Just Walk Across the Room - This Sunday!

Here's an important question:

How do you save a life?

Well, what if the first and most important step to saving someone's spiritual life is just to walk across the room. Does that sound difficult?

Within the Church we have often made personal evangelism (the process of sharing our faith with others and inviting them into relationship with Jesus Christ) seem like rocket science. We sometimes complicate it. We sometimes make it seem like something that ONLY those with the spiritual gift of evangelism can do. This is a potentially fatal error that we've made in church and ministry life! God calls EVERYONE to reach out and share the new life they've received with those around them!

This Sunday we begin a new 4 week series that will help you learn simple, practical ways to share (not force or coerce!) your faith with those around you. And it may very well start with the simple step of...just walking across a room...and speaking to the person God has prompted you to share with!

Do you want to potentially help save a life?

Then...Just Walk Across the Room!

Hope to see everyone this Sunday!

In His Grip,

Pastor John


P.S. I hope everyone is creatively giving thought to what you will do to multiply the "talent" you were given last week! If you haven't received your "talent", just see Pastor John and we will get it too you! You have 11 more weeks to multiply it! Let's see what God will do!

Imagine...If Jesus' Dreams for His Church Came True

What do you sing about? This is your joy!

What do you weep about? This is your burden!

What do you dream about? This is your passion!

These three questions were posed to me a number of years ago as help in guiding me toward God's desire and will for my future ministry. As I ponder these questions now, I think they are great for us to ask, but I also wonder, "What did Jesus sing, weep and dream about?" Let's think about that for a few minutes...

If we had to narrow the list to 1 thing that would bring so much joy to Jesus that it would make Him sing, it would be glorifying His Father in heaven! Jesus said, "Father, the time has come, glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you...I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do" (John 17:1 & 3).

What would make Jesus weep? How about seeing his dear friends hurting and grieving at the death of their brother? How about looking out over Jerusalem after He had tried to tell them, tried to help them see that the Messiah had come? How about His anguish in Gethsemane as he cried out that God's will be done instead of His own? Jesus wept. His heart was broken for lost and hurting people...it still is.

What did Jesus dream about? Many, many things. But if we had to narrow them down, here's some biggies: Accomplishing His mission / Seeing the Father's will done / His Church! How about those three for starters? To accomplish His mission, hand it off to His disciples, have them establish His church and seeing the Father's will done through it all! This HAD to be the largest part of what Jesus dreamed about! So what were His dreams for His church?

So many dreams, do you agree? Just like a loving parent, He must have had huge dreams for His followers, His church! But if we had to sum it up in one statement, maybe it would be His dream that they would become EVERYTHING He created them to be. By doing that they would almost assuredly cause many, if not all of His other dreams to come true!

The parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30) give us some indication of the passion, conviction and expectation that Jesus had for us to use all of our gifting, abilities, energy, money, resources, time, EVERYTHING that He has placed at our disposal! If we do that we almost surely will become everything He created us to be! And so in this parable we see His pleasure with those who multiplied their "talents" and His displeasure with those who wasted the opportunity to expand His Kingdom! He symbolically uses money in this parable because He knew that we would all relate to the Master and the servants as they toil to multiply what they have at their disposal.

Our congregation began an exercise in faith on Sunday, July 19. To live out and illustrate the possibilities of the parable of the talents we gave each family in our church $50. They have 12 weeks to multiply it. They are charged with using their gifts, talents, abilities, energy, time, EVERYTHING at their disposal to expand what God has given them! Then on Sunday, October 4 we will have a celebration offering when we gather in the multiplied "talents"! We will also hear the stories of how people creatively found ways to be faithful with God's money and multiply it! We felt strongly that this was a strong, safe investment of God's money in God's people! We are excited to see what God is about to do as we strive to be and become EVERYTHING He created us to be!

In His Grip,

Pastor John

Bridge Day & Block Party - Sunday, Sepember 13!

Join us Sunday, September 13 for an important day in the life of our congregation and community!

At 10:30 am we want to build a bridge to our community by inviting them to participate with us in our morning worship celebration! We want to celebrate what God is doing in our lives, in our church and in our community!

At noon we will move outside for our first Neighborhood Block Party! There will be live music, food, games...something for all ages! We are inviting local businesses to partner with us to provide a fun and relaxing opportunity for the people, businesses and church of this neighborhood to connect and celebrate life together!

