IONs this Sunday Night!

theTURN is committed to a culture of community. True transformation takes place as we build relationships in settings that encourage transparency and openness. Our UNION small group ministry meets together every first and third Sunday nights of each month to provide that setting. Our small groups, called IONs, meet all across the greater Gainesville area and are gender specific to foster a more effective means to forge genuine relationships.

We hope that as you become connected with the vision of theTURN, you will take the next step with us and join an ION.

Frequently Asked Questions:

WHAT IS AN ION?

An ION is a small group of people that meet twice a month to have a time of worship, prayer, discussion of God's Word, fellowship, and outreach.

WHAT PURPOSE DOES AN ION SERVE IN MY LIFE?

It provides the opportunity for you to engage with sermons on a deeper level with people that are doing life with you. It also gives you the ability to apply Biblical principles to your own life as well as the chance to serve as an ION at various outreach opportunities.

DO I HAVE TO ATTEND ANY ONE PARTICULAR ION?

No, you have the freedom to attend a group of your choice within your gender.

WHEN DO IONS MEET?

Every first and third Sunday night's of each month.

To find an ION near you, click here:

http://www.freechapel.org/content.php?pageid=258

Life Change Story

(Megan is on the bottom left)

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I am posting a “LIFE CHANGE STORY” from someone at theTURN every few weeks.

Here is a great testimony of a girl at theTURN who was born again at SOLUTION and then plugged herself into theTURN, including ALL NIGHT PRAYER and ION small groups (her life has been forever ruined!):

Pastor Craig,

It’s safe to say that 2009 was the worst year of my life. I would go to work have a stressful day then come home to my parents fighting. I didn’t know what it meant to be happy. My mother left in February, and then my parents got a divorce in June. My younger brother and I stayed at my father’s house. My mom leaving and the divorce eventually led my father to start drinking again. He would come home drunk and be mean as everything. He and I would get into fights constantly. Never was he physically abusive but he was very verbally abusive. Hurt people hurt people. He would fight with my brother and I so much that it just became unbearable. It got to the point where I didn’t want to come home. He eventually drove my brother and me out of the house. We went to live with my mother and grandmother in a two bedroom apartment. There was a time that I actually hated my father. I felt like I lost everything. I went a solid 5 months without talking to my father. Most of my friendships ended. I just figured I would end up like the rest of my family. I had no motive to better myself. Divorce had absolutely consumed my family. Until recently I never knew why. I figured it too would happen to me one day. My grandmother, my mother and both of my sisters had their first child out of wedlock. I thought all of these things were normal. Coming into the new year I had no expectations, I was just going to continue to do nothing to change my life. I shut everyone out and built up walls. I cried myself to sleep more times than I can count. I was miserable. I knew I needed to change something.

2010 came around. I didn’t care about it coming, I already wanted it to end. I was lost. I had no hope. I had nothing to live for. I didn’t care about anything. I thought I was saved, but I never really accepted Christ into my heart. I never had a heart change. Christ was never the Rock revealed in my life. I had gone to the same church since the 8th grade. I didn’t miss a Sunday or a Wednesday for about 3 years. It was essentially the blind leading the blind. Still, I was just going through the motions. My prayers consisted of; "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,... forgive us for our sins". I could probably count on both hands the times I had read my bible in those few years. I didn't have a relationship with God. I hadn't been living according to his law. Because I didn’t drink, do drugs or have sex before marriage I thought I was a good kid. You know those people who put sin on a weight scale, I was one of them. If you were to put me now and me 7 months ago next to each other to compare, you wouldn’t think I was the same person. I never had steady relationships with friends. I could make a sailor blush; I had the most foul mouth you could imagine. I was a fearful thing, I wouldn’t drive alone at night or sleep in the house alone because fear absolutely crippled me.

But now, I have some of the best relationships and friendships I could have ever imagined. The Lord didn’t give me a spirit of fear, So I don’t have one! I have not said a cuss word since about April. All of the Glory goes to God! He truly has become the center of my life. He's not just the spare tire of my life, he is the steering wheel! My friend and I were both going through hard times and we decided that we needed to go to church. I would say we chose Free Chapel but looking back on it now I'm certain God chose it for us. It was a breath of life to the darkness I was living in. Because of God living through all of the students and pastors there, I realized that there really was more to life than just living. I realized that I needed to accept Christ as the Christ of my life, and that I also needed to pick up my cross and carry it. It was at Solution Conference that I officially gave my life to Christ, on Thursday night to be exact. I remember it like it was yesterday. Pastor Clay was preaching. I remember what he wore, and I remember what I wore. I had felt a tug on my heart all of the nights of the conference but I let altar call after altar call pass me by. I remember that I came in late because I didn’t get off of work until 8. I almost didn’t come; that alone frightens me and fills me with love. That was absolutely God-guided. The second I walked in the door I could feel the Lord’s presence in the air. I didn’t hear the whole sermon, but i didn’t need to. The title of the sermon was "The Confessional". I didn’t take good notes because I was crying the whole time. It was like the entire sermon was written for me.It is only by the grace of God that I am living for Him today. Only by his grace have I been saved. " For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of god" Ephesians 2:8. It amazes me that He chose me! The only thing I have to offer him is my life. This story of my life has been erased and re-written. This time with my Lord and Savior as the Author!

