Tom Brady Interview: "There Has to Be More Than This"

This is a revealing "60 Minutes" interview of Tom Brady, where he reflects on his massive success and fame, but laments, "There has to be more than this." When the interviewer asks what it is, Brady replies, "I wish I knew." So, regardless of who wins tonight's Super Bowl, there will be something more. The victory will not fulfill or satisfy ultimately. Tomorrow will dawn and the ache in the soul will remain. It is an ache that can only be satisfied by the gospel, where we look not to our own success and glory, but the success and glory of another. It is when we finally begin to understand the cross that we begin to finally experience that "something more."

HT: Daniel Staub

The Movement of Grace

In The Gospel-Centered Life discipleship curriculum, the authors provide a graphic to describe the movement of grace in and through the life of a believer. We discover that grace is personal and internal. But it is also public and external. The point: grace goes somewhere. It is dynamic, not static. This is not a bad diagnostic for evaluating the gospel vitality of my heart. If there is no outflow, it is likely that the problem is with the inflow. Since gospel faith leads to gospel fruit, I should focus on the personal inworking of grace in my life before trying to manipulate the external outworking of grace. In other words, when the gospel begins to work in me, it eventually will flow through me. That is the movement, or propulsion, of grace.

A Practical Demonstration of Grace on December 17

Creekstone's Gift-Wrapping Mission
By wrapping presents for busy parents next Saturday in front of Wal-Mart, we will be offering more than a great service—we will be offering a practical demonstration of grace. Our gift wrapping can’t be purchased by those in need. It can't be earned. It can only be accepted, just like God’s gift of redemption to us in Jesus.

* To participate, just email mission project coordinator, Rick Nielsen, at nielsenFM@inpo.org. See below for items you can donate.

How Will the Mission Work?
The mission will be in a tent front-and-center outside of Wal-Mart. “Elves” (adults) will greet and direct shoppers exiting the store to the gift wrapping tent. Wrappers will wrap gifts and engage the shoppers in conversation. The key to this is to explain why we’re wrapping gifts for free. There are no strings attached. We won’t take payment, tips, or promote our church (though we’ll tell about it if asked and hand out a small invitation card.)

Two-Hour Shifts
We have four two-hour shifts, ranging from 10:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m. Currently, we have wrappers filling the first three shifts, but need more for the 4:00 to 6:00 shift. We also need elf help for each shift, and people who can help set up and take down at the end (after 6:00 p.m.).

15-Minute Training Session This Sunday
There will be a very short “training” discussion right after worship service this Sunday (Dec 11). It will take less than 15 minutes.

What We Need
Gift wrapping paper, boxes (for wrapping clothing, etc.), ribbon, and tags.

Five tables and 15 chairs

Coffee/hot chocolate service

CD player

Four trash cans

Four kerosene heaters

Lots of paper

Lots of ribbon

Lots of tape

Lots of labels

10 elf hats

* To dontate items, please bring them this Sunday, or contact coordinator, Rick Nielsen at nielsenFM@inpo.org.

Want to Participate?
Care to join in? Please contact Rick at nielsenFM@inpo.org.

Mission and Discipleship

Thanks to Craig Salee for sending me to Mike Breen's blog, where he says that the mission of the church will fail without a conscious, intentional focus on discipleship.

Here is a quote:

"There is a reason so many movements in the Western church have failed in the past century: They are a car without an engine. A missional church or a missional community or a missional small group is the new car that everyone is talking about right now, but no matter how beautiful or shiny the vehicle, without an engine, it won’t go anywhere. So what is the engine of the church? Discipleship. I’ve said it many times: If you make disciples, you will always get the church. But if you try to build the church, you will rarely get disciples."

Here is the entire blog post. Let me know what you think.

"Mission Impossible" – A 3-Week Summer Sermon Series Beginning This Sunday

One of Creekstone's three core commitments is Organic Mission. As our philosophy of ministry statement says:

We will encourage all the folks in the church to see themselves as missionaries, word and deed ambassadors of the gospel. With that missional mindset, we will emphasize what it means to be “salt and light” in the context of our organic, relational spheres of influence. As Marva Dawn says, “Being Church means following a way of life... Evangelism happens as we go about our daily lives—to work, to the grocery store, to school, to the neighbor’s house for tea—we live the gospel. We speak it freely... We incarnate it. We display a joy in following Jesus and his Way that invites our neighbors to consider the truth of his life in us.”

So for the next three weeks, as we prepare for a new ministry/school year, I am going to teach a summer mini-sermon series entitled, "Mission Impossible," knowing that with us, the mission is impossible. But with God, nothing is impossible, especially when empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit. So as we study Jonah, I want us to see the compelling motive for mission, the core message of the mission as well as the potential impact and influence of the mission. I think you will be encouraged and maybe even inspired to take up the challenge. You just may be more qualified than you think!