ALL OF THIS...AND IT'S FREE!!

Our congregation believes that God has called us to be agents of reconciliation in our community. Sometimes that means sharing our faith and meeting urgent needs all around us. But sometimes it just means providing environments where our community can join together to share a meal, have a conversation, listen to some music, play and celebrate together! WE HOPE YOU WILL HELP US DO THAT ON SEPTEMBER 13TH!!

Get the word out to friends, family, neighbors and co-workers! We hope to see you Sunday morning, September 13 at 10:30 and that you'll stay for lunch at our first Neighborhood Block Party!

Imagine...

Over the past few weeks we've been imagining what could be if God or His people accomplished some big things like...

Imagine...if all Christians tithed - Did you know that if all Christians around the world tithed their income (gave 10% to the work and mission of the local church and kept 90% for themselves) we would generate approximately 143 Billion dollars more than we currently give! With that money we could fund every church budget, feed, clothe and educate ALL impoverished people around the world for that calendar year, and still have a few billion left over just for evangelistic efforts! Think about that...it is within the power and reach of THE CHURCH to eradicate poverty in our lifetime! God's Word encourages us to give...period. It doesn't demand a certain dollar amount or even (in the New Testament) a certain percentage. But we now know that if we could live on 90% and give away 10% we could change the world for millions of people...in one year. Just imagine...

Imagine...if we saw "the church" as being for them and not for us - You might ask, "what do you mean "them" and "us"?" What we mean is that Jesus intended the purpose and work of the church to be primarily for the lost and hurting people of the world. It was through evangelistic and benevolent ministry that we would connect with people who needed God's intervention in their lives! But over the centuries we have slowly and subtly fallen into a club mentality. A mentality which says, "Hey, this is my club, I give the money to support it, it should be and do what I want it to be and do for me!" This is very, very far from Jesus' hope and dream for His church. It's not about fun events for Christians, it's not about night after night of Bible studies and classes for people who have been in the church for years and years. It's about ministry and discipleship that makes a difference in the lives of people who are far from God or who are hurting, downtrodden, sick or lonely. The purpose of "the church" is to be the people who carry out those ministries, not to just be the beneficiary of them! Imagine if we were not only hearers...but doers of the Word...just imagine...

Imagine...If God Brings Revival to His Church - Throughout biblical history and throughout modern history God has chosen times, places and people to revive spiritually so they could be equipped and empowered to do 2 primary things: 1) Know Him and glorify Him more! 2) Accomplish His mission in the world! If you do a Google search on "Revival"or "Christian Revival" you will find countless articles and descriptions of how and when God has done this over the years in nearly every part of the world! Why should we not imagine that He will do it now...for us? We cannot push a revival button and make it happen. Only God has the ability to revive His church! But we do know that some common denominators were always in place when God chose to bring revival to a group of people: 1) Waiting on God 2) Praying for Revival 3) Preparing our hearts and lives for it 4) Repentance for those things that have been barriers to God using us 5) Requests for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven 6) Resistance to the attacks of the world, the flesh and the devil as they battle against the church and against the purposes of God! Imagine if God brings revival to His church in Mooresville...in the United States of America...and in the world! Just imagine...

This coming Sunday we will be finishing this month-long series with Imagine...If Jesus' dreams for His church came true - What were some of the dreams that Jesus had for His people, His church? Have they come true? Can we be a part of helping them come true? Is there some tangible way that we can participate in the dreams of our Savior? The answer to all of the above (we believe) is YES! In fact, we're going to look at one particular dream of Jesus: That his people would multiply the gifts, talents and resources He gave them to accomplish great things in this world for His sake! And you will have an opportunity to actually live that dream out in a very tangible way beginning this Sunday...join us and find out how!

For His Sake,

Pastor John & Pastor Jeremy

Prayer for the Taylor Family & for Grace Church

Tonight Mooresville Church of God is grieving with Jim & Sharon Taylor and the entire Grace Church (Mooresville) family. Jim and Sharon's son, Jarrod, died this afternoon (Saturday, July 11). Please join us in praying for the Taylor family, all of their close friends, Grace Church and for our entire community. Jim & Sharon are special people and have become vital leaders in the Mooresville Community. Our hearts are heavy for our friends, colleagues in ministry and brothers and sisters in Christ. Jim and Sharon we love you and extend our hearts and our hands to help and support you during these challenging days!

