The Space Between

Check out this video from Pete Wilson, lead pastor at Cross Point Church, in Nashville, TN.

This message (Relentlessly Dedicated) is from Cross Point’s 3D DNA series.

If you are a Christ Follower and it doesn’t inspire you…I truly don’t know what to say. Watch it. Be inspired. Do something!

I pray God would use our community of faith at New Passion to make the kind of impact Cross Point has locally and globally in our area.

Reflections from the message:

  • The reference Pete made about 6 pennies, are you okay with that?
  • Pete referenced the average missions giving from the church was 2% and the average from individuals to the church was 2% – Are you okay with that?
  • Are you bored?
  • Do you buy into the consumerism approach to church? It’s got to fit within your mileage, its got to fit within your schedule, all of the programs, the style, the music has to fit you like a glove? Has church become about you?
  • How do you look at missions? Is it a program of the church? A great idea? Something you do when it fits your schedule and your budget? Or is it a part of your DNA?
  • How would your opinion about your problems change if you knew God would use it for his glory in the life of another person? (I.E. God used shadrach meshach and abednego in the fiery furnace to open the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar)

New Passion is Moving to Patriots Park

we-are-moving-header

Hey New Passion Friends!

We’ve been talking over the last three weeks about our move to Patriots Park on Sunday, September 12. I can’t wait! Many of you have expressed to me your excitement for this opportunity we have as a church. To make it even more exciting, we are also celebrating our 1 year birthday as a church on this same Sunday!

To be honest, I was worried at first because typically when a church makes a big decision that God is leading them to, there are those detractors who let their displeasure of the decision be known to the world, and since we didn’t have any detractors within the church, I was a little worried whether or not this may be the opportunity from God that I thought it was. But then I was encouraged by Joshua 1. (vs 1-9) God gives specific instructions to Joshua (vs 10-15) Joshua passes those instructions on to the people and then in verse 16 the Scripture says this, “They [the people] answered Joshua, “We will do whatever you command us, and we will go wherever you send us.” I now believe that you, our New Passion family, are like those Israelites, and are simply in-tune to what God is leading us to as a church!

Here’s Some of the Important Stuff You Need to Know:

  1. We are throwing a Birthday Bash for our people and the Community after service on the 12th to celebrate what God has done in and though New Passion in our first year. We want to highlight the memories while looking to the future of what God’s going to do next!
  2. We need you to sign-up to help with the Birthday Bash! This is one opportunity that we have to represent Jesus to our community. Go Here to sign-up as a volunteer, to loan us equipment, or to send us a birthday gift to help with the expenses.
  3. Our promo door hangers will be in very last minute as I said in our previous emails due to confirmations we had to wait on. When they arrive I am sending out a Red Alert Email with the various opportunities where you can meet us and hit the neighborhoods between their arrival and the 12th. It is vital, if you can help, to come and help us get the word out.
  4. Just-in case anyone else is wondering: We are not moving due to problems (a) in attendance (b) financially or (c) Fill in the Blank.
  5. In fact, we’ve grown 260% since our launch on September 13, 2009 and 13% over the last 5-weeks. If anything, that made the decision to move a little tougher!

The Pros

  • We can set-up some Saturday evenings (if we need to) and we can set-up earlier on Sunday mornings for one set price. At the school we had to pay for each hour and for every room.
  • Patriots Park is going to allow us to utilize some of their storage space and leave one of our trailers on the property, this will eliminate the need to carry two trailers on Sunday, everything will be at the location.
  • All of our PassionKidz areas will have A/C and heat. The Grove, our worship environment for birth – PreK, had to utilize the hallways at the school where there  is no A/C or Heat.
  • Cheaper. Yes, we’ve grown, but we were still limited on what we could do as a church. The rent at the school was extremely expensive and due to our limited start-up funds, we’ve used everything extra to get where we are today in equipment and supplies (Praise God we have been able to pay the rent and do the missions we’ve done throughout our first year – it’s been amazing!) – This will free us up to start saving towards a building (down the road), adding staff (down the road), and increase our missions involvement (Right Away!).
  • We believe the change in location will help open new opportunities to lead more people to a passionate relationship with Jesus!
  • The larger meeting space allows us to grow without having to add a second service too soon.
  • The contract with the school had one more year, which means we would have had to have a new location picked out within about 6-9 months, now we are set longer term if we need it until we can find a more permanent location in the future.
  • Padded Chairs 🙂

The Cons

  • Our worship service will be held approximately 6 miles outside of where we desire to minister long-term, in the city of Grovetown (we’re still in G-town, just on the outskirts now), however, God is bigger than 6 miles and one small overpass. Our local missions focus will still be in the city, so our team is not concerned with the short distance (God’s brought us this far, and if you asked a lot of the people who knew we were starting a church 12 months ago, if we’d survive, if they were honest, they would probably tell you they didn’t. We’re cool with that. And that is why we keep trusting God and not the opinions of man!).
  • That’s all….

