Tag: New Passion Church

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Monday Rewind

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Sermon Series: Life. Money. Hope.

Sermon Title: “Money Talks”

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-21; Genesis 4:1-7

The Biblical truths in week 1’s  sermon must be grasped in order to fully apply the rest of the messages we will hear from Dave Ramsey in the next three weeks.

  1. The way we manage money COMMUNICATES our inward value system
  • Jesus, has a perfect record as a financial adviser
  • Matthew 6:19 – Jesus advises that the foolish way to invest our money is on earthly things. Everything on earth has an expiration date; it breaks down, devalues and you can’t take it with you to Heaven.
  • Matthew 6:20 – Jesus advises that the wisest way to invest our money is in heavenly things; in advancing the Kingdom of God through the gospel. Heavenly things are eternal and will never expire

A. Our financial investments communicate what’s most IMPORTANT to us

Matthew 6:21“Wherever your treasure (money) is (Earthly Investments or Heavenly Investments), there the desires of your heart (what’s important to you) will also be.”

  • (Gen 4:1-2) Adam and Eve are blessed by God with two sons, Cain and Abel
  • (Gen 4:2) Cain and Abel both grew up and took on jobs; Cain and farmer and Abel a shepherd
  • (Gen 4:3-4) At harvest (payday) both Cain & Abel brought a gift (offering) to the Lord out of the product of their labors (paycheck)
  • Gen 4:3) Cain brought SOME of his crops to the Lord as an offering
  • Gen 4:4) Abel brought the FIRST and the BEST of his flock as an offering

Cain’s gift of just some of his crops as an offering to the Lord reveals that he put little thought and little heart into his gift

People who just give some of their resources back to God don’t have a GIVING problem; they have a WORSHIP problem.

  • The root of every sin is a worship problem.

Abel’s offering was an offering rooted in his worship of God. It required effort and a lot of thought.

  • Abel’s offering of the first and the best of his flock required great faith on Abel’s part. He did not know what the rest of his flock would produce after his offering; this required total reliance on God.
  • When we tithe and give God the first and the best of the resources he has blessed us with, we should do so in worship of God and in faith, trusting that he will provide everything we need with the remaining 90%

Hebrews 11:4 It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did [read rest of verse]

  • TITHING has nothing to do with rules and everything to do with FAITH
  • Notice: God did not take issue with how Cain & Abel used their remaining resources, it was the offering that he accepted or rejected because it was this offering that revealed the condition of their heart and the condition of their worship.
  • Cain did not have a giving problem…he had a worship problem
  • If you are not giving God your first and your best, you don’t have a giving problem…you have a worship problem, too.

(Gen. 4:4-7) “Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you.” – When we are out of line in our worship of God it opens us up to being controlled and overtaken by other sin.

  • Cain was eventually overtaken and controlled by sin; he murdered his brother Abel.
  • Cain’s sin began when he worshiped the creation of God over God, who created all things.
  • Our sin begins with the same improper worship of God.

Practical Take-Home Truths:

  1. Earthly INVESTMENTS will not survive; heavenly investments last FOREVER
  2. An HONEST inventory of how I manage my money will reveal what I value most in life
  3. God deserves my FIRST and my BEST not just SOME and the REST
  4. Giving my first and best involves: WORSHIP, FAITH and OBEDIENCE
  5. My mismanagement of God’s resources is not a GIVING problem; it’s a WORSHIP problem
  6. My giving PROTECTS my heart from being overtaken by sin

 

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Christmas is in the Air….

It’s that time of the year and Christmas is in the air! That can only mean one thing, it’s time for the Annual Adult Christmas Party at New Passion Church. This is definitely a night at New Passion you do not want to miss, in fact, we boast a 100% satisfaction rate from all previous attendees. This is a great night of laughs, good food and opportunities to meet new people and hangout with familiar faces. You can sign-up on our Christmas Party page, just tell us how many will be in your party and what finger food or dessert you’ll be bringing.

