Culpeper churches and ministries are working together again this year to provide a warm place to sleep and some hot meals for those without this winter season. The shelter ministry begins on November 1 and extends through the month of April.
We currently have approximately fifteen different churches representing Episcopals, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists and Non-Denominational backgrounds. This is a fantastic demonstration of unity within the Body of Christ.
City on a Hill Church will be hosting the shelter at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church Fellowship Hall in January and March this season. This ministry is such a blessing!
For more information on volunteering, contact me at 540-727-9587 (leave a message if no one picks up).
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Don't Stop Learnin'
The 80's rock band Journey had a great song entitled Don't Stop Believin'. I love that song. Whenever I hear that song, I can't help but think of one of my mantras as a leader which is Don't Stop Learnin'.
I truly believe that we should never stop learning. When we stop learning, we may as well not get out of bed in the morning. It doesn't matter if we've been a Pastor for 50 years. Still, there is always something else to learn.
One of the most important ways to learn is through someone else's experiences. Today, I'm participating in the IMPART conference at Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. Elevation Church was listed as one of the top ten fastest growing churches in the USA last year. In less than three years, this church has grown to over 5000 people. The Sr Pastor of this church, Steven Furtick, wants to impart the valuable lessons he's learned to others. What a great idea!
I spent my own money to come to this event because I believe the experiences this church has had in the last few years can be valuable to me as a pastor and valuable to City on a Hill Church. This is an investment for me and for COAHC. I'm excited to soak in every detail that's shared in order to glean the transferable concepts.
I truly believe that we should never stop learning. When we stop learning, we may as well not get out of bed in the morning. It doesn't matter if we've been a Pastor for 50 years. Still, there is always something else to learn.
One of the most important ways to learn is through someone else's experiences. Today, I'm participating in the IMPART conference at Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. Elevation Church was listed as one of the top ten fastest growing churches in the USA last year. In less than three years, this church has grown to over 5000 people. The Sr Pastor of this church, Steven Furtick, wants to impart the valuable lessons he's learned to others. What a great idea!
I spent my own money to come to this event because I believe the experiences this church has had in the last few years can be valuable to me as a pastor and valuable to City on a Hill Church. This is an investment for me and for COAHC. I'm excited to soak in every detail that's shared in order to glean the transferable concepts.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Keys to a Successful Church
So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.
Acts 9:31 NASB
Before coming to Culpeper, the Lord led me to this specific verse. The Lord showed me that this verse holds some important keys to successfully leading a church.
Peace - A successful church can't be wrapped up in dispute with itself or others.
Being Built Up - A successful church encourages with words and deeds of love and kindness.
Going on in the fear of the Lord - A successful church lives in obedience. Obedience reflects love and reverence for our Lord.
And in the comfort of the Holy Spirit - A successful church turns not to the world, but to the Holy Spirit for comfort in times of trouble.
Acts 9:31 NASB
Before coming to Culpeper, the Lord led me to this specific verse. The Lord showed me that this verse holds some important keys to successfully leading a church.
Peace - A successful church can't be wrapped up in dispute with itself or others.
Being Built Up - A successful church encourages with words and deeds of love and kindness.
Going on in the fear of the Lord - A successful church lives in obedience. Obedience reflects love and reverence for our Lord.
And in the comfort of the Holy Spirit - A successful church turns not to the world, but to the Holy Spirit for comfort in times of trouble.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Gettin' Excited
I did an interview this morning with the local newspaper. The interviewer was asking me questions about City on a Hill Church. She asked if our church was excited about moving into our new building next month. Of course, everyone is excited about the new facility.
I went on to say that it's not necessarily the new facility and our growth that is exciting everyone. It's the transformed lives that is the root cause of our excitement. Anytime you have a church where lives are being transformed by the power of God, excitement and momentum are sure to follow. That's what is exciting people at COAHC!
I went on to say that it's not necessarily the new facility and our growth that is exciting everyone. It's the transformed lives that is the root cause of our excitement. Anytime you have a church where lives are being transformed by the power of God, excitement and momentum are sure to follow. That's what is exciting people at COAHC!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Lessons From Chuck
Chuck Swindoll has been a hero and mentor of mine from the beginning of my Christian walk. In fact, Insight for Living was the very first Christian radio broadcast I began listening to on a regular basis.
