Great Day!

What a great morning we had yesterday!

For the first time in 15 years, the staff at The Carpenter's presented the church vision with video, music, graphics, audio testimony and 6 different communicators at both weekend services. It was awesome to watch people start to "get it." And it was critical to ensure that we are all on the same page, heading in the same direction, with clarity of focus and ready to impact the Greater Lehigh Valley for Christ.

If you weren't here yesterday then order a copy of the service on CD. If you were here yesterday then get ready to rock because we've got some great things lined up for the rest of the year and I can't wait to see what God's going to do in and through this church.

It's been a challenging year so far, but I believe God has been preparing us to move mountains and change the Lehigh Valley in a dramatic way. We've got His vision set. We're not going to back down and we're going to go all out to reach people and share the greatest story ever in the most compelling and creative ways possible.

It's going to be amazing!!!

Preparing for Chazown

This weekend is going to be amazing! We're going to walk through the Vision or "Chazown" of The Carpenter's Church at both services this Sunday. We presented this same information to the leadership of our church about 2 months ago and so we've decided to bring it before the entire church this weekend.

In the middle of my preparation for Chazown I read a blog entry from my good friend, Tally Wilgis. Tally is the Lead Pastor at Focal Point Church in Chesapeake, Virginia. Tally and I served together at Sonlight Church when I was in Virginia as well. On his blog he wrote the following:

My passion is that we are a church where salvation is a weekly norm, baptisms are a common occurrence, the orphan and widow are cared for and poverty is defeated wherever we see it. The next level for us is to be the church that our city cannot ignore. This church cannot ever be pleased with mere existence. We must rally one another to impact our city with the gospel of Christ.

I'm often guilty however of getting caught up with other things that do not make this passion a reality.

Tally was talking about himself and Focal Point but I couldn't agree with him more. The same passion is here in Nazareth in the Staff and Leadership of The Carpenter's.

If you are a member or attender of The Carpenter's Church, please do whatever you need to do and get to one of our weekend services this week. Please forward this blog post to everyone you know and ask them to come out to one of our services this week as well. It's going to be awesome and you'll see where we are going, why we are going there, what we are doing, why we are doing it, what impact this church is going to have on the community and what part you can play in seeing this vision become a reality.

I believe this could be the tipping point for The Carpenter's Church.

Also, don't be late because the service is jammed packed from start to finish and you won't want to miss a single minute.

FX Was Awesome!

This past weekend we launched our first ever, "Carpenter's FX" service. This is where Kids and Parents come together in one service for a "Family Experience" or FX.

For those of you who missed it, let me give you a quick recap.

• Started with the Band, Vocalists, Dancers, Actors and entire cast walking through the crowd giving high fives, greeting people and creating an atmosphere of celebration to some kicking loud and bass filled music.
• The service included live music, video, drama, stories, confetti, a snake in a can, props, the backdrop of a club house, toilet flushing sounds and more.
• The entire FX Event was focused on Honesty and this theme was present from beginning to end.
  
• It was an amazing way for Families to connect with God together in one room, with one theme that they can talk about throughout the week.

We had some great feedback from many people and several have requested that we do something like this again every few months. In addition to all of that, we had the second largest attendance of the year (second only to Easter Sunday). God is doing some really cool things here and it's exciting to be a part of it.

If you want to read what another church did this past weekend, check out what NewSpring church, in Anderson S.C. did. Read it Here!

Don't forget to check back here in a couple of days as I talk about Chazown and what we've got coming up this weekend. You don't want to miss it!!!!!!!!

Ice Hockey and "The Church"?

Unless you are a die hard Hockey Fan most of you have no idea that the National Hockey League is currently in the Playoffs for their championship, The Stanley Cup.

When I was a kid, I used to follow hockey very closely. We lived in up-state New York (about 3 miles from the Canadian boarder) and the only sports programming we got in the winter time was Hockey. Back then I was a die hard Buffalo Sabers fan. We watched every game we could, I knew the players and followed some of them like rock stars. Over the years my interests changed and I must be honest that I don't really follow it much any more. However, I do know that the Sabers are playing really well and are currently in the hunt for the Cup.

Even if you've never watched an NHL game in your life you've most likely heard of Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky is the greatest hockey player to ever play the game. In 1978, his first season with the Edmonton Oilers he scored 110 points on his way to becoming the rookie of the year. He had four 200-point regular seasons and was a 10-time season leading scorer. This guy knew how to win, knew how to score and knew how to be successful.

Gretzky once said,

"A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."

You see in order to score and have the success that Gretzky had, you can't play in the moment you need to look ahead and be ready for what's coming next.

I think the same thing is true in the church. We can't be successful reaching people, using the same methodology that we used yesterday. We won't be successful reaching people using the same tools that we are using today either. We have to constantly look ahead to where our culture and our community will be and begin taking steps to be prepared to reach people with new technologies, methodologies and tools.

I believe we've got the best and most important message to share. Our methodologies will continue to change and morph and evolve but the truth of Scripture, the truth of the Gospel and the message of Jesus Christ will always remain the same.

If you're on board with a thought process that says, "I'll do whatever it takes to stay ahead of the culture so that we can reach the culture for Christ", then please leave a comment and let me know that you're "On-Board."

I Love Baptisms

Yesterday we had the privilege of celebrating with 9 people who took the next step in their spiritual journey and followed the Lord in Baptism. It was awesome.

I love to hear testimonies of how people came to Christ, how they came to The Carpenter's and what God is doing in their lives. It is truly a privilege to be a part of the leadership team at The Carpenter's and to be a part of what God is doing here.

The next couple of weeks are going to be amazing and I'm looking forward to see what God does next.

Next Steps?

I can't wait for this weekend's service a The Carpenter's. Don't get me wrong, I look forward to almost every service we do. However, this weekend is different. This weekend we get to celebrate with about a dozen people as they take the "next step" in their spiritual journey and follow the Lord in Baptism. Baptism isn't anything magical but is simply a public expression of a personal decision to identify with Jesus as Lord of your life. It is a symbol of His burial and resurrection as the candidate goes under the water and then comes back up again. (Don't worry we won't keep them under for 3 days)

Baptism services are awesome. We get the chance to celebrate what God is doing in the lives of His people and hear people share their testimony. Add to that the opportunity to celebrate communion together with the church family and you have the makings for a fabulous day.

Then on Tuesday, we'll have several students proclaim their faith to their friends as Tucker leads another baptism service at Ignite Students.

Yes, the next 7 days here at The Carpenter's are going to awesome! Don't miss this weekends service. Invite your friends to come and celebrate with us. Come out to Ignite next Tuesday night and celebrate with our Students. It could be life changing for you too!