Sailors, Saints, & Sinners

NEW BLOG

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:39:00 +0000

My new blog address is www.mattevans.cc

Staff Retreat

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 20:19:00 +0000

We just got back from a staff retreat in Toccoa, Georgia.
I love Toccoa ... even though I played my final high school football game there. We lost to Stephens County, 13-6 in the state quarterfinals.

Anyway, great time with our staff. We had a lot of fun going to Toccoa Falls, riding horses, eating, and playing games. We discussed a lot of stuff and really got some great things done/planned:

--Leadership lessons from Moses (Exodus)
--Rock Bridge vision (what is God doing that we need to pay attention to)
--Creative process (how we plan messages and worship services)
--Effective follow-up/assimilation (how we help people get connected)
--Staying healthy in ministry
--Leading volunteers
--Multi-site preparations
--Calendar planning
--Office reconfiguration (in preparation for new staff)
--New financial process/procedures (What works at 400-500 does not work >1000)
--Prayer time

Bottom line for me after this weekend:
--Our staff is fun, faithful, and fruitful.
--Our staff sees God working and wants to see MORE for Him!
--Our staff is a little crazy and that's a good thing!
--Our staff is rock solid behind our vision
--Our staff loves the people God is bringing to Rock Bridge.
--Our staff is expecting BIG things from a BIG God who wants it more than we do.
(God wants Rock Bridge to fulfill the Great Commission more that we want it!)
--Our staff is pumped about Exodus 14:14

Multi-Site: Rock Bridge Calhoun

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:01:00 +0000

This past Sunday was a great day at Rock Bridge Calhoun with ~100 coming to worship!!There are lots of great questions that people have about multi-site so here are some answers (this is a long entry):

WHAT IS MULTI-SITE?
One church meeting in multiple locations but with a common vision, budget, and leadership.
Multi-site is not a new concept. The church at Corinth and several other first century churches were multi-site. They consisted of several house churches that were part of one city-wide church.
--9 of the 10 largest churches in America are multi-site.
--7 of the 10 fastest growing churches in America are multi-site.
At Rock Bridge we believe that 'church' is not a specific building or location. Church is a group of believers connected to other groups of believers by a common mission!!

WHY IS ROCK BRIDGE TAKING A MULTI-SITE APPROACH?
To make more disciples for Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8) by bringing the church closer to where people are.
We have noticed a trend at Rock Bridge: people are driving from several communities outside of the Dalton-Whitfield area, including Calhoun. We are commanded by Christ to "go and make disciples" ... multi-site is part of us being obedient and not being afraid to take risks for the cause of Christ.

HOW DID ROCK BRIDGE CHOOSE CALHOUN?
The short-answer is: it was a 'God-thing'.
One our teaching Elders, John McIntosh, was asked to preach for a church called CrossPoint. The church had been without a pastor for several months and John really enjoyed his time with the people there.
At the same time, myself and others had been praying about planting new churches and/or starting new sites as a way to reach more people for Christ.
From there the idea of merging together to have greater influence was born. After much prayer and discussion, CrossPoint asked to be adopted by Rock Bridge.
--In 2004, 1500 churches were multi-site. 30% of those 'sites' were adoptions/mergers like what Rock Bridge is doing in Calhoun.

WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS FOR ROCK BRIDGE CALHOUN?
On Easter Sunday, Rock Bridge assumed teaching responsibilities for the new site. Additionally, our two sites now share the same type of bulletin.
The biggest first step is to prayerfully locate a Campus Pastor to lead the charge in Calhoun (we are very close).
After that we'll begin organizing ministry teams, locating a meeting facility, and getting ready for the official launch in the Fall of 2007.

WHERE WILL ROCK BRIDGE CALHOUN MEET?
To be determined.

HOW WILL THE TEACHING BE HANDLED?
As of now, the Calhoun site will either watch a video of the 9:00 am message from the Dalton campus or there will be a 'live' teacher.
We believe that the power of God's Word is not limited by the medium through which it is communicated and that through excellent technology both Dalton & Calhoun will experience the same teaching.

WHAT ABOUT WORSHIP?
The worship will be with a live band and worship pastor like at Dalton.
Children & Youth programming will also be similar once the site is officially launched.

WHAT DOES THE CAMPUS PASTOR DO?
He will lead the ministry efforts in Calhoun and pastor the people. He will be responsible for everything but the Sunday morning message. That means he has to organize and coordinate small groups, children's ministry, worship planning, student ministry, pastoral care, community care & outreach, church operations/administration, and supervise the staff & ministry team leaders.
And he will teach from time to time as well.

WHAT WILL CHANGE? WHAT WILL BE THE SAME?
In Dalton, not much will change.
In Calhoun, there will be a Rock Bridge.

