• We are blessed with a boy on our last try!
• We are blessed with 4 amazing girls!

It’s a win either way.  Both are great stories and we are anxiously awaiting for Baby #4!

This pass December Vanessa had the honor of going to Thailand with the organization Freedom 4/24.  Vanessa and I are both passionate about seeing Freedom 4/24 succeed in their mission!  So we decided to have some Baby #4 fun and partner with Freedom 4/24 and help support a great cause!  Check out what they are all about below.

Freedom 4/24 Info:

Our Challenge is complex and enormous. Not only must Freedom 4/24 combat a powerful industry, but we must seek to create relationships with the women and children who are enslaved in it, in order to bring them an opportunity for freedom. We also seek to empower and educate the women and children so they can begin to impact attitudes and customs that currently lead to women being treated as property and often considered “disposable.”

Our Vision is to grow Freedom 4/24 into a successfully run international non-profit organization providing relevant information, media and merchandise designed to raise awareness of the sexually exploited by providing a reliable income stream to Christ-Centered organizations who purpose to rescue enslaved women and children.

Freedom 4/24 desires to bring freedom to the sexually exploited and through Jesus Christ the hope and freedom for eternity. The message of redemption and grace is clear throughout the scriptures. It is the hope of Freedom 4/24 to spread this message in whatever means God provides.

“Freedom Begins With A Day. As we continue our fight against the injustice of this issue, we know that a life of freedom begins with a day. One day. 24 hours that can be the beginning of a life of freedom. A life of opportunity, education, employment, health care (physical, emotional, spiritual).

This is an enormous issue that must be addressed on many different levels. But, the end must begin somewhere. Let it begin with $24. Let it begin with one enslaved woman offered freedom at a time. Let it begin with you.”

The Contest:

• Guess Baby #4′s sex, weight, and height.  (Vanessa will be having a C-section so no guess on date)

The Prize:

• Sweet Freedom 4/24 gear!  424 bag made from girls in Thailand , I’m for Freedom shirt, 424 shirt, 424 winter hat, 424 hoodie, and two 424 bracelets.

How To Enter:

1. Head over to Freedom 424 and Donate $24.  Then come back here and………
2. Click Comment (top of the post) and enter your guess. (sex, weight, and height)  Closest without going over for weight and height.  Price is Right!
3. $24 = 1 guess.  Buy as many guesses as you want!
4. Deadline to enter is March 8th.  We will find out boy or girl on March 9th.
5. Happy Guessing!

“VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE!! Vote for Matt Cote tonight before 1AM!! THANK YOU SOOO MUCH to all of you who have voted…you are AWESOME! IF YOU HAVEN’T VOTED YET IT’S REALLY SIMPLE! JUST CLICK THE LINK BELOW AND CLICK THE BUBBLE BESIDE MATT COTE’s NAME!! :)”  Jennifer Britton

“If you haven’t voted for Matt Cote yet to attend the verge conference go help him out, he is one of our former employees and a current camp speaker and he needs everyone to vote so he can win. Just click the box beside his name and that is all you need to do.”  The Masters Inn

“OK people…we are in the final hours of voting. Matt Cote is down by 90 votes. I have over 300 friends and only 27 of you have voted! If you can see this message and haven’t voted yet, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do! For the rest of you that have…THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!”  Meredith Baker

“Come on Brentwood we need to get out the vote for our very own Matt Cote! We have until 1AM to help Matt win a free trip to Verge 2012! If all friends of Brentwood Church voted for Matt he would win easily! So get to work folks and VOTE! Share the link with all your friends and ask them to share with all their friends! LETS DO THIS!! DO IT NOW!! Matt Cote approves this message and thank you for your support!”  Gary Thacker

“Hey everybody! Help send Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary student, Matt Cote, to the Verge Conference. The contest ends today. You don’t have to sign up for anything– just click on his name. Thanks for your help!”  Maria Marsico

“I never, ever do this, but go vote for Matt Cote“  Aaron Marks

“To ALL my facebook friends and family! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE vote for my friend and site pastor Matt Cote! He is currently in 2nd place and voting ends tomorrow!!! it takes LITERALLY 2 SECONDS!!!”  Kyle Crenshaw

“One more shameless ask for help. Please vote for my buddy Matt Cote to attend The Verge 2012 conference for free! He’s in the lead but needs to keep it by the end of the week.”  Kevin Mahan

“Vote for Matt Cote. Even if you dont know him. He is a stallion! He is the man! He does big things for this world. So show him some love people!”  Scott Thacker

“Please vote for my friend, Matt Cote, to get him to the conference of his dreams! He was dreaming of this conference before it even existed! Vote now!”  David Farwell

Click here to see The Results.  Congrats to the winner April Salvant who definitely Rocked The Vote!

VERGE is a four-day experience for anyone pursuing the mission of God, in community, whatever the context, for the sake of the Gospel – everyday leaders, students, entrepreneurs, artists, urban innovators, business leaders, community development specialists, non-profit leaders, church planters and church leaders.

Verge will resource you to make disciples who make disciples in every sphere and domain of society, advocate for the poor and oppressed, mobilize urban and global mission leaders, and champion movements of gospel-centered missional communities.

Verge 2012 is here to encourage, build up and renew all kinds of leaders engaged in the mission of God to redeem and renew. Verge is made up of pre-conferences, post-conferences, two-days of challenging main sessions, music, workshops, networking opportunities and more.

Why do I want to go?

