Tag: nick carnes

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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 More than Just a Sermon

At New Passion we have been in our Source Code: A Journey through Acts series for a little over a year now. We took a couple of short breaks and picked back up where we left off a couple of months ago.

Today, I preached out of Acts 16, there are several important things that take place in this Chapter, but the best thing about this post is what happened today AFTER I preached this chapter, so keep reading:

  1. Acts 16:6-10 – The Holy Spirit does not permit Paul and Silas to go where THEY want to go. He prevents them from going to the province of Asia and into the north region of what we now know is Turkey. Instead Paul receives a vision from Macedonia and there God would start the church of Philippi through his efforts.
  2. Acts 16:11-35 – God starts to build the church of Philippi with a business woman, Lydia; a (formerly) demon-possessed girl; and a prison guard.
  3. How did God do this? Well, first with Lydia it began by God not giving Paul his way. He closed doors and took away what some would say were opportunities to share the gospel. Paul instead followed the leading of the Spirit, took the time to invest in Lydia, share the gospel and then she believed; Secondly, with the demon-possessed girl, God allowed Paul to be annoyed and frustrated by the demon constantly proclaiming that they were there to preach the message of salvation, through his frustration, Paul casts the demon out of the girl; finally, with the prison guard, God allowed Paul to be arrested for doing God’s work. Through Paul’s example of true, selfless Christianity, the guard believes and is saved. Paul could have looked out for his own neck, but instead he stayed in prison so the guard did not have to lose his.

Here was my point to our people this morning and where my story comes in this afternoon. Who is it that God wants you to stop, take time with and share Jesus with them? That’s your Lydia. Who is it that God is allowing to annoy you? You know that pesky neighbor or co-worker or the aunt you can’t escape from. Maybe he is frustrating you so you’ll share the love of Jesus with them so they might believe. That’s your demon-possessed girl. Finally, and this is where my story comes in today. What situation do you find yourself in where you feel like you are in prison or like your world is falling a part? Who has God surrounded you with in this moment of your life that you can display true Christianity to, so that they might believe and be saved? That’s your prison guard.

Today, I received a tweet from a young man that I have only met once, but got to be with during a week long camp in Jackson, SC, last Summer. I wrote about my experience at the camp in an earlier post, it was amazing! Here’s what his tweet said:

That made my day! I had the privilege of preaching in the service where Noah placed his faith in Jesus for salvation. That in-and-of-itself is awesome, but what makes this story even greater is the fact that I was going through my own “prison experience,” although it was without the orange jump suit and the jail cell.

I was fired (“laid off”) from my job a week before having the opportunity to go speak at this camp. Needless to say, I had a lot on my heart and mind at the time, tons to worry about with a wife, three kids and bills. I didn’t get my way, God closed a door and allowed me to be placed in a very difficult position, but God placed me in that position at that time for his glory and for the salvation of Noah and anyone else who placed their faith in Jesus for salvation during that week of camp.

Sometimes I wonder if Christians think sermons are just a bunch of fancy talk, but can’t really be applied in their own life and in their specific situations. I think some people get excited to hear a different take on Scripture to bring out a point that they’ve never seen, but by the end of the service, the whole point of the message is lost. Today’s sermon was more than “just a sermon” for me, it was real life, it was my life just a year ago. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to lose my job which freed me up to prepare for a camp where a young man, plus others were saved. Noah, is my modern day prison guard. God used my difficult situation to share Jesus with him. Life is not about me, my job or my comfort; it’s about people seeking and feeling their way towards God to find him (Acts 17:26-27). I want to be a part of helping them find him. Thank you, Shane Padgett for allowing me to be used in the middle of a difficult season and thank you for having such a huge vision for students through PHAT Camp.

What situation do you find yourself in right now? Does it feel like Prison, maybe even Hell? Look around you, those are the people watching you to see how you will respond and how you will act. In the middle of living your faith out, you will have the opportunity to share the answer for your hope. Will you take that opportunity? It’s more than just a sermon….

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The Power of Being Present

It has been rare in my life, especially growing up in the church, that I have met genuine Christ-Followers who I know I can trust and who I know are not a bunch of talk; people who genuinely love Jesus and love people. I count it a privilege every time I get to hangout with my brothers from other mothers, Shane and Drew. I got to do that last night.

Last week, Shane spoke at the Bible study for the substance abuse program I manage. Shane was raw and genuine with the men and he connected with a lot of them on a personal level. Shane had the opportunity to talk with some of the guys after the meeting one-on-one as well. As early as the next day some of the men were asking when Shane was going to return to speak for them again. This group is made up of non-believers, Christians and followers of other faiths (i.e. Islam). These men are not worried about style or appearance or professionalism; things that a lot of us get caught up with in the modern, American church; these men care about being cared about and about others being real with them. Shane made an eternal impact for some of these men because he chose to be present and he preached Jesus.