This is kind of like the opening of 2 new Starbucks here in Whitfield County (one in Kroger and the other by the North Bypass). They are in two locations. One has a drive-thru and one does not. One is already open; one will open soon. One will own its building; one rents/leases its facility.
Both have the same goal, the same leadership structure, and both offer the same thing -- great coffee.
Rock Bridge Dalton & Calhoun will have some differences, but both will still communicate Christ in creative and relevant ways done with excellence!!

After-Action Report: Easter

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 11:42:00 +0000

Some random thoughts going through my head the day after Easter:

--If you volunteer at church in ANY capacity, you are AWESOME! It makes such a huge difference to what God is able to do through His church.

--We had more people at the 9:00 am service than at 10:45 ... many of you proved that you CAN actually get up that early ... keep it up!

--The buzz building in Calhoun is great!! We've got a long way to go before we officially launch but the people are GREAT, the need in Gordon County is tremendous, and God is opening doors for His Gospel there.

--How long can we stay at two services at our Dalton campus?
I want to stay at two as long as possible BUT we will not stay at two services IF it hinders growth or our ability to reach disconnected people!!

--We had several people make decisions yesterday in the worship services and in the children's theatre!! That means there is a big ole party in heaven!!

--We about to go into overtime adding new staff. We learned at Newspring that the optimal ratio is 1:100. We are currently at 1:175. Our staff is stretched and stressed ... but we are ON FIRE for what God is up to!! If you want to hear the two main sessions of the Newspring Unleash Conference, you can check them out here.

--We have a 3-day staff retreat this week that will be very important to how we get where God is taking us.

--God is good!

--John 3:30

Easter Sunday recap (4/8/2007)

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 14:09:00 +0000

WOW!!
Great day today at Rock Bridge with over 1750 at Dalton and around 100 at Calhoun (We have not officially launched Rock Bridge Calhoun ... more on this later)!!

This was a bit of a different Easter sermon for me. I always struggle preaching Easter b/c it is so familiar. But I felt better about today's message than any previous Easter sermon I have given.
He is risen!!

Message Highlights:
We focused on two phrases: "What if" and "As if"
--What if Easter did not happen?
--Life events, distractions, time all make us live "as if" it did not happen

I Corinthians 15:12-20
If Easter did not happen ...

1) Life would have no real purpose.
--We would have a hope so, think so, & maybe so faith
--We would not understand how life fits together
--We would be half-hearted in our endeavors

2) Life would have no real authority.
--Jesus would be a liar and a fraud.
--The authority that supposedly makes us unique and gives us value would be discredited.
--We could not relate to God. We'd be stuck in sin.
--Many people's religion lacks power because is it based on rules rather than the resurrection.

3) Life would be a dead end.
--we should be pitied; we'd live for the moment with no hope for eternity

*However, often times we live AS IF Easter did not happen.
--Where is this thing called life going? What does it mean? What can give me meaning?
--We are confused and uncertain.
--Illustration: after 9/11 America was clear on defending ourselves, our values, and our way of life. Today, the patriotism is almost gone and people are apathetic. Is the same true of us regarding Christianity some 2000 years after the resurrection?

Evidence for the Resurrection
A) Some say Jesus did not really die.
--Flogging & being crucified were not survivable.
--The Romans were experts at it.
B) Some say they went to the wrong tomb.
--I Corinthians 15:3-6 (500 people saw Him ... go ask them!)
--Jews and Romans would have wanted to produce a body ... but there wasn't one to produce.
--The Apostles repeatedly spoke of Jesus' burial. Someone could have checked out the burial site.
C) The disciples stole the body
--Who would die for a lie?
--Acts 4:18-20
D) Cannot explain the changed lives without the resurrection
--If there is evidence you can experience it and you can live AS IF it really happened!

We have a choice:
--Jesus is who He says He is ... Lord, God, King of Kings, the way to salvation OR He is still dead to us. He cannot be a moral teacher or good person.
I Corithians 15:56-58
--We have a gift (eternal life; purpose; salvation; forgiveness)
--We have a victory
--We can ourselves fully to a real purpose.

Monday Night Madness

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 09:59:00 +0000

This Monday night was pure madness ... no, not the basketball game but 24.

For the first time in like 2+ years I did not watch the entire episode. The "constitutional crisis" with the Prez. and Veep did me in. What is going on?
Can anyone say "jump the shark"?

I'm not sure where Prison Break is headed either and some have already spotted the shark.

What will become of my Monday nights without those 2 shows???

Reaching Churched People?

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:25:00 +0000

Planting a new church has been and continues to be one of the great blessings in my life. Church plants tend to get a lot of criticism, especially from other churches and Christians:
--"You are stealing church members" (Perry Noble addressed that here)
--"We have already have enough churches."
--"If you would just {insert: just do what I like} then I'd join your church."

