship is about comfort.

We are a unified community with intentional mission. You need it and you're needed.

Make the choice to connect your life. Don't believe the lie: "All I need is God and me."

Know that we are all different but can complement one another. The very thing that rubs you the wrong way about the people you are closest to is the very thing pointing you the right way so you can be on mission with God.

Puzzle pieces go together because they are shaped differently!

Check out these Scriptures:

Romans 12:5

Romans 12:15

Romans 15:14

1 Cor. 12:25

1 Thess. 5:11

Ephesians 5:21

Ephesians 4:2

Hebrews 10:24

1 Peter 4:10

James 5:16

Galatians 6:2

Over and over we see the Scriptures pushing us back toward each other.

The reason the choice to connect your life is the first choice is that God wants people in your life to bring about the benefits of the other choices. The other choices do no good for the hermit. You need others, and the alienation you experience in your pain blocks them off from you. So you must take a step away from your comfortable surroundings and allow others to minister to you and nurture you - no matter how difficult it is.

What is God's purpose in creation? And what is His purpose in redemption?

• Creation:

1. Romans 3:23 → Man to share in Glory
2. Romans 3:21→ Glory of the children of God

For the Glory!

"Every time you sin, instinctively you think of judgment and punishment. When God sees sin, he thinks 'Man missed out on Glory'...When you sin, you forfeit Glory."

Purpose of Redemption: GLORY, GLORY, GLORY

Romans 8:16-18 and Romans 8:29-30
Jesus is the first born Son among many other glorified sons.

BUT, It says in John 1:14 that he is the ONLY son.

How can God make the ONLY begotten the FIRST begotten?? 

John 12:24 says "unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds."

Jesus was the ONLY seed, but He DIED and rose again so He could produce MANY SEEDS!!!

The Prodigal Son isn't about the son's suffering, but the father's loss.

The 1st and 20th chapters of John explain Unified Community. In chapter one, Jesus is the ONLY son and refers to God as "My Father" or "The Father." But after His death and resurrection, when He becomes the first of many sons, He is pleased to call us brethren. "My Father AND Your Father." This is found in John 20:17. Check it out. It is the first time the disciples are called brethren, because now the resurrection has happened!

"He became what we are so that we can become what He is." 

Glory only follows order. Our bodies are our temples, and in the Old Testament, God specifies the order that He wants His temples to be built so that the Glory may follow. Give the temple (our bodies) order, so that Glory can enter.

"I THE SON OF GOD BECAME THE SON OF MAN, SO THAT YOU, THE SON OF ADAM, MIGHT BECOME THE SON OF GOD!!"

Notes thanks to Ashley Jennings!

Looking forward to this Thursday night - what are we called to?

We start the brand new series...see you there!

pcraig