Last night, Shane and Drew took some time out of their day to play flag football with these same men. We all had a blast, especially since our team destroyed our opponents. Shane tweeted this following the game, “Felt more like a Christ follower tonight playing flag-football than in a long time. #Jesusandfishermen” We didn’t sit down with the men and have a Bible study and we didn’t preach them a message, we simply chose to be present. It is my hope that through our presence these men know that they are loved and cared for, that they are no less of a person than the guy who seemingly has it all together. We laughed with them, we high-fived them, we cheered for them and bragged on them. We communicated through our actions that no matter what they have done, they were still important enough to play football with. Isn’t that how God responds to us? No matter what we we have done, God stepped into our field and put us on his team through his Son, Jesus.

Shane has already shared that message and I can’t wait until Drew gets to share that same message with these men as well. Some would criticize us for not sharing the gospel on the spot, but that’s okay, because we lived it and we have an open door to keep living it and in those moments we speak it, these men will be hungry to listen because they know we love them and our words are supported with loving actions. Drew’s testimony is awesome and I know he is going to reveal Jesus in a powerful way. Drew has already opened the door for these men to hear him out because he made a choice to be present. That’s just one of the reasons I am thankful for my buddies, Shane and Drew, because I can trust them (except for Drew, I don’t trust him around my family and that’s why he has never met them) and they genuinely love Jesus and other people.

Join the Conversation…How can you impact people’s lives eternally by choosing to be present? When is the last time you chose to be present in someone’s life and it led to a great eternal impact as a result of your influence?

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There’s Hope for a New Generation of Young People

Nicki was cleaning the house the other day and found a paper airplane one of the boys had made lying on the floor. As she went to put it into the trash can she noticed that it had writing on it, so she opened it up and found a note Gavin had written. Apparently, Gavin had a class assignment where he had to write a note which included all of his spelling words. Nicki showed me the note, I was totally amazed.

Gavin is 9 years old and is writing about God as if he has known him for 25 years. I wish I had this level of understanding about God when I was 9 years old and now that I am 31, I wish more adults had this level of understanding about God. I am biased being that I am Gavin’s dad, but I am proud of him that he would write something like this for school, but also because he seems to truly understand our God. I read this and immediately felt confident that there is hope for the upcoming generation of young people. May God continue to raise up a generation of young men and young ladies who will live gospel-centered lives for the glory of God.

Click on the image to enlarge it, if you still can’t read it, I typed the words out below and underlined his spelling words as they appear in the note.

CLICK Photo to Enlarge

 

I live in the state of Georgia where we lively honor God. He wants us to be honest. He will direct us away from evil. He is the direction. There is no doubt that he is good. He is not doubtful of people who worship him. I know he is good and not evil. He is not unknown he is known by people who love him. He can make me relive. He is living and there are statues of him, but we worship he himself. He is honorable. Honestly, I love him. He is my director. He will not indirect us, he is always leading us in the right direction. He is undoubted and always trusted. He gives us knowledge.

My favorite parts:

He is living and there are statues of him, but we worship he himself.
Honestly, I love him.

 

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When God Promises then Waits

Last Sunday, my sermon was When God Promises then Waits. I was reading this devotional today from Experiencing God Day by Day by Henry Blackaby from November 14 and it fit so well with the sermon from Sunday. Check it out, you can watch the sermon below (for some reason the audio was not recorded for the last 5 minutes of the sermon):

God is Faithful

He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

God never calls us to do anything without faithfully keeping His word and enabling us to do it. We are not always faithful to do what God tells us, but He remains faithful and stands by His word to fulfill what He has promised (Isa. 46:11).

When the children of Israel reached the Red Sea, they might have concluded that God had abandoned His promise to them. The sea was barring their advance, and the murderous Egyptian army was racing to overtake them! Yet God proved then, as He has ever since, that He is absolutely faithful to every word He speaks to His children.

God may have spoken to you about something in particular—a ministry in your church, the way to raise your children, or what you should do in your job. You have obeyed Him, but now you face a Red Sea experience. It seems that what you thought God wanted to accomplish is not happening. Perhaps your ministry has not been well received, or your children are rebelling, or those at your workplace are criticizing your actions. Trust in the character of God. It is His nature to be faithful. The testimony of His people throughout the ages is expressed by the psalmist, who declared: “I have been young, and now I am old; / Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, / Nor his descendants begging bread” (Ps. 37:25).

Regardless of how bleak your present circumstances are, do not lose hope. No one has ever experienced unfaithfulness on God’s part! Allow time for God to reveal His faithfulness to you. Someday you will reflect on what God has done and praise Him for His absolute faithfulness to you.