Tag: Pete Wilson

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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)
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The Attitude of Gratitude

We are in-between sermon series at New Passion, so yesterday I did a solo message on the Attitude of Gratitude. Generic, I know.

However, the title is all telling. I believe when we are grateful, it changes our attitude towards God and towards other people. I shared at the end of the message a list of people I am grateful for at New Passion, I also shared a video that convicted me in areas I had been ungrateful (It’s definitely a must see video by Pete Wilson: Watch  HERE – *Correction from the message: It was not India, it was a house in the Dominican Republic).

Think about it:

  • How would our attitude about the job we hate change if you realized there are millions of people without a job and became grateful that we at least have a job?
  • How would our attitude about our difficult children change if we realized that some people can’t have kids or have lost their child at an early age and were grateful that we’ve been blessed with the children we have?
  • How would our attitude about what God’s not given us change if we became grateful that he’s already given us everything we need?
  • How would our attitude about…Change?

So, if you were at New Passion this past Sunday or if you weren’t, continue the conversation and share a little of what you are grateful for:

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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!

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The Influence of Sacrifice

In my post yesterday I shared how New Passion Church has committed to selling a portable sound system that we are not using and is in storage so we can give the money to Cross Point Church for their Nashville Flood Relief Efforts. We’ll only get $300-400 for the system, its not a lot of money, but it’s just one more small part that we can contribute.

In all honesty, this sound system is special to me. It isn’t to my worship leader Jonothan. In fact, when I first showed him the system, I think he laughed really loud inside his head & then verbally asked how much money we had and said our first major purchase when we got the money would be for a new sound system. Not because it is not a good system; only because it would not fit our needs for growing into the future. It is however special to me. Why? Well, because its New Passion’s first sound system. Given the money we had and the sacrifices we had to make, the $800 we invested to get the mixer, speakers, mics and cords was a huge deal. I was excited! In fact, instead of getting rid of it, I’d rather  plate it in gold and put it in a trophy case.

So, why is it easy for me to let it go? Because of the influence of sacrifice. Jonothan understood that we were limited in our early days financially. We still are, but we are in a much better place than we were 1-2 months in. We are in a better place financially because of people like Jonothan who are willing to sacrifice and therefore influence the entire DNA of our church. Jonothan had a prized possession; his motorcycle. He sold that motorcycle to purchase new NICE speakers and a new NICE sound board for New Passion to use in our worship services. We’re still developing our band, so its kind of funny right now to see two singers plugged into a 32 channel Allan and Heath board 🙂

allanheathboard
Every time New Passion and our people have sacrificed for a Kingdom cause, God has blown us away with his response. We’ve never given or sacrificed to get a response, only to be obedient. This Sunday as we collect supplies and financial gifts for our Nashville Flood Relief Efforts, we don’t expect anything locally to come of it. We do however expect God to use our efforts globally in Nashville for the BIG church. We don’t sacrifice to get or to gain. We sacrifice to influence others for Christ. There is no better church in the world that I would want to partner with than Cross Point Church. It has been amazing to see the influence they’ve created out of their personal sacrifice. Their pastor, Pete Wilson, said the other day that this is being called the 1,000 year flood, he sees it as a once in a 1,000 year opportunity to reach out to those who are in crisis.

Will you join us this Sunday? If you can’t be there will you join us online HERE or HERE to donate to their relief efforts? Even a sacrifice of $5 can influence a changed world for someone. Will you bring one or several of the requested supplies? We’ll be collecting supplies at Cedar Ridge Elementary School (1000 Trudeau Trail, Grovetown, GA 30813: Directions) from 8 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. You don’t have to stay for the service, you can simply drop off and leave. Will you share the link to our website and our Facebook Events page on your Facebook or with your friends through Email or other Social Media sites? Even if you are from another state, you can get involved, you can get others involved. Join the people of Nashville. Influence others through your sacrifice!