Now I've learned (as has every other church planter with a BIG VISION) that you have to listen to God and go all out for DISCONNECTED people. But every church plant will have some 'churched' people transfer to their plant. At Rock Bridge we have historically seen anywhere from 50-60% of our new members be UNchurhed. At our last Inquirer's Lunch 60% of the people there were not in church before Rock Bridge ... and that is what we love.

But what about the other 40% of people? I have watched an interesting dynamic take place. Do you turn these people away? What is God doing in the lives of Christians who leave a church to join yours?

First, make it hard for churched people to join your church.
We require that everyone go to an Inquirer's Lunch. We do things in church that might make the 'churchy' types uncomfortable ... anything from the songs we sing to the way we sing them to out-of-the-box dramas to casual dress ... it all forces people to think about a "different way to do church".

Second, realize that God may be actually leading them to come to your church.
There are a whole lot of Christians who are spiritually malnourished, who week in and week out sit through another irrelevant, uninspiring church service out of obligation.
They wonder, "Is this the way church is supposed to be?"
They read the Bible which they wholeheartedly accept and believe, and wonder,
"Why are people NOT getting saved in my church like they did in Acts?
Why isn't my church growing?
Why is the most significant thing I am asked to do is to serve on some committee that doesn't really do anything?"

Then they show up at a new church with less restrictions, less traditions, but with more vision and something gets ignited in their souls. The music feels like a victory has been won (duh ... empty tomb!) instead of feeling like you are on the Baton Death March. They actual understand the message and might actually be able to apply it to their life. They leave challenged and inspired not bored and tired. They hear stories of life change and salvation.
They leave thinking, "Maybe this is sort of what church is supposed to be like?"

Third, some healthy Christians who are genuinely seeking Christ will be attracted to healthy, Christ-centered church plants.

--I think about a guy who recently joined Rock Bridge. He shows up at "O dark thirty" to put signs out around our campus. Yesterday, I thanked him and he replied, "No thank you for letting me serve."

--I think about J.M. who wanted to see people saved in church and came alongside Beth & I about 5 years ago. Now he and his wife say, "God had us ready. At age 72, thank God we did not get to miss what we have experienced at Rock Bridge."

--I think about my parents who were happy where they were but have always supported my brother and I. They both serve every week at RBCC. This journey with them is a great blessing for both of us.

--I think about others who came for the first time because their husband or kids actually wanted to go to church.

--I think about some who after years of legalism and guilt in other churches, finally tasted God's amazing grace.

--I think about some leaders from other churches who got saved at Rock Bridge.

--I think of long-time Christians who never tithed or gave sacrifically to the strategic cause of Christ but have now done so only to understand first hand that you really can't "outgive God."

--I think about "Ned Flanders" (see post here.)

So at Rock Bridge, we'll keep going all out to reach disconnected, unchurched people. They will always be our target.
But we'll still make room for anyone who is hungry for Christ, sold out to God's vision for Rock Bridge, and crazy enough to be radical for the Kingdom.

Sunday Recap (4/1/2007)

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 18:11:00 +0000

Rainy day in Georgia but a great day at Rock Bridge!!
--It was awesome celebrating baby/child dedication today with 15+ families!

--"Jesus Take the Wheel" was the special song today ... WOW! That song set the service apart ... it was awesome!!

Message Highlights:
--The part of NASCAR that always makes the ESPN highlight reel are the crashes/wrecks.
--The same is true in our lives ... often times the crashes are what we hold onto and play over and over again in our minds.

Life is all about movement.
--movement or progress in our careers, relationships, and spiritual journey
Life will have crashes.
--You are either going to crash, have crashed, or are coming out of a crash

--The myth we hear most when we crash is -- "It'll be okay. It'll all work out."
--This is wrong. Crashes have to be cleaned up and corrected or else the race of life is impeded and restricted.

You have to go under caution and deal with a crash when it happens.
--Acts 1:15-17
The believers needed to resolve the betrayal of Judas. So Peter led them to a discussion based on Scripture where everything was put on the table. Peter helped the believers get God's perspective on what had happened.

Crashes leave vacuums or voids that will be filled with something.
--Acts 1:18-21
Something will fill up the void: bitterness, fear, worry, angry, inabilty to trust, doubt.
God wants to fill the void for us. He wants us to be complete in Him not incomplete in the world.
--James 1:3-4

What defines your life?
--Acts 1:22-26
Our life will be defined by what happens to us or what God has done for us. The new believers defined their life by the resurrection.

I Love It!