This isn’t a threat…but you wouldn’t want to make an elf angry with your absence, there’s no telling what could happen! Check out this clip from one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time 🙂

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The Explicit Gospel Campaign

This Sunday we kick-off our 3rd year as a church with the Explicit Gospel Campaign. This series will help solidify who we are as a church and why we do what we do as a church. This campaign will be transformational for many who participate. Here’s how you can best be involved in what we are doing:

  1. Buy the Explicit Gospel book by Matt Chandler and read it. It’s a powerful book and it’s content is heavy, so be prepared for God to begin speaking to you through the truth Matt shares within it’s pages. You can order the book online or at the Guest Services table on Sunday. The Kindle version is also available online.
  2. Join a Community Group and allow yourself to become vulnerable to a community of other Christians. This will be a great opportunity to go deeper in our study of the Explicit Gospel. Each group will be going through the Explicit Gospel Bible Study (available for $6 for Community Group members or $12 for non-Community members who want to go through the study on their own)
  3. Be faithful to our Sunday services. You will fall into one of two categories: 1. You need to hear these messages for a total life change, or 2. You will be reminded of the great truth of the gospel and with joy can pray for those who need to hear it’s message for salvation or for spiritual growth as a byproduct of the gospel.
  4. Invite and Pray. Ask people to join you during this campaign and pray for the Holy Spirit to open eyes and hearts to God through it.

This is going to be a great week and a great campaign. Remember, as we celebrate our 3rd Birthday, we are moving to Grovetown High School and our service time will change to 10:30 am.

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It’s Time for an Upgrade

 

I owned one of the first Samsung Galaxy S Android smartphones that came out.

I got robbed in Costa Rica last Summer and my Galaxy S was among the booty that the thieves acquired so I was able to upgrade to a HTC 4G Sensation. I love it! I can use it as a wireless hotspot and as we discovered during a Saturday set-up at New Passion, the 4G has enough power to stream live college football games through my laptop and onto a projection screen. Oh the beauties of technology. At times, it’s worth the upgrade.

One of the guys at work just bought the new Samsung Galaxy S III. Like my HTC it’s 4G and carries some of the same specs on the camera, etc., but it has some awesome additional features like motion sensors, no more need to swipe, just motion; tap to share and other great features. Holding it just makes you want to upgrade to it.

There are times where it’s beneficial to upgrade things. If the mobile phone you use is still in a bag, it might be time for an upgrade…just sayin! There are times where you need to upgrade your vehicle, your house or your technology. And, when we feel that we can justify that upgrade, we don’t hold back. It’s what we want…It’s what we need!

Now I’m talking to my New Passion family! It’s time to upgrade our church! It’s not time to upgrade so we can say we have a cool new auditorium or that we are using some great technology for our services. It’s not time to upgrade for any reason outside of the expansion of the Kingdom of God. The technology, the auditorium and the larger children’s worship environments are all a bonus and they will help us as we draw more people, but they are not the end goal for our upcoming move.

Upgrades are investments. You are investing in a tool and a resource that will benefit you in a variety of ways. Likewise, this upgrade or expansion of New Passion is no less of an investment, in fact, it is a greater investment than any technology we can buy. The Grovetown High School is a tool and a resource that God is providing for us to serve as a platform for the preaching of the gospel and as a launching pad for us to live that gospel message out in our community. This is an investment for your neighbors’, your friends’, your family’s and your children’s eternity! If you are a regular at New Passion, you know that the gym is not the ideal location for a worship service, it works and we make it work, but as we continue to grow the gym will become increasingly difficult to use and will require a lot more work on our team to make Sundays happen. In addition we are almost out of space for our PassionKidz worship environments and with just a little more growth this will be come a major problem. We’re a very fertile people…what can we say? The bottom line for us is this, the upgrade to Grovetown High School is a necessary and beneficial move for our future.

Friends, if you know me, you know that I am going to shoot straight with you and it will be no different here. We need to raise $10,000 in less than two weeks. Praise God, we have already received approximately $4,000 of that goal and are only $6,000 away. I believe God can provide our needs and I believe he will use HIS people to do it. Will you consider how God would have you invest in the short-term with this expansion opportunity he has brought our way?

