The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

When I was young I remember watching the classic movie, "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly," on a little twelve inch black and white TV my dad brought back with him from Vietnam. The title of that western perfectly describes what has been happening in our church this week. Here's some good news, bad news, and ugly news...

The Good

There are a lot good things happening in our church as we head into fall. This week we had teams serving meals again at Powerhouse Ministries here in Folsom. Powerhouse serves families in our community who are in need and often homeless. Thank you to everyone who provided meals and served so faithfully. Joe Tilchen coordinated our meals service this week! Thank you Joe!

Another great thing that is happening is that our Youth Group is up and running and doing great! Steve Caler and the team (Tim Zsoka, Eunike Jonathan, Heidi Potter, Dennis Frelick, and Becky Kraemer) have been doing a great job helping the kids through our summer transition. They have been averaging about 20 High School students on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights and about 10 Middle School Students on Sunday AM. We now have separate Middle School and High School groups each Sunday morning. Next Wednesday (8/27), Steve's having a parents meeting to update everyone about about some of the exciting Winter Camps that are in the works and the great things planned for the fall. As Martha Stewart would say, this definitely a "good thing."

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I also want to give you an update on the special fund for Walter & Nellie Bergmann that I wrote about in June. As of today, we have raised just under $1900 for the Bergmann's and their need for help with their immigration status. On behalf of the Bergmann family I want to say a special thank you to everyone who contributed to this special need. If you would like more information or would like to contribute to this special need you can find out more info by clicking here (http://newsongchristian.blogspot.com/2008/06/special-need-walter-nellie-bergmann.html)

I also want to celebrate last Sunday at church! We had an incredible day! Andrea and the team did a great job leading us in worship. At the end, a whole bunch of people decided to give their lives to Christ and I am following up with several people who want to be baptized. God is moving in our church in a powerful way. Last Sunday, I was especially excited as a friend that Susan and I have been talking to, Lindsay, crossed the line of faith and received Jesus forgiveness. Lindsay is probably going to be baptized in the coming weeks!

I believe that God is moving in our church and we are seeing people come to Christ because we are being so deliberate about seeking him and his will. With that in mind, I want to invite everyone to a Special Prayer Time on Friday, September 5th at 6:30 PM at our Ministry Center. We are going to pray like crazy that God puts his hand on New Song so that we'll be a healthy church that never stops growing and giving him glory. I hope you can join me for this special night of prayer!

I am also excited about our upcoming New Song Live! event on Sunday, August 31st! We are having church and a picnic in the park at Catlin Park (10:30 AM). This is a great chance to invite a friend that you have been sharing Christ with. We'll have music, food, and I'll be sharing a special interactice message that will be a great chance for you to get to know other people at New Song. It will also be a great way for someone you know who is not following Christ to hear the good news of Jesus and experience His love. In my experience, someone who might not be open to church on Sunday may be open to church at the park. We'll have lots of hamburgers, hot dogs, and specialty meats from Travis Potter. Pray this week about who God wants you to invite!

The Bad

In the last few weeks, many people in our church family have seen unexpected deaths in their extended family. Please pray for encouragement for Bob & Joymay Chipman, Kingsley & Caroline Chigbu, James & Lilly Vickers, Rob & Amie Porter, and Brenda Peterson as each of recently them lost close family members. Each of these families lost a mom, or dad, or close relative to an unexpected death. They have been traveling to funerals all over the country and should be back with our church in the next week. If you have a moment I'd like to encourage you to send them a card or give them a call to encourage them. When you see them at church make sure to give them a hug and please pray for them to experience God's encouragement too. I lost the last of my grandparents in 2006-2007 and I know the pain and sense of disorientation of losing those that you love. One of the biggest things that helped me was the love and support I felt from our church family. I am praying that these families are encouraged in the same way.

The Ugly

In the last week, God has put an incredible burden on my heart for those who are far away from God. I have stayed awake at night thinking about all the people around us who don't know Jesus. People who are lost, and destined to spend eternity apart from God. God loves each and everyone of them so much that he sent his Son Jesus to die for them. As I prayed about this God overwhelmed me with an ugly truth. Most Christians (myself included) are distracted from this reality and are focused on themselves. We often love our church because it makes us feel good, or because it helps our kids, or because it has something we like. We focus on our needs and church shop and become consumers who forget that the whole thing is about Jesus dying on the cross to save people. Jesus didn't die on the cross so that we could have a better life. Jesus died to save people from hell, and the ugly part is we often lost sight of this because we just want a better life for us or our children. God challenged me again this week that it's all about sharing the good news of Jesus with people who need his love and forgiveness. On Tuesday, I had lunch with a friend who is Hindu. We compared and contrasted the messages of Hinduism and Jesus. As we sat in Chili's reading Ephesians 2:8-10 together the power of God's grace overwhelmed me. So many people need to know that we don't go to heaven by trying hard to be good. We have a relationship with God because of what Jesus did for us on the cross! The ugly truth is that many Christians (including me) don't talk about that much because we are focused on using God and/or church to make our lives better.