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:33:00 +0000

I love the fact that God lets me do what I do with, through, and for His church!
Take this week for example:

--We interviewed personnel for several positions and opportunities here at Rock Bridge. Awesome to see how God has worked in people's lives to equip them for Kingdom service! Awesome to share with people the Rock Bridge story!
I love it!

--Had lunch with a potential church planter yesterday (Adam Walker). One of the sharpest and most passionate guys I have been around in a long time. I'd probably hire him tomorrow if he'd let me. I love listening to people who "get it", who have big dreams for a big God!
I love it!

--Prepared the message for this week, "Coming Out of Caution" on how to get past the 'crashes' that happen in life. I always doubt myself but I have learned never to doubt God's Word and its ability to speak to people and change their life.
I love it!

--Met with the design build firm CoGun to hear how the plans for the renovations of our building are coming along. These guys have a heart for the local church and their work will help us be more effective for the Kingdom!
I love it!

--The optimal staff ratio of staff to worship attendance is 1:100 per NewSpring. Right now we are anywhere from 1:175 to 1:200. Our staff is stretched way too thin. Some awesomely freakish volunteers have stepped in to help us out. But everyone is excited because we know what God is doing through Rock Bridge is WAY bigger than any of us.
I love it!

--God is awesome!
I love it!

Hand Down a Toilet

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 09:53:00 +0000

Right now we're in the middle of hosting a community wide youth revival (called Oasis) that is sponsored by area churches and put on by their youth ministers.

Having over 1100++ students in one building to hear about Jesus and worship like crazy is pretty awesome (band is Julian Drive ... WOW!) ... HOWEVER, there are some drawbacks.

Sunday night one of our AWESOME youth workers went into the male restroom and discovered someone had stuffed TP into the commode enough to clog it and then covered their tracks with good ole urine (or as my mom used to say 'Tee Tee').

Our volunteer was of course upset and a little angry but in the end he took one for the team and instantly became the church plumber using his hand to unclog the toilet.

No, we don't like to have our building or any building treated with disrespect or damaged in anyway. And sometimes it is tempting to NOT use our building because there is always spilled coffee, overflowing trash cans, messy bathrooms, etc ...
However, we do not worship our building or serve it.
Our building serves our purpose which just happens to be God's purpose ... which is to redeem people through Jesus Christ.

...the first night there were around 70 decisions made for Christ. Last night there were somewhere around 30-40 decisions made!

So yes, reaching out to lost people and teenagers can get a little dirty, a little messy, (maybe even a little gross) ... but Jesus got pretty dirtied up and messed up for us (remember Mel's Passion of the Christ?).

The question to ask is this:
What bothers us more:
--Sticking one's hand in a toilet filled up with pee?? -OR-
--Seeing people go to hell and doing nothing about it??

So we'll keep saying "No" to hell and "yes" to 'tee tee' ... if that is what it takes!

Sunday Recap (3/25/2007)

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 02:21:00 +0000

What a day!!
--We had over 1300 again in worship for the 2nd week in a row!!
--We had a record crowd in our Inquirer's Lunch!!
--We interviewed two potential staff members for children and youth/generational ministry.
--We kicked off the community Youth Revival tonight, Oasis, with about 1200 students packed into the Wink and over 40-50 decisions made for Christ!!

Great service this am ... we have hit some hard stuff the past few weeks on discipleship type themes as we taught on evangelism and then the cost of following Christ and last Sunday was Vision Sunday. So this week we went back to a felt need type focus and talked about taking strategic "Pit Stops" in life (using the NASCAR parallel).

Here's the message rundown:
*Life consists of WOW and VOW moments.
--The WOW when everything is good and awesome and our passion and focus are strong (honeymoon, closing the deal, buying your home, first date, awesome church service, etc.).
--The VOW is when your just keeping your commitments as best you can even when you may not 'feel' like it.
--The WOW enables and encourages us to keep the VOW. Like in NASCAR if the drivers never took a 'pit' stop, they'd never win or even finish the race. We need WOW moments in our relationships with each other and with God.

Matt's definition of 'pit stop':
strategically and temporarily pulling out of the race of life so you can ultimately race faster, race farther, and race better.

Taught from Matthew 17:1-8 on the Transfiguration which was a big WOW moment. It followed a big VOW command in Matthew 16 to 'deny yourself' to follow Christ.

Here's the main points:

v.1
1) You were made to go places with God--God wants to take us to the mountain. Jesus led them away from the hustle and bustle of life for planned experience ... where He could WOW them. Later, these would be the men Christ would build His church through.

v.2-5
2) You were made to recognize and respond to God.--When we see who Jesus really is, we're WOWed and we then want to "listen to Him."
--We have to be available for God to take us places with Him where He reveals Himself to us.