In the long-term, we have to increase our regular giving by at least 30%. I am challenging all of New Passion to consider how God would have you to do that. The bottom line is this, a large portion of our people allow a smaller portion to carry the financial load of the church. God has not blessed us with jobs and finances so we can invest more in our technology upgrades than we do in our Kingdom upgrades. The Lord uses the faithful, worshipful giving of his people to meet the needs of his local church. For some, it may be that you are not giving anything at all, or you are just giving what is convenient and reachable in your pocket. Pray and ask God what he desires from you on a regular basis. This is the church where God has assembled us all together at and we are a family. Let’s reach this goal together! Let’s not hold back!

For us to understand the gospel we must understand that generosity is not an option it is a lifestyle.

Give a donation towards New Passion’s Expansion:


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Big News!!! New Passion Church is Moving!!!

That’s right! On Sunday, September 9, 2012 as we celebrate our 3rd Birthday as a church, New Passion will begin hosting our Sunday worship services at Grovetown High School.

A couple of weeks ago a pastor from Stevens Creek Church contacted our mission’s director, Billy Wilson, and notified him that they would no longer be offering a Grovetown church campus; instead they would put all of their energy and resources into their main campus in Augusta to continue the ministry God has given them there. He asked us if we would be interested in taking their place at the school and after several discussions and a meeting with the school, our leadership team has unanimously decided to make the move to the high school.

It has been great to serve the city and community of Grovetown with Stevens Creek Church as our neighbors. In a culture where churches mark their boundaries and fall into the temptation of competition it is refreshing to see their pastors reflect an Acts 4:4-5 spirit. We appreciate your friendship.

Download the letter we provided to the church this morning with all of the specific details.

Here are some benefits of the move and how you can get involved right away:

  • 400 seat auditorium with stadium style seating (Provides room to grow & a better environment for a church service)!
  • Service time will change from 10 am to 10:30 am (You can sleep later)!
  • State of the art technology with lighting, sound and video all available for the church to use. This will help with less set-up/breakdown for the band and more time for pre-service rehearsal.
  • Large cafeteria for the Ridge. We’ve almost outgrown the room at Patriot’s Park. The cafeteria is equipped with 2 video projectors & space to split age groups up!
  • Many increased mission’s opportunities through the school. Providing avenues to connect with parents, teachers and students for the sake of the gospel.
  • GHS is located in the middle of several growing, new neighborhoods. This will place us in the heart of where God has called us to minister to as a church.

How you can be involved right away:

  1. Pray that everything will be accomplished in the short time period that we have to work with. Pray for our leaders as we make necessary adjustments.
  2. Spread the word that we are moving.
  3. Invest Financially – Our goal is to raise $10,000 in three weeks. An anonymous gift of $3,000 has already been given before the announcement, leaving us with a total of $7,000 to raise! God is good. In addition, the school rent will be approximately 30% higher than our current rent at Patriot’s Park; prayerfully consider how God would have you participate in helping in these areas.
  4. Invite others to join you for worship any Sunday, but especially as we launch in the new location on September 9, 2012 celebrating our 3rd Birthday. Together we can fill the auditorium up for God’s glory.

Why September 9? Why so Soon?

God’s timing. It’s ideal to launch in the new location on our birthday as we invite new friends to celebrate with us, but what many people didn’t know is our leadership team has had several discussions before the opportunity to move into the school was presented to us concerning September 16 & 23. Patriot’s Park informed us that we could not meet at their facility due to their stripping the floors and the chemical smell that would remain following the work. As we were discussing an outdoor service or a lake service this opportunity came to us, so we are going to work hard to do what we have to do to be in the new location for our birthday.

Was that it? Is that ALL of the BIG News?

No! New Passion will also be adding another elementary school to our Mission Zero support. Last year through your generosity, we supported an entire elementary school in Grovetown and provided 2,511 meals to students who’s families were dealing with financial difficulties. This year we will continue to support the students at Cedar Ridge Elementary School and in addition we will also be supporting students from Baker Place Elementary School.

Let us continue to trust God as we follow his leading at New Passion Church. Our location may change, but our vision will always be the same…

…to be a community of believers dedicated to the glory of God by extending radical grace for the broken, sharing revolutionary compassion for the hurting and leading people to a passionate relationship with Jesus through the gospel.