Chuck has been ministering for years from the pulpit, on the radio and through several books he's authored. I had the pleasure of going to Israel with him in May 2008. The experiences he's garnered through the years have been summarized in a recent speaking engagement at the Catalyst Conference. Take a few minutes and read the 10 Ministry Lessons (He's) Learned.
Chuck has been ministering for years from the pulpit, on the radio and through several books he's authored. I had the pleasure of going to Israel with him in May 2008. The experiences he's garnered through the years have been summarized in a recent speaking engagement at the Catalyst Conference. Take a few minutes and read the 10 Ministry Lessons (He's) Learned.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Enjoying Some Goodies
Last night, we opened our home to those in our church who wanted to spend time getting to know my family and I better and ask questions about City on a Hill Church. We had ice cream, apple pie, Rice Krispy treats, Cinnamon Apple Butter, cookies and hot tea. Boy! It was a smorgasbord of delectable goodies!
The company was even better! We had some fine folks come over and spend time with us in fellowship. We discussed everything from COAHC's vision to our position on spiritual gifts to how Carrie (my wife who was born and raised in California) likes the weather in Culpeper.
It's these kinds of opportunities that are important to me as pastor of COAHC. We need to create opportunities to get connected with one another. I see God doing such a marvelous work in our church body: growing people, stretching them outside comfort zones and raising up a united family that believes in seeking and saving the lost.
The company was even better! We had some fine folks come over and spend time with us in fellowship. We discussed everything from COAHC's vision to our position on spiritual gifts to how Carrie (my wife who was born and raised in California) likes the weather in Culpeper.
It's these kinds of opportunities that are important to me as pastor of COAHC. We need to create opportunities to get connected with one another. I see God doing such a marvelous work in our church body: growing people, stretching them outside comfort zones and raising up a united family that believes in seeking and saving the lost.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Busy, Busy, Busy
Lots of details are going on with our new building. It's just about cleaned up and ready for our renovations to begin. We have three Church Workdays planned next week:
Tuesday evening, 5-9pm
Wednesday evening, 5-9pm
Saturday, 9am-5pm (lunch will be provided)
It's amazing how God is providing in miraculous ways. We're getting incredible deals on a variety of different things that are needed to get the bldg ready. Thank you, Lord!
We're shooting for our first service to be early November and a Grand Opening event on November 15. That's the plan, so we'll see if things continue to go as planned.
Tuesday evening, 5-9pm
Wednesday evening, 5-9pm
Saturday, 9am-5pm (lunch will be provided)
It's amazing how God is providing in miraculous ways. We're getting incredible deals on a variety of different things that are needed to get the bldg ready. Thank you, Lord!
We're shooting for our first service to be early November and a Grand Opening event on November 15. That's the plan, so we'll see if things continue to go as planned.
Friday, October 9, 2009
New Building
Today, we're signing a lease for a new facility for City on a Hill Church. Our current space has been wonderful, but God has grown us too large for it. Our new building will give us triple the space we have now! We're hoping to host our first service in mid-November.Lots to do to get things ready! We're so thankful we have a God who loves and cares about every detail of our church. All the glory to our Father in heaven!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Games People Play
This weekend, we're kicking off a series entitled "Games People Play". This is a series that will confront the ways we “play with God” in order to live according to our ways instead of God’s ways. Luke 19:45-20:47 will be our primary text if you'd like to get a jump start on the message. As always, we'll post the audio file, PowerPoint presentation and outline notes on our website afterwards.Please join us this Sunday @ 11am at City on a Hill Church, 405 Sperryville Pike. We'd love to see you there!
Understanding Leads to Love
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,
Philippians 1:9-10 NIV
As I was spending time in the Word this morning, this Scripture really jumped out at me. As I read it, I realized an important relationship between an understanding of Scripture and love. It's clearly evident that our ability to love is directly proportional to our knowledge and understanding of Scripture.