5 WOW moments with God that are available to us:
1) Baptism
2) Lord's Supper
3) Weekly Worship
4) Small Group community
5) Time by yourself with God
--Talked about how easy it is to spend time with God. He wants to WOW us with Himself through His Son and His Word.

3) You have to be available.
--Busyness is a choice.
--If we give God some of our time, He'll make something of it and something of us.

v.6-8
When is the last time you saw nothing but Jesus?
What are you doing to let God 'WOW' you so you can keep your commitment ('VOW') to Him?

Me & Mo

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:56:00 +0000

Been hanging out with Moses lately in Exodus ... WOW! Good stuff on how Moses' developed as the spiritual leader of God's people.

Here's just a few things that struck me:

--Moses' was discontent with the status quo early on (He killed an Egyptian for mistreating some Hebrew slaves). However, he lacked the maturity and God-given revelation to deal with it appropriately.

I think a good portion of visionary leadership begins with discontentment -- we see things that just are not right and then develop a passion to do something about it. God takes our passion and focuses it with an inspired vision that leads to action.

--When God called Moses to act (Exodus 3), Moses was focused only on himself. His doubts, his weaknesses, and his worries totally drove his conversations with God. God kept reassuring Moses with Himself: "I am who I am."

Whenever my focus on me, there is doubt, fear, and worry. Whenever the focus is on God, there is peace, confidence, and clarity. We have to remember we ain't nothing without God. Where's my focus????

--After all the trouble to call Moses to lead the Hebrews, God still almost killed him. Moses had not circumcised his son in accordance with God's law.

As leaders of God's people, we cannot neglect our own personal walk with God. Many times we focus on who we are leading and forget our own relationship with God. God demands integrity and purity and repentance constantly in order for Him to use us for His purposes.

Sunday Recap (3/18/2007)

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 17:51:00 +0000

What an awesome day we had today!!
--Over 1380 people in worship: record crowd!!
--Several salvation, rededication, & baptism decisions!!

THANK YOU FOR INVITING PEOPLE TO COME & SEE WHAT CHRIST & HIS CHURCH ARE ALL ABOUT!

Here's the service in review:

--The band opened up with "Free Ride" ... it was cool!
--Great 'country' version of "Victory in Jesus" ... got to love that twang!

Message:
--The church has a historical tendency to complicate what God has made simple and erect barriers to God instead of being a bridge to connect with God
--Visual illustration: a ladder with rungs missing is useless. The church is supposed to help people step closer to God but has removed rungs.

Acts 15:1-5
1) We will be the church God wants us to be.
--Rock Bridge was God's idea from the very beginning.
--We can be a church made by man, ruled by traditions, and goverened by personal preferences OR we can seek to be the church God wants us to be.

Acts 15:6-9
2) We will love and accept people like Jesus did.
--no dress codes; no judgemental looks;
--simple, accessible, understandable, excellent
--We can tell people to 'come as you are' or to "Go to hell!"
--Jesus accepted people as they were and offered them grace

Acts 15:10-11
3) We will break some 'rules'
--man made rules need to broken if they keep people from connecting to Christ
--Some rules we have broken:
a) We meet in a theatre
b) I have never been to seminary.
c) New churches don't work and don't grow
d) There are hypocrites in our church.
e) We don't have dress codes.

--Less is more philosophy. Rock Bridge will do less for more:
a) Weekend worship
b) Discipleship & Care: groups; Bible studies
c) Generational Ministry: Children & Youth
--need specialized environments; if people don't make a decision for Christ by the time they turn 18, 80-90% chance they never will!
d) Multiple Sites

{Awesome testimony from Steve Edgeman of the difference Christ & Rock Bridge made in his life.}

Acts 15:12-14; 19
4) We will believe God for 'more'
--more people need to connect
--more people need Jesus
--more life change

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT:
Rock Bridge will launch a new site in Calhoun this fall!
We will be one church in two locations.
Why? Because communities all around us need a church that is simple, accessible, and understandable so that people can CONNECT to God!

Big Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 23:40:00 +0000

Tomorrow is Vision Sunday which has become something we do every year at RBCC around this time in March.
It is roughly the same weekend back in March of 2002 when I shared the vision for Rock Bridge to about 90-100 at the NW Georgia Trade Center. Since we launched, we've been recasting and resharing the vision for our church at this time of year.

We make it a big invite day for our people to bring a friend(s) with them to church. This one day alone has year in and year grown our church, broken attendance barriers, and helped us reach and connect new people.

--I've already heard of one couple who has SEVEN people coming with them tomorrow!!
--One person is bringing FOUR with her.
--Two weeks ago a guy brought TWENTY-FOUR people with him to church!!
--Hundreds of other personal invitations have gone out ... it's AWESOME!