As a result of what he has done in my life, I have written the following in the last few weeks that I would like to share with you:
"I know a Mighty king. I am but a servant who is unworthy to carry His sandals, and yet He calls for me to sit at His feet and drink from the cup in His hand. He is the everlasting lover and father beyond all human bounds. He is far holier than I am capable of dreaming. His sweet mercies are endless. His flowing grace is abundant. His comforting love is fragrant. He has brought newness to my death of monotony. He gives me the boldness of His tongue. He grants me wisdom of His perfect knowledge and understanding. He builds me fresh each morning. He is the husband to widows, father to orphans, comforter to the afflicted. He is forever beautiful. His goodness surrounds me. He is beyond comparison. His kiss of forgiveness is overwhelming. He is my joy. He is my hope. He is true. He gives me direction. He is on my side. He is the reason for my breath. He is the creator of all I know. Through him I am limitless. Because of this savior, I have purpose. Because of this healer, I am able. He is my perspective. He is my future. He is my unfailing plan."

Is He your unfailling plan? I know He's mine!

Thanks!
Megan Breor

Living By VISION

Tonight was a great night - it never gets old or routine watching young adults go after God each week. I pray that God spoke to the hearts of individuals tonight and our lives are forever found in His vision. Here are the message slides:

Much love,

pcraig

New Thru 30 Begins Today!

It's something we SHOULD do. It's something we WANT to do. It's something we NEED to do. And the best part is… we’re doing it together.

Every year thousands of people promise themselves they’re going to do it this year. They’re going to read through the Bible. Or they’re going to read a little bit everyday. Or they’re just going to start fresh and do better this year. Most people don’t make it. Not even through the first month.

We have decided to read through the New Testament together...but here is the kick, we are doing it in 30 days. Get ready to sprint with us!

Our TURN leadership team will be joining in this endeavor, and we invite you to join us as well. Above you can see the reading plan for each day through the month of August. Best of all, every seven days, there are 2 grace (aka catch up) days. Every day for this month, I will be tweeting one thought from something we have read together. Hopefully it helps us all to stay on track.

Get ready for your life to be forever changed!

pcraig

Prayer = Mission Effectiveness

I find it interesting that Paul had an idea that his movements were hindered or helped by the prayers of his brothers in Christ. It is true: all spiritual effects demand spiritual causes. For theTURN to be Spirit-empowered, we must allow the Holy Spirit to work through yielded prayer.

Listen to Charles Spurgeon:

A certain preacher whose sermons converted many souls received a revelation from God that it was not his sermons or works by all means but the prayers of an illiterate lay brother who sat on the pulpit steps pleading for the success of the sermon. It may be in the all-revealing day so with us. We may believe after laboring long and wearily that all honor belongs to another builder whose prayers were gold, silver, and precious stones, while our sermonizings being apart from prayer are but hay and stubble.

Paul modeled this; a radical DEPENDENCE on God’s gracious work. Check out these Scriptures:

Colossians 4:2-4; Ephesians 6:19-20; 2 Thes. 3:1

A missionary Jerry Smith always said, “Be pre-prayered.

We must see the imperative to pray:

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. – Col. 4:2

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. – Rom. 12:12

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. – Eph. 6:18

Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thess. 5:16-18

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone. – 1 Tim. 2:1

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. – Phil. 4:6

For us to go to the next level, prayerlessness must cease among leaders of theTURN.

“Let us not think that waiting on the Lord will mean getting less done. Who can do the most, you or the God of heaven and earth? Is not the central problem of our generation that the world looks upon the church and sees it trying to do the Lord’s work in the flesh?” – Francis Shaeffer

ALL NIGHT PRAYER this Friday night! Come join us!

pcraig

The Fear of the Lord

The way we worship God is a direct expression of how much we fear and reverence God in our lives. Enjoy the recap slides....

Luau next Thursday night!

pcraig