“I LOVE MY CHURCH” April 18th

Please view the video of the of the sermon on the topic “I LOVE MY CHURCH” with Pastor Jeff Denton, Teaching Pastor Stephen Bramer and Worship Pastor Don Moore.

Audio

Sermon on April 18, 2010 <– Click to listen to the sermon.

“I LOVE MY CHURCH” April 11th

Please view the video of the of the sermon on the topic “I LOVE MY CHURCH” with Pastor Jeff Denton.

Audio

Sermon on April 11, 2010 <– Click to listen to the sermon.

I Love My Church #2: Children’s Ministry Space

In this Email…
- Praising God for Easter Week!
- New Sermon Series begins this week.
- Big REVEAL Lunch THIS SUNDAY
- Our Need for Landscaping Help
- The New Building: Space for Children

PRAISING GOD FOR EASTER WEEK!

Thanks to all who made it out to the 507 building last Wednesday evening for our prayer meeting! What a powerful time of praising God and praying together. Our Sunday morning was a fun and worshipful time together. Thanks to Carolyn Russell for organizing a fantastic egg hunt on the front lawn – and the kids and adults who helped. Thanks to Pastor Don and the music team for leading those amazing songs of praise. And a special thanks to Linda Emmons for sharing her story of Willie’s homegoing and her confidence that she’ll see him again. I’m still praising God for the visiting families we had join us. Several came as a result of the invitations passed out to students at Dodd Elementary School during the week. I’m grateful for all the Waterbrook folks who took time to talk to visitors (kids and adults). We had just over 200 in the worship service. What a weekend to focus on God’s power as evidenced in the resurrection.

THIS WEEK: I LOVE MY CHURCH & YOUR FREE GIFT

If you left church Easter Sunday saying, “I didn’t get a present from Jeff today during the sermon,” you better come back this Sunday. I’ll be following up our “Team Player/Prayer” series with a series to help us understand the coming group of believers Jesus prayed for in John 17. This “I LOVE MY CHURCH” series will dive into WHO the church is and WHAT the church does. Stephen and Don will join me April 18th for a sermon on the WHYs and HOWs of what we do during our Sunday morning worship services. We’ll study the inward focus of the church presented throughout the New Testament “one another” passages on April 25th. Then, on May 2nd, another local pastor joins us to help broaden our view of the church in context of the larger community. PLUS, those who join us this Sunday will receive a FREE gift that goes along with the series.

BIG REVEAL LUNCH THIS SUNDAY

I had a thrilling evening last night sitting with the Building Team as they looked at drawings and talked about plans. Our designer, Bryan Rogers, sent me the drawings with the latest improvements today – and they look great! I look at these drawings and can see space for people to gather and learn together. I see space for kids to play, celebrate God and accept Christ as Savior! I see space for people to hang out and get to know one another. And I love the way the building(s) – yes, buildings – are arranged for future growth with green space for kids to play while parents talk under the awning. I have no idea how many hours I’ve spent during my pastoral career looking at concept site plans and building blueprints, but I can honestly say I’ve never been more excited than I am about our new Waterbrook Phase 2 plans. I really hope you’ll plan to stay after the worship service this Sunday, April 11th, our BIG REVEAL lunch and meeting. The lunch is being provided by the Capital Campaign team and is free, but they do need a realistic count to know how much food to have prepared. So, if you haven’t yet RSVP’d – please take a moment and click the following link. You’ll go to the page on our church website where you can complete a form that tells us you’re coming to the lunch. It’ll take less than 4 minutes (as long as you can remember your name). During the REVEAL, which immediately follows lunch, I’ll be showing you the interior and exterior plans, and present the finances and our needs. I sincerely believe you’ll leave this meeting excited about what God is doing through Waterbrook Bible Fellowship. Here’s the link to RSVP > http://www.waterbrook.org/archives/1837