We have done advertising, marketing, mailers, billboards, radio, tv ... BUT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BEATS ONE FRIEND INVITING ANOTHER FRIEND, ONE RELATIVE INVITING ANOTHER RELATIVE TO COME & SEE WHAT CHRIST & HIS CHURCH ARE ALL ABOUT!!!

Watch out!

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 12:11:00 +0000

The Unleash Conference yesterday at NewSpring was absolutely amazing! We took 33 people over to Anderson, SC to be stretched, encouraging, and enlarged by God and the conference did not disappoint!

The last main session was unforgettable as Perry talked about the challenge of leadership & pastoring and the need to keep the call & vision strong. I was reminded/challenged on a few things:

January 12, 2002
That was the day when God called me to start Rock Bridge: to start a different kind of church than Dalton-Whitfield-NW Georgia has ever seen!

Obeying God is as simple as listening to God.
What a statement!
As our church has grown my need to listen to God has greatly increased ... I sense it, I know it, now I have got to do it!

Vision
--I must own it.
--Some people won't get it (let them leave or ask them to)
--Budget & Staff for vision ... nothing else!
--Vision comes from God not man, not tradition, not personal preferences.
--Rock Bridge has a BIG vision ... get ready for Sunday!

GENERAL QUARTERS

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 22:15:00 +0000

General Quarters (or GQ) is when a ship gets ready for battle ... everybody has a role to play to put the ship in the position of maximum readiness to fight, to defend, to protect, and to win!

I feel like our church is about to go to General Quarters as we approach Vision Sunday this week.

OUR PEOPLE ARE INVITING THEIR FRIENDS IN A BIG TIME WAY!
We did a 3 week series about going after people who are disconnected and then provided our folks with gift cards to local restaurants to treat their friends to a lunch/dinner to talk to them about church/Jesus.
I've heard so many AWESOME stories ... Sunday is going to rock!

WE GET TO GO TO NEWSPRING TOMORROW.
32 people from Rock Bridge are going to get a glimpse of something awesome tomorrow. They'll be motivated, encouraged, and challenged to go to war for the kingdom of God!

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT
We're on the verge of making a major announcement about the impact Rock Bridge can have. It's going to be AWESOME!

PRAYER
I have to say my personal prayer life is no where near GQ level but I'm getting there. I find I need more time to pray than ever before!!

CHURCH IS AWESOME!!
There's no other way to describe it. Church is the greatest thing in the world. Thank God for letting sinful play a small role in His greater plan.

Weekend Wrap-up

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 13:56:00 +0000

Beth & I are wiped out BUT ... this was an INCREDIBLE weekend for God's kingdom!!

DISCIPLE NOW
--Absolutely amazing!! Our volunteers in this area are SUPERHEROES! They led Bible studies, went without sleep, listened to LOUD music, got lured into crazy skits, prayed with teens to receive Christ, and set the example for what is means to be a Jesus Freak!! THANK YOU!!

--Our students rock! They got about 200 teenagers to church this weekend to hear about Jesus & have fun at the same time! Don't let any lie and say church is not supposed to fun & excited. Jesus is something to be passionate about!!

THE MESSAGE
Without question, this was the most challenging message I have EVER PREACHED. There is no way to water down what Jesus said in Luke 14:25-33.
I was sick to my stomach before the message and after it because Jesus' words are SO hard, SO different than what we are taught, and SO challenging to what it really means to be a Christian.

Here's the recap:
--We all limits on how far we'll go with God.
--Jesus said to be His disciple there can be no limits.
1) Disciples do not hold back their love, loyalty, and affection for Him.
2) Disciples go all out and all the way for Him.
Jesus wants to finish His work. When we say no, we leave His business unfinished.
3) Disciples win.
We are destined for victory yet so many of us have forfeited and made peace with the ways of the world rather than the Prince of Peace & King of Kings.

DECISIONS
--Despite the challenging message we had around 15 people make decisions for Christ!!
--For the Youth this weekend, it looks like we also had around 15-20 decisions for Christ! (We're still getting all the cards in and processed).

--This is awesome! Stop right now and praise God!

This Weekend!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 13:05:00 +0000

To all the Rock Bridge family ... stand by for this weekend!!

1) We need anyone who can to come to the 9:00 am service this Sunday!!
Disciple Now has >200 participants and they will ALL be coming to the 10:45 service which could stress our seating. So if there is anyway you can, please show up ready for God at 9:00.

2) Daylight Savings Time
Spring forward tonight!!

3) This weekend is going to be incredible!!

John 3:30

Oh Nelly!