Paul's prayer for the Philippians is that their love increases. He describes the means by which that love increases: through knowledge and depth of insight. Of what, though? God's truth found in His Word is the answer. How do I know? I know that God's Truth found in His Word is the object of our knowledge and insight we need because of the consequence Paul mentions in verse 10. The consequence of an increasing knowledge and depth of insight is an increasing ability to discern what is best, purity and blamelessness. The only possible way to achieve these is through a deeper understanding of Scripture.
So there are many subsequent things that happen in our lives as a result of knowledge and deeper insight into the Bible: discernment, purity, blamelessness and an increased ability to love. That's the power of God's Word in our lives! Take time to read and study the Bible today.
Philippians 1:9-10 NIV
As I was spending time in the Word this morning, this Scripture really jumped out at me. As I read it, I realized an important relationship between an understanding of Scripture and love. It's clearly evident that our ability to love is directly proportional to our knowledge and understanding of Scripture.
Paul's prayer for the Philippians is that their love increases. He describes the means by which that love increases: through knowledge and depth of insight. Of what, though? God's truth found in His Word is the answer. How do I know? I know that God's Truth found in His Word is the object of our knowledge and insight we need because of the consequence Paul mentions in verse 10. The consequence of an increasing knowledge and depth of insight is an increasing ability to discern what is best, purity and blamelessness. The only possible way to achieve these is through a deeper understanding of Scripture.
So there are many subsequent things that happen in our lives as a result of knowledge and deeper insight into the Bible: discernment, purity, blamelessness and an increased ability to love. That's the power of God's Word in our lives! Take time to read and study the Bible today.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Witness or Participant
Last night I sent an email out to our church. In it, I mentioned Jesus' first miracle: turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana. There's something in this story that's very subtle, yet very important.
In this story, there are three groups of people: those who are encouraging Jesus to perform the miracle (his mother), those who are witnessing the miracle, and then there are those who get to participate in the miracle.
Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."
They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.
John 2:8-9 NIV
The servants were probably tired and bored from their mundane work of waiting on the guests of the wedding. Jesus gives them a thrill of a lifetime. He chooses the lowly servants as the instruments by which His first miracle comes to pass. Jesus could have very easily done this miracle differently. Instead, he choose to allow the bored, hard-working servants to participate in this important story that would later be captured in Scripture. Jesus tells the servants to fill the jars with water and then draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.
I'm sure the servants knew the water had been changed. Wine looks different from water and it smells differently. As soon as the servants drew the wine from the jars to take it to the master, they knew something miraculous had happened. And they had been chosen to help out with this miracle behind the scenes. They were rewarded with the insight into the miracle prior to their master. What a privilege!t
When we're given the opportunity to serve in ministry either in an ongoing position or with a special opportunity, it's a special privilege that the Lord is giving to us to be a part of a miracle. So, the next time a ministry opportunity comes along, prayerfully consider being a participant of a miracle instead of just being a witness.
In this story, there are three groups of people: those who are encouraging Jesus to perform the miracle (his mother), those who are witnessing the miracle, and then there are those who get to participate in the miracle.
Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."
They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.
John 2:8-9 NIV
The servants were probably tired and bored from their mundane work of waiting on the guests of the wedding. Jesus gives them a thrill of a lifetime. He chooses the lowly servants as the instruments by which His first miracle comes to pass. Jesus could have very easily done this miracle differently. Instead, he choose to allow the bored, hard-working servants to participate in this important story that would later be captured in Scripture. Jesus tells the servants to fill the jars with water and then draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.
I'm sure the servants knew the water had been changed. Wine looks different from water and it smells differently. As soon as the servants drew the wine from the jars to take it to the master, they knew something miraculous had happened. And they had been chosen to help out with this miracle behind the scenes. They were rewarded with the insight into the miracle prior to their master. What a privilege!t
When we're given the opportunity to serve in ministry either in an ongoing position or with a special opportunity, it's a special privilege that the Lord is giving to us to be a part of a miracle. So, the next time a ministry opportunity comes along, prayerfully consider being a participant of a miracle instead of just being a witness.
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