OUR NEED FOR LANDSCAPING HELP

Would you believe our HOA guidelines (a very thick manual) include rules about “no weeds in the yard or flowerbeds” and that we must have our sidewalks edged. We also have instructions about the maximum height of our grass. (“Quick kids, get dad a ruler!”) We would be in violation of every one of those rules if it wasn’t for my wife. She’s the one who makes sure our landscaping stays in compliance. I tell you that because if you thought I’d be the one to keep the lawn and flowerbeds at the 507 looking good, well…you may be wrong. J Seriously, we need some help keeping our yard looking good. We have a commitment from the Rush teens to help with mowing. (Let’s hear it for the Rush students and leaders!) We still need some help with our flowerbeds. Please email our Office Administrator Norma Peyton if you’d like to help with this project. (We have no budget, so it may just be weeding.) The other BIG thing we need help with is moving some brush tomorrow. We have a trailer, truck and driver (Thank You Don Reed!) to haul away the debris from recent tree trimming. We even have a place to take it. But, we need help getting it loaded on the trailer. Pastor Don tells me he’ll be at the 507 this Thursday at 5:00 pm to get it loaded. Email or call him if you are willing to help get it loaded onto the trailer. Any assistance would be appreciated.

THE NEW BUILDING: Space for Children

According to a recent Barna survey, 70% of adults say they attended church every week during their childhood. During teen years, those statistic drop to only 50% of the population attending a church event on a weekly basis.[1] That’s a drastic drop in a short period of life. As teens grow into young adults the percent who attend a weekly church even continue to drop drastically. You’re probably seen the statistics that demonstrate a person is most likely to accept Christ as Savior during childhood. That likelihood drops dramatically into the teen years, and becomes a less than 30% chance once a person reaches adulthood. These are just a few of the statistical reasons we believe quality ministry to children is important.

We also know ministry to children is important to parents considering a church home. Did you know an adult will put up with bad music, parking problems, mediocre preaching, and even unfriendly people at a church, and come visit a second or third time? But, if they show up and don’t feel their kids are safe or being adequately cared for and taught, they won’t come back! I’ve spent years studying marketing surveys directed at both parents and kids. The business world knows a dedicated child “customer” always draws in a dedicated parent “customer”. Every parent knows they find a McDonalds during vacation travel because you know it’s what will make your kids happy. And no parent in their right mind would spend an evening at Chuck E. Cheese if they had a choice. They go because it’s where little Johnny wants to have his birthday party. So, you typically get one shot at providing a positive environment for children and parents. One visit for them to either be impressed or repulsed by what you do. This is part of the reason we believe quality ministry to children is important.

The primary reason we believe in providing quality ministry to children is because children matter to God. The importance of teaching children is covered in both the Old and New Testaments, my favorite being the importance of the role of godly parents in raising godly kids. (See Deuteronomy 6:6-9 or Ephesians 6:4 for the value of parents.) There’s also the incredible story of the time Jesus stopped his ministry among adults to spend some time with kids, whom the disciples appeared to believe would be a bother to their master. (See Matthew 19:13-15) Ministry to children is not a secondary thought, or simply to provide babysitting so we can do “real ministry” without distractions. Quality ministry to children is attractive to parents and helps bring new families to the church. It helps feed quality students into our teen ministries and gets a jump on training the leaders of tomorrow. Children in the church bring real “childlike faith” in for all of us to observe and learn from. Good children’s ministry is a blessing to students in public schools, private schools and families who are homeschooling. And, most importantly, it pleases our Heavenly Father because children matter to God. Have you heard that somewhere before? Click this link to see a good listing of how children’s ministry benefits everyone –> http://ministry-to-children.com/benefits/.

Realizing these biblical, statistical and marketing realities, the Waterbrook leadership team decided a portion of our new building would be designated for quality ministry to children. Teens are also very important to us, but we decided our teens, like adults, can go to the 507 building for ministry space on Sunday mornings. Parents want to know their younger kids are safe and nearby, so nursery, preschool, and younger elementary kids will have rooms in our new Phase 2 building. We’ll provide a secured area that is clean and fun. We’ll continue our dedication to providing the best content to go with the great fun. It also means we’ll continue using the best children’s ministry volunteers around. Children Matter to God, so they matter to us too!

Next week: The Need for Space to Build Relationships

Jeff

Easter Worship Service

Easter Egg Hunt