With much love,

Mooresville Church of God

A 2 Sunday Challenge!!

Here's 2 Sundays you don't want to miss! In fact, 2 Sundays we NEED you here!

This Sunday, July 12th: As we continue our "Imagine" series we are asking you to imagine...if God brings revival to us! Can you imagine it? But more importantly...can you believe that He wants to? Join us as we seek Him together and implore Him to pour out His Spirit in a fresh, new, exciting way!

Next Sunday, July 19th: You do not want to miss this Sunday! Something will happen that may have never occurred at MCHOG before...we are going to hand out money! You heard right...hand out money. You need to be there to find out why, how much, the purpose and the plan!

Listen...God is moving at Mooresville Church of God! Isaiah 43:19 says, "See I am doing a new thing, now it springs up, do you not perceive it?" Another way to put is, "Can you imagine it?" God goes on to say in Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Let's see what God will do over these next few weeks!

In His Grip,

Pastor John

Family Bonds: The State of Our Church Family

The state of our church family at Mooresville Church of God is:

1) Growing - Numerically and Spiritually!

2) Hungry - We are getting hungry for community impact, healthy relationships with each other and to experience the manifest presence of God in our lives and ministry!

3) Getting Focused - We are steadily getting focused spiritually, in our ministry plan, and on God's call to us as a congregation!

Because of these truths we can say that the state of our church family is:

1) Strong!
2) Good!
3) Forward Moving!

So if this is all true, then some natural questions arise:

1) Where do we go from here?

I believe we stay focused on the major calls of God, including:

- The Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) - This is the heart of what God is trying to do in the world through His church!

- The Great Commandment (Mark 12:30-31) - This is at the heart of HOW we accomplish the Great Commission; by loving God with all that we are and then loving others in the same way!

- The Early Church Model (Acts 2:42-47) - If this happened once...it can happen again! The passion, determination, power and effectveness of the 1st Century Church can be ours today!

2) What should we be doing?

I believe Jesus' words to His disciples in Acts 1:4-14 detail what we should be doing immediately...Wait...Pray...Prepare! Wait on God to empower, equip and direct us! Pray daily, moment by moment, every chance we get, for this to happen SOON! And prepare our hearts and minds so that when God pours our His Holy Spirit in a new, fresh way, empowering us to do new ministry with new effectiveness, we are ready to act!

3) What are the keys to effective ministry that will change the world?

There are many things we could list: Faith, love, patience, all the fruits of the Spirit and many other godly traits and practices! However, from a "big picture" perspective there are two primary keys:

- Prayer - Jesus said that His house should be called a "house of prayer". We should be crying out to God in prayer, asking Him to empower, equip, resource and lead His church in such an obvious way that we can't miss it, that we will do it, and that we will succeed in it! If we don't ask, seek and knock...God will not answer! We must labor in prayer until God moves and acts on our behalf!

- The Holy Spirit - In his book "Fresh Power", Jim Cymbala says, "The degree to which we understand and experience the Spirit of God will be the exact degree to which God's plan for our churches will be accomplished". God then says in Zechariah 4:6, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty"! We can try every invention of humanity, but until God's Spirit moves in a fresh, empowering way, we will not succeed in our efforts to change the world!

4) What will inspire God to send a fresh outpouring of His Holy Spirit?

We are planning a preaching series about these things in the next few months (that's how important we believe an understanding of these godly actions are!):

- Brokenness - This is allowing ourselves to be humbled before the Lord. To be broken open so His Spirit can flow out of us!

- Repentance - This is consciously choosing to turn and live differently than we presently are in order to be better used by God for His purposes! Repentance is a key to knowing and following Jesus Christ effectively!

- Surrender - This is choosing selflessness. This is following in Jesus footsteps by saying, "not my will, Father, but Yours be done!"

- Holiness - This is growing in Christlikeness; being set apart for God's purposes; conforming every aspect of who we are and how we live to God's will and desires for us as His children! And it springs from brokenness, repentance and surrender!

- Praise - Everything we are about, everything we do, everything we are should lead to glorifying and praisinng God! Only He is worthy of praise! Everything should eventually, always lead to us praising Him!

Let's begin with prayer and call out to God for Him to give us a fresh empowering of His Spirit and then let's change the world as we act in obedience on His call for His church to make disciples! As we do that together, a beautiful community of faith continues to develop and God is glorified! Let's get praying together...

In His Grip,

Pastor John