1. As a future church planter I would love to be a part of this conference.
2. Francis Chan, David Platt, and Alan Hirsch will be there!
3. Connect with others who will be attending.
4. Learn and be challenged.
5. To get out of Lynchburg for a few days!

You can HELP me attend!

The Contest:  Get the most votes and you win the GRAND PRIZE!

The Grand Prize : Free Trip to Verge 2012 = Free Verge 2012 Ticket + Free Travel (lodging for 2 nights + round-trip airfare up to $350)

The Vote: The Verge 2012 Blog Contest poll is open. Every vote counts!  Voting is easy….. click the link below and look for my name and check the box.

BOOM SAUCE! 

Just a Reminder that we will be changing our service times next week to 9, 10:45, and 12:30.  Adding on more services means that we have run out of space which is Awesome!  Our church is growing.  What isn’t awesome is that we turned away almost 300 people this Sunday at ETR.

Sooooooo…….I’m making the Big Ask.  If you do not have children would you please attend the 12:30?  If you are in College would you please attend the 12:30?  I want ETR to be able to share the Love of Jesus Christ with people who have never met him!  We can’t do that if we don’t have a place for them to park or sit.  The fastest way for ETR to add more seating at the 9 and 10:45 is for college students to attend the 12:30.  College students I need you to partner with us.

2 things break my heart when I know we have turned away people at ETR.

1. We possibly turned away an un-churched person who was invited to attend.  If I had never been to church before, and was invited, and the one time I actually show up I get turned away……..I’m not coming back.  Just saying.
2. I saw several cars with kids in them who got turned away.  That can’t happen!  80% of Christ Followers make a decision to follow Christ before they are 12!

Just to be clear……..here is what I’m saying/asking College Students @brentwoodchurch to do:

• I love you……I do!
• Commit to a local church (which may not be Brentwood) while you attend college.  Fight the urge to church hop.

Partner with us by:

• Getting your serve on.  Click Here for details on how to start serving @brentwoodchurch.
• Getting in a Community Group.  College Life is our small group environment for college students.  Click Here for details…..
• Going to the 12:30 service…..helps @brentwoodchurch reach people who don’t know Christ by opening up seats.

I can’t wait to see what God is going to do this fall!  Let’s keep the energy flowing and show up knowing God is in the building!

See you next Sunday!

Win a New Collide T-Shirt

I’m giving away 5 of our new Collide T-Shirts this Saturday………All you have to do to enter is leave a comment by CLICKING HERE.  Drawing will be random.  Winners will be notified on Sunday.  Good Luck!

On the Bubble:  Evernote, Socialcam, Starbucks, and Mint.

#5 Foursquare

- Coming to check in near you.

#4 Wunderlist

- Reminds me what I need to do.

#3 Instagram

- Smile.

#2 Group text

-  I text.  A lot.

#1 Twitter

-@mrcote…….its m (matt) r (ryan) cote.  Not mr. Cote.

What are your top 5?

SP Weekly – Episode 6 from Matt Cote on Vimeo.

Bonus Footage….

SP Weekly – Bonus Footage from Matt Cote on Vimeo.

Matthew 19:14 says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these”.  This is a really special verse to me since recently God has shown me that part of His plan for my life will include children’s ministry.  As this verse states, these children are very close to the heart of God.  They are so moldable and hungry for love.  Plus, children are the next generation.  I  feel like children’s minist is similar to missions in that everyone is called to be a part of it in some way.

As I look at how I can be most effective in children’s ministry I see that there are five things that I must incorporate into the ministry. The first thing I must make sure I have in my ministry is a biblical focus. The Bible is “alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12 NIV 2011).”  As a child is taught God’s Word or memorizes it, it begins to transform them into Christ’s image at a young age. The second thing I would include in an effective children’s ministry is the encouragement of a child’s spiritual development. This spiritual development would begin with leading the child to Christ. Spiritual development would continue by encouraging the child to have a relationship with God through prayer and explaining what prayer is. Spiritual development will include praying with the kid for their family and friends to find Christ as Savior. I would also seek to get the child plugged into a church. The third and most important thing I would include in an effective children’s ministry will be getting the parents involved in their children’s spiritual development. Stats show that churches have only 40 hours a year with a child while their parents have 3,000 hours a year to invest into the kid’s life. To get parents involved I would refer to Deuteronomy 6 where it talks about parents teaching their children God’s commands all of the time so that it will be on the hearts of both the parents and the children at all times.

The fourth thing I would include in an effective children’s ministry is creativity. One thing to note here is that God is the most creative being and we can come before Him boldly and ask for supernatural creativity! Part of having creativity with working with children would be finding fun ways to get the kids to truly understand the lessons being taught. Considering creativity, a teacher should think of all the senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch. The fifth and last thing that I would think about for effective ministry for kids is to be relevant to them. How am I making my children’s ministry so exciting and relevant to the children so that they have a fit if they cannot go to church? How am I making it as exciting as Disney World?

Adam was a student in my CHLD 301 class this past semester at Liberty University.  I give every student the option to write a blog post for extra credit.  Adam is the only student to actually write one so far.  Thanks Bro!   Go Change The World!



Tuesday @ Brentwood from Matt Cote on Vimeo.

Tuesday @ Brentwood from Matt Cote on Vimeo.

Tuesday @ Brentwood from Matt Cote on Vimeo.

Tuesday @ Brentwood from Matt Cote on Vimeo.

Tuesday @ Brentwood from Matt Cote on Vimeo.

SP Weekly – Episode 5 from Matt Cote on Vimeo.