So, there it is! If you have not done so already go ahead and subscribe to this blog via email so you can get any additional updates on our move directly in your inbox, as well, any additional thoughts on life, leadership, and ministry from Nick!

Year 2, here we come!

I Give You Permission…

Dear New Passion,

This Sunday as we join together at our worship service, I give you permission to…

Bottom-line…I give you permission to come Sunday with a heart of worship and the freedom to express it to God!

One Prayer Coming in June

one-prayerI cannot wait for June. I love the One Prayer Series and was a part of a church before New Passion that participated in One Prayer since it began in 2008. New Passion is joining the crowd this year and cannot wait to participate! Here is a description of what One Prayer is all about:

This June, believers around the world are standing together in unity for One Prayer 2010. Thousands of churches will join forces to share resources, serve our communities, and give to a meaningful cause. As we come together across continents and cultures, we’ll have the opportunity to leave a permanent imprint of Christ on the world.

  • One Prayer lasts from June 5/6 to 26/27.
  • Churches will have access to free video messages from gifted teachers and pastors.
  • Other free resources such as graphics and videos will be available.
  • Churches are encouraged to team up with other churches in their area for outreach and service projects during One Prayer.
  • Churches can collect an optional offering during One Prayer to benefit the organization of their choice.
  • There is no cost to participate in One Prayer, though a free registration is required.

Sign up for One Prayer 2010: http://2010.oneprayer.com/join

Thank You New Passion and Friends

supplies-in-vanHey New Passion Church and our friends who jumped in with us to help out Cross Point Church with their flood relief efforts! I just want to express how thankful I am to you all for caring enough for other people that you would sacrifice your time and money to send a van full of supplies and a financial gift to a church you may never visit and to a people you may never meet.

That’s what real love is all about.

The Good Samaritan helped a complete stranger who was overlooked by everyone else when he needed serious help. We love helping those who we know, but I believe it is an even stronger reflection of Jesus when we are just as willing to help those we don’t know, and at that, just like the Good Samaritan, go above and beyond just helping.

I really hoped that we could have done more to help in this situation. The news ran a story, the Christian radio even promoted what we were doing, yet the response came down to our church and a few of our friends, so thank you!

Here is what you did by the numbers:

  • $1,700 Financial Gift – This is huge! This was raised in less than a week and it is equivalent to half of our monthly income as a church (our monthly rent at the school for 4-weeks is $1,740)
  • 35+ Cases of Water
  • 3 Wheelbarrows
  • 8 Bottles of Bleach
  • 15 Pairs of Gloves
  • 48 Rolls of Toilet Paper
  • 7 Plastic Containers
  • A bunch of Cleaning Supplies (Sponges, Buckets, Etc.)
  • 3 Utility Knives with Replacement Blades
  • 2 Crowbars
  • 2 Flashlights
  • And a bunch of random items to help

2010-05-10-190213Not too shabby for a church that turned 9 months old this past Sunday and who runs an average of 80-85 people, half of which are children.

Pete Wilson, lead pastor of Cross Point, sent me this message: “Dude!!!!!! I was blown away by the financial gift you guys gave. Holy cow that was generous. Thanks so much Nick. Your church is amazing!!”

Ryan Bult, Missions Director of Cross Point, was very grateful for everything you all did, he expressed it many times to Billy and me personally.

Everyone who we talked to  who is in the middle of this crisis and are trying to put their lives back together again expressed their gratitude for your sacrifice and gratitude for them. Your love for them was evident in our being present and delivering the items you donated.

This crisis is not over! We will continue to partner with Cross Point in the future. Billy and I are discussing our best approach, so stay tuned as we reveal the next phase of our Nashville Flood Relief Effort. We’ll also talk more about this Sunday!

Thank you all…I’m proud of you all!