Category: Ministry

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A Stepping Stone

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Friday night, we had our first annual adult Christmas party for New Passion Church. I believe it was a major stepping stone for our church and that this one little party could serve as a huge turning point for us.

I believe relationships are the key to success in any church and in any ministry. I remember starting small groups in our student ministry at a former church. I believed in creating smaller environments where our growing group of students could be known and cared for. It worked. I remember our high school group starting in Billy’s 3 bedroom apartment. We had 4 and 5 groups meeting in that one apartment. We utilized bedrooms, the living room, the kitchen…anywhere we could fit kids, we did it.

They were successful. I believe for several reasons. Students felt like they were involved, they found out that there were caring adults who were genuinely concerned for them, and they grew spiritually. I think this environment made it comfortable for students to invite their friends, therefore we grew even more.

I saw some great chemistry on Friday night. Wives who literally just met were standing around talking as if they were friends for 18 years. People who literally come through the doors of the school where we meet, drop their kid off, attend service, pick their kid up, and leave for home (in that specific order) were able to stop for a little while and interact with our team and with other people from the church. There was a lot of smiles and a lot of laughter. It was a great night. Sunday rolled around and some of those same people who are in and out of the church in a flash, slowed down just a little bit and enjoyed conversation with some of their new friends from the church. There was a buzz surrounding our Community Groups which will be kicking off on January 10, 2010.

I believe healthy relationships are a key ingredient to a healthy church, and I believe Friday night’s party helped add that ingredient to New Passion Church…I can’t wait to see what happens once our groups get off the ground. New Passion will be an unstoppable force! I guarantee it 🙂

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Drink Coffee. Do Good

Every two months, we at New Passion Church focus on a new missions organization that we can promote to our people so they know the opportunities that exist outside of the walls of the church where they can help create revolutionary change, either through their local influence or their global influence. In December & January, we’ve decided to focus on “Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee.“

A lot of people drink coffee…minus me. So, we figured this is not only a practical way for people to do good by doing something they already do. It is also an opportunity to include others in their efforts with the Christmas and Winter season upon us. When people drink coffee from “Land of a Thousand Hills” they help genocide survivors from Rwanda and their families earn a fair wage for their labor in the coffee fields, they provide ministry opportunities for the villages, and they get a fresh, premium cup of coffee.

We’ve got several neat things in store for our missions focus with “Land of a Thousand Hills,” so if you are in or around Grovetown in December and January….find your way to New Passion and join us!

Learn more about Drinking Coffee and Doing Good. Order Coffee and Merchandise from Land of a Thousand Hills.

Here’s one more video, it talks about the people of Rwanda working side by side now thanks to the coffee cooperatives. Check it out!


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Showing A Little Turkey Love Update

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Don’t underestimate God!

On Friday I posted about how New Passion is “Showing A Little Turkey Love” this Thanksgiving in the city of Grovetown by providing complete Thanksgiving meals (Turkey & all of the fixin’s) for families who are in need during the Holidays.

Our ministry partner, United We Care, received 35 applications for assistance, so we set a goal of 15 complete meals for our church, we then raised it to 30 to challenge ourselves to embrace a faith that’s bigger than ourselves. As of Friday our brand new (little) church bought 20 complete meals, today we added 5 more!!! Our deadline to collect the money has passed, so total New Passion bought 25 complete Thanksgiving meals for 25 families in Grovetown, who otherwise would have had nothing. What if we would have settled for the 15? 🙂

New Passion…you all rock and I am extremely proud of you for helping create revolutionary change in our city!

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Showing A Little Turkey Love

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Hey New Passion peeps…just a quick note to say that you Rock!

For those who may be wondering what ONE:27 is, especially with a Turkey head attached, I’ll explain! We call our monthly service initiatives ONE:27, from James 1:27 that says, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress…” – our heartbeat is to care for those who are in distress, regardless of what their needs are. I believe that  through the various gifts, talents, and resources of the church there is no issue that can go unresolved if we’ll just put Jesus’ teachings into action.

New Passion is going into our 10th week this Sunday. Our attendance has been very sporadic. We’ve had very low weeks in attendance and then better weeks in attendance. Our November initiative was to provide complete Thanksgiving meals for families who are in desperate financial need in Grovetown. I initially set a goal with some of our team to provide 15 complete turkey dinners, but then decided to shoot for a higher number, so we challenged our people to provide 30 meals. The local organization, United We Care, that we’ve partnered with only received 35 applications from families seeking assistance. As of this past Sunday, our brand new church (through the little we have in missions funds and through the gifts of our people) provided 20 of those 35 meals. Other churches in the area who have also partnered with UWC will help provide the remaining meals (I secretly was hoping we wouldn’t leave them any 🙂 ). New Passion, I truly believe we are the Little Engine that Could…and I believe God is going to do some amazing things through this church.

What’s Next?

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Praying Small and Selfishly

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“So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” Matthew 9:38

I read a devotion today in My Utmost For His Highest. It was talking about the key for a missionary in carrying out the Master’s orders.  The focus was on prayer and how prayer seems foolish to us. I guess I got a little sidetracked and off focus, because Oswald Chambers said, “From Jesus Christ’s perspective, there are no nations, but only the world.”

I am guilty of praying small and selfish prayers. I see the big need that New Passion has as a new, small church for volunteers and laborers for the harvest in Grovetown, the surrounding area, and the world. I try my hardest to pray for local churches as well as churches throughout the nation and the world. However, when it come to praying for laborers, I fall short of thinking “the world” and I think “my nation” (New Passion Church). I don’t think I’ve ever prayed that God would provide the laborers for churches in Alabama or South Dakota, or China, or Germany, or the church down the street.

My heart desires to be Kingdom minded, but often times I find myself selfishly living out a small view of God. I know that we are a small piece of Christ’s puzzle called the church. We are no greater than any other church and we are no less. May we continue to join arms for the common cause of the Gospel.

Join the Conversation…What’s your biggest struggle in being Kingdom minded?