When the Gospel Goes Viral

We've all seen YouTube videos that have gone viral. They get forwarded and forwarded and forwarded, until literally millions of people have seen the video. We are praying that the gospel goes viral in Dahlonega and Lumpkin County. One way that will happen is when people who have been deeply affected by the gospel begin forwarding invitations for others to experience the counterintuitive, yet transformative message of God's grace in Jesus.

So, if you are a Creekstone regular, or have attended a Sunday gathering just once, but plan to return, would you take a mintue today to send an invitation to someone else to join you tomorrow? Tell them you'll meet them out front and sit with them. I'll try to be out front, too, and would love to meet your friends.

Encountering the grace-centerdness of Creekstone's music, and what I think will be a distinctively helpful message for many, just might be a combination that the Spirit uses to help fulfill our mission, which is "to glorify God by helping people come alive to the wonder of the gospel."

If the life-giving disease of grace is beginning to affect you, help us make it go viral. Forward it to a friend today.

Creekstone meets Sundays at 10:30 a.m. at the Lumpkin County High School Performing Arts Center. Click here for a map.

Click here to visit Creektone's website.

Click here to join Creekstone's Facebook page.

Ambassadors of Grace • 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 (audio & handout)

Here is today's message for those in the nursery, those in the children's room, or those providentially hindered from attending. This is the final message is our three-part series preparing us for Creekstone's "Grand Opening" morning service next Sunday, Aug. 22nd. The message may also be downloaded from the Creekstone website's media page media page or the Creekstone page on iTunes.

(download)

Keep Your Eyes Open

It has been so incredibly cool to see people making new friends through Creekstone over the past months. However, when we begin to connect with special friends, it can become difficult to keep our eyes open for new folks. Nevertheless, I want us to be intentionally missional, okay? Be on the lookout for guests and visitors this (and every) Sunday—not to mention friends, neighbors, etc. during the week. Imagine what it is like to walk into a new place with new people. Let's not let anyone be invisible, but welcome everyone personally. Let's keep our eyes open.

"Hey, great to see you this morning! Please take a bulletin and get a nametag. We're all kind of new here, and glad that you were able to make it today."

"How did you hear about Creekstone? Do you know anyone else who is connected here?"

"Are you from Dahlonega, or did you drive in from out of town?"

"Let me show you where the nursery is."

"We have plenty of coffee and snacks. Let me show you where they are."

"___________, let me introduce you to, ____________. She also has family in Florida."

Okay, these are shallow, entry level personal connection statements. But I think you get the idea. There are 10,000 ways to make someone feel welcome and special. Someone did it for us, so let's pass on the love!

And if you and a group are planning to get together for lunch after the service. Consider asking someone new to join you. Hey, let me know, and my crew will plan to join you as well. :)

Belonging Before Believing

Len Sweet, in Soul Tsunami, says, "Try-before-you-buy postmoderns will not first find the meaning of faith in Christ and then participate in the life of the church. Rather, they will participate first and then discern the meaning of faith." In our language at Creekstone, we say that those who are not Christians are encouraged to "belong before they believe." To participate in the life of the church, they do not need to change their beliefs or behaviors, because we want to be a safe place for anyone to ask honest questions as they explore and consider the claims of the gospel.

The iPad and Mission/Evangelism

I had a conversation this week with a friend who shared that he had been reading an author who believed that preaching with too much of an emphasis on grace will adversely affect the mission of the church. He said that grace will lead to laziness, license and apathy with regard to the command to evangelize. I immediately thought of the new iPad- seriously! I watched the entire Apple Keynote presentation on the iPad, and was totally blown away. I can hardly stop talking about it. Others have only watched a snippet, or heard about it second hand, and THINK they understand iPad technology. Therefore, they are not that impressed. I realized that is the way it is with the gospel and mission. The problem with a lack of mission is not that we’ve made the gospel too good (too much grace). The problem is that we have not made it good enough! In preaching we only show snippets, and people think they get it—but it doesn't blow them away. I think that the only way mission will be set free from the umbrella of guilt and duty is if we see the grace of Jesus more like the full iPad presentation. Revolutionary. Captivating. Life altering. No longer will I see life from a religious grid where I am forgiven, accepted and blessed on the basis of MY obedience and sacrifice. I will have a new lens on life, whereby in the gospel, I am forgiven, accepted and blessed COMPLETELY on the basis of the obedience and sacrifice of Jesus. This is the gospel. Revolutionary. Captivating. Life altering. It is not something that I have to share. It is something that I am compelled to share. It is the propulsion of grace.

mckaycaston.com

Living All of Life in View of the Cross

Filed under: mission