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 13:00:00 +0000

Top 10 thoughts running through my head as we end this week and get ready for this weekend:

10: I wish Jack Bauer were here.
9: I have NEVER been so aware of Satan until we started Rock Bridge.
8: I have NEVER been so aware of God's work until we started Rock Bridge.
7: I need God's wisdom like never before.
6: The importance of prayer is much more important to me.
5: I am SO BURDENED for people who are not following Christ.
4: Can I do this?
3: It's not about me.
2: The people in our church are ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!
1: I must BET IT ALL on God's faithfulness!!!!!

PRAY!!

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 02:13:00 +0000

I just want to ask as many of you as possible to PRAY like never before!! Some incredible God things are happening that are WAY beyond our control but are completely in His control. I believe even more incredible things are on the way that are beyond what I can imagine (Ephesians 3:20-21).

--This weekend is "iGod" or Youth Disciple Now. We believe we may have close to 200 students coming!! Spur 58 will be leading worship. I love the fact that from Day One Rock Bridge has been all about kids and students. We resource it big time and deservedly so!!

--We are under contract to buy the 9300 sq. foot furniture building across the street from the church!!!!

--We are entering a master plan phase to help us better use our facilities for our current ministries and future growth.
Right now our children's space is inadequate whether we grow or not (we plan to keep growing).
Right now our youth use everything from my office to sitting in chairs made for 1st graders.

--Next Sunday is VISION SUNDAY!!! I cannot wait to see all the new people that will come and discover Christ and re-discover His church. INVITE! INVITE! INVITE!

--We are sending out a direct mail piece to EVERY residential address in Whitfield County. Something like 33,000 people will get our "Up to Speed" mailer, inviting them to check out Rock Bridge. (We have only done one small mailer and very limited, small-scale advertising. I am excited to see the potential response.)

--Our search for a new Children's Minister is going well. Aaron is talking to some great people right now!! Please pray hard for this!!

--Next week we are taking around 30 people to NewSpring Church for their conference. I think this will take many of our ministry leaders and key volunteers up a notch in their excitement, vision, and passion for the local church.

Matthew Party

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 11:33:00 +0000

This year for Vision Sunday (March 18th) we are doing something different.
In the past we have gone up to the Trade Center for a big meal afterwards. We decided this was not feasible for a few reasons:
1) Cost: the number of people is so big that the cost outweighs the benefits.
2) 9:00 am service: we think it would take away from the 9:00 service and we have to continue to grow that service
3) Future: in the future we could have 3+ services at all different times on Sunday and/or Saturday night. At some point in the future we simply would not be able to go to the Trade Center due to scheduling and logistics and we are all about preparing ourselves for the future.

SO ... instead what we did is purchased restaurant gift cards for our people to use. We give them a card, they treat guests to lunch and work on building that relationship with them, answering questions, and just hanging out and having fun. It's what Matthew did after he decided to follow Christ: he had a dinner party, invited friends, and brought Jesus with him.

I love how this has challenged us to be intentionally more evangelistic ... to think about WHO we know that is outside the faith and outside the church and to really pursue that relationship with them.

Here's what one person wrote:
Church was awesome yesterday wasn't it/....... I have been talking about it all day today.... I am so glad we found Rock Bridge ... I have 4 people that promise me they will be there next Sunday.

I cannot wait!!

Sunday Recap (3/4/2007)

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 21:43:00 +0000

Great day! Great energy! Great crowd ... how 'bout the 9:00 service at 411!! It's filling up and freeing up seats at our prime time service (10:45) for guests!

This was predominantly a message for our church attenders and regulars as we concluded our series, "Off Road". As of now, we know we had 2 people receive Christ today which is AWESOME despite the fact that we were challenging our people (insiders) to share their God-story with others.

I Peter 3:15 tells us to "be ready" to share the hope we have in Christ with anyone and everyone but to do it with gentleness and respect. We focused how we share this story and how to be ready:

1) Understand barriers
There are barriers that keep people from experiencing Christ and the community of the church. We talked about five: shame & guilt, personal pride, perceived irrelevance of the church, Christians, and religous check-lists (versus a relationship with the living God).

2) Be proactive with people.
Using John 4 and the interaction Jesus had with the woman at the well we talked about seeking to engage people in easy, natural conversations that can be used to bring up spiritual matters. Jesus gave her acceptance, grace, and love. He asked a non-threatening question.

Read Matthew 5:13-16 and discussed that we all have a platform with which to engage people in salt & light interaction. Salt preserves and influences; light penetrates and points out a path. Salt and light is the role Christ has given us.

3) Share our story.
Every Christ-follower has a before & after story. We talked about how to share the difference Christ has made in 45-seconds or less. Be real. Be natural. Be clear. Be concise. Don't use 'churchy' language. Don't tell 'weird' God stories. Just tell the simple story of what Christ has done in your life.

