What should we teach about?

OK, I need your help.

We are in the process of planning out what themes will be taught on the weekends at Suncrest in the next 8-12 months.  At the same, I’ve been asked by a the NewThing Network to help brainstorm “Big Ideas” for our network over the next year.

If you are a pastor that reads this, give me the best 2 or 3 series ideas you have used or seen lately.

If you are a Suncrest attender…I would love to hear Life Issues and/or Biblical Issues that you would love to have us tackle on a Sunday morning.  What are you curious about?  What do you struggle with?  What would resonate with your friend who doesn’t go to church?

If you can make it work, leave your ideas below by clicking below next to “Comments” and putting them there.  If you can’t figure that out, you can email them to my assistant:  cindy.barker@suncrest.org

Give me your best ideas…

Decisions

Sunday wrapped up our series called “Jesus in High Def” and we specifically asked for people to make a commitment to follow Jesus.  Doug laid out the decision for people and eternity changed for some.

Over the course of the morning we had 8 people respond and 3 of those were very clear decisions to do this for the first time.  …and I get paid to do this??  God is really good to me.

 

God @ Work

Two huge things to consider/pray about for this weekend at Suncrest…

 1.        You have to at least explore going on a mission trip that we announced last week.  God always uses them to shape our lives.  For more info you can email david.vineyard@suncrest.org or denise.tribble@suncrest.org. 

2.       We are praying ahead for a response to our time of decision this weekend.  We’ve talked for a few weeks about who Jesus is and been clear that we hope people will respond to following him.  If you have chosen to follow Christ already, please pray for people to respond to God’s grace this Sunday.  If you have not made that specific decision to follow Jesus, I am hoping and praying that you will on Sunday.

Weekly Suncrest Update

Just a brief note this week…I feel like I’ve already written a lot to you, but it was in a church-wide letter you’ll get next week in your real mailboxes.  There’s some great info in there that brings us up to date on finances, projects around here, etc.  From my office, I have the perfect view of the second entrance being constructed on our campus…gravel is going down right now!  Get the full update in that letter, including some neat news about our neighbors donating some land to us. 

Sunday’s beginning to the “Pause” message series was challenging wasn’t it?  It was to me.  I know I’ve had a lot of feedback including some very delicate and some very powerful struggles with temptation.  I got an email last night that I’ll share in part, preserving his/her anonymity… 

“…You see, I am a ‘minimizer’.  If I can think up some of the, what I call, “really huge sins” that people commit, it can make some of my sins seem much smaller.  It’s really a great tool and I use it quite often.  After the sermon on Sunday, with much meditation and self examination,  I came to the conclusion that the sin which I chose to focus on during this series and with God’s help remove from my life, that I have always considered not so huge,  is very, very huge.  And the reason that I finally came to confess that it is so huge is because it owns so much of me.  I know it’s going to take time, and much prayer and trust in God to believe that it can be removed from my life, but I am going to put my faith to great testing and truly believe that with God all things are possible.” 

This Sunday we will have a candid interview within the message about the obvious and not-so obvious effects that come from our falls to temptation. 

On a more upbeat note, it’s both Father’s Day and a Baby Dedication Sunday with about 2 dozen babies dedicated over our three services.  Benjamin Gamble, Gibson Mehrle, and our own daughter, Abby, will be among them (our staff is just trying to do our part to help this church grow!).  Sunday is also Abby’s first birthday, so we have plenty to celebrate…and a lot of family in town! 

See you Sunday…

A quiet entrance to blogging

I’m giving in to the pressure…to begin blogging.  But I’m not announcing it.  I probably will at some stage, but I first need to see how it really will go and if I actually do it with consistency.

 A lot of people have suggestted I do it…as a way to stay connected with Suncrest (as it grows), other leaders (as we collaborate). 

Some friends and family can stay in touch better too. 

So, we’ll see…