4) Share God's story.
God's story has 3 essential elements: 1) God loves us -2) Christ chose to pay our sin debt/penalty -3) The choice is ours whether or not to receive His payment.

5) Do you have a story?
We challenged folks here to look honestly at their own story and where it intersects with God's.

We closed the message by breaking 'glow sticks' around the theatre. First, we let the middle schoolers and then the high schoolers. Then we did it by zip code and occupations. The theatre gradually lit up with individual lights ... representing where we have been strategically positioned by God to share His story.
120 people in Acts 2 took Jesus' salt & light analogy seriously ... what would happen if everyone at Rock Bridge did the same??

Saturday Night Live

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 00:57:00 +0000

Well, it's Saturday night and I'm excited to be preaching again tomorrow at RBCC!! We'll be sharing something pretty cool that we're going to be doing for Vision Sunday (aka 'get as many people as you can' day) on March 18th.

Here's some things rolling around in my head and heart:

EXPECTATION
Let's expect God to do something awesome each week in and through the church. Church should be the most exciting and irrestible thing we do BECAUSE God is fully in it and fully committed to it!
--Expect people to come to know Christ.
--Expect record crowds.
--Expect to encounter God.
--Expect God to become more personal.
--Expect to fall more in love with Jesus.

CHRIST-CENTERED
We do a lot of cool things, a lot of creative things ... but it is all for naught if Christ is not at the center. The Bible says that if we lift Christ up, God will draw men to Himself.
I pray every Saturday night that people encounter the risen Christ and not the sinful Matt Evans.

THE GOSPEL & GOD'S WORD
The Gospel is simply the 'good news' that Christ died to pay a debt of sin we could never pay and through His death & resurrection, He offers us eternal life. God's Word tells the story of the Gospel and then explains its meaning. Those two things contain power beyond me to change lives and eternities.
So many Saturday night's I believe the message for Sunday is terrible and a total bomb; however, I have come to realize that the power is in the message (the Gospel and the Word) not in the messenger. As a result teaching is more about preparing myself than preparing a message.

John 3:30

What are you thinking?

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 01:27:00 +0000

My wife used to ask me that question when we were dating. I was a pretty introverted guy until Beth came along and helped me realize that relationships are an awesome part of life.
So I'd thought I answer that question ... here's what I'm thinking:

--My LASIK surgery went well and I praise God for it! I'm 20/15 or 20/10 right now and my eyes are still healing!!

--Vision Sunday (March 18th) is going to rock! We must get every single lost, unchurched, disconnected person we know to church that day.

--My prayer life has got to go up several levels. This is something God is demanding from me and I have got to surrender my time, my excuses, and my focus to Him.

--I believe our church is on the verge of something amazing ... something God-sized.

--We've got a ton of staffing decisions to make to better equip our church to accomplish our vision.

--CoGun: we have partnered with a design-build firm to help develop a Master Plan of how we use our space. This will involve a renovation project within the next year.

--Youth Disciple Now (iGod) is going to rock!

--I can't wait to get back to work ... I've been at a conference and wearing dark sunglasses so I'm kind of 'away' right now.

--Sunday we wrap up 'Off Road' message series.

--Are we doing what we need to be doing to reach the people God has called us to reach? What needs to change? What needs to stay the same? What needs to improve?

--Unleash Conference! It's going to rock! We dropped from 1st to 3rd in the most # of people signed up according to Tony Morgan's blog.
This is really going to encourage, challenge, and equip our people to take things to a new level.

--My dogs: Bear & Sammie are the best.

--God is good and forever faithful ... why don't I trust Him more?

John 3:30

Shot in the Arm

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Evans) — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 13:32:00 +0000

Just got back from the Churchplanters.com conference in Cumming ... WOW! What a shot in the arm for us at Rock Bridge! I am pumped and excited about getting back to work on the vision & mission we have at RBCC!!
Here's some of the things that are sticking out in my mind right now:

--Be mean about the vision. (Shawn Lovejoy)

--Seek to relate the Gospel to people not just creativity. We relate to people in our culture so we can take them to the Cross. (Ed Setzer)

--God wants our churches to be successful more than we do.
--Value risk taking for the kingdom more than success.
--When was the last time you/we/I took a risk on God. (Dave Ferguson)

--God wants us to live with holy urgency for His mission.
--God is resolved to bring us to a place of trust. (Matt Carter)

--Then Perry Noble spoke from Exodus 33 and challenged us to RELOOK at four things:
1) Our calling: God always calls us to things that are unsafe
2) At our people
3) At our vision
4) At our potential -- Eph. 3:20-21

This conference was a shot in the arm for me. It affirmed a lot of things we are thinking about and things we are doing. I am more excited than EVERY about what God is doing and is ABOUT to do at our church!!