Time to Press

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Weekending

What a sweet weekend!!! The boys are in a winter football league and we started off the weekend early Saturday morning with a great game. I love watching how they improve as the season goes on. Caleb had some great passes and is really becoming quite the QB and Luke is becoming Mr. Defense and had stopped several runs behind the line of scrimmage. After football we got to hang with the Bledsoe’s for a little bit and then we headed off to one of the theme parks with the Jacobson’s. It was one of those days that when it’s over you’re just totally exhausted but you loved every minute of it.

Then Sunday was totally sweet. We had two great Discovering C3 classes with 41 people joining C3 and 15 wanting to be baptized. I love when God blows my mind. :) Sunday night we had an awesome Crave-Out at Boardwalk Bowl. It jacked me up to watch our students invite their friends and just jell so well together. I love Crave, you guys rock!!! Of course now its Monday and after a weekend like that, I’m just trying to figure out how to see straight. :)

Sunday after Sunday

Man, I love Sundays!!! It is always awesome to come worship God together and there is always something exciting going on at church. But I got to tell you the last 2 Sundays have been off the chain. 2 Sundays ago we rolled out our C3 Christmas Project. We gave everyone at church cash to go use to help folks in their communities this holiday season. Since then folks have been telling me about what their doing or plan on doing with the cash. The one I really love was I had one of our Crave students call me on the Monday after she had received the cash and was all excited. She told me that she knew a family that was really having a hard time financially so, she and a couple of the other youth put the money they received from the church together and went and bought this family clothes, blankets and some other things. That just awesome!!!

Then yesterday was just one of those Sundays where you stand back and say; dude, God is so awesome. We baptized 21 folks during the service yesterday. I had never seen anything like it. What made it really cool for me is that I got to talk with each individual during the weeks before they were baptized. I got to know them and their stories about coming to Christ. It is so cool, we have so many folks here at C3 who don’t have much of a church background but have now come to Christ and are just so passionate about serving Him. You guys are awesome!!! Congratulations on your decision to follow Christ.

Then that brings us to next Sunday, Dec. 2nd. I don’t want to sound like a broken record or anything but it is going to be another Sunday you don’t want to miss!!! Next Sunday is going to be one of those critical Sundays as we lay out the keys to our future success here at C3. See you then!!!

Stuff

Man it’s been a long time since I’ve been in the blog world, but there has just been a ton of stuff going on. Some stuff has been really good, like Power House. Over the last couple of weeks Don and his crew have been transforming Power House into the deep dark jungles for our new 8 week series on “Treasure Quest.” If you have kids that are elementary age they will not want to miss the next 8 weeks!!! Then Crave for our middle and high school students has been running at full steam. Our students have really gotten into investing and inviting. Over the last several weeks we have had a ton of guests come check Crave out simply because their friends invited them. Great job dudes!!! Then this coming weekend Crave is heading to Boardwalk Bowl for a little fun and of course to discover the awesome sport of “Cravebowl.” Parents, students will need to be dropped off at Boardwalk Bowl at 5:30pm and then plan on picking them up by 8pm.
Other stuff this week, however, has not been so good. Over the weekend Sandi’s dad took a turn for the worse. Her dad has pulmonary fibrosis from a job where he use to work with chemicals. Basically, what that means is that he is losing the function of his lungs and his body is unable to get enough oxygen. Over the weekend it got extremely hard for him to breath and he was hospitalized. As of right now the doctors are unsure of what is going to happen; if his lungs will begin to function enough to go home or if they will just stop functioning all together. If you think about it, please pray for him and Sandi this week.

Tirelessly Devoted

Last night we went to the Colonial High vs. University High football game to hang with some of our Crave students. It was awesome to see Jen rock’n with the Colonial High band and #56 big Vail leading Colonial as the starting center. I’m so proud of all our Crave students; they have such passion and drive to succeed at all that they try. I remember playing in high school and really loving the game yet missing the drive to really succeed. It really became frustrating. I wanted to play but at the same time I didn’t want to spend all that time training and going the extra mile to play well. As I sit here thinking, I really believe this is where so many who work in churches get hung up. They love God and they love serving him, but they’re lazy. If you know me, the one thing I cannot stand (probably comes a lot from being this way in high school) is laziness. That is one of the reasons why I am so thankful to be a part of the staff at C3. It still amazes me to think about how over the past 2 years God has orchestrated bringing together a church staff that has a deep, relentless passion to become the relevant church tirelessly devoted to changing lives. It hasn’t always been easy, but I am so thankful for a Pastor who isn’t afraid to make the hard calls and a staff team that is so willing to do whatever it takes to see Gods vision through to completion.

Good'er and good'er

What a great weekend! On Saturday we had some friends get us tickets to the UCF - Texas game. It was an awesome game, UCF hung right in there with #6 and the atmosphere was outrageous. During the middle of the 3rd quarter when we were standing and cheering in the poring rain, Caleb turned to me and said; “Dad, this is the best game ever!” That really made my day. Then yesterday… the only way I can describe it was just a day from God. Church was through the roof!!! We had 16 people get baptized that morning, the new Play House ministry for the First Look kids kicked off and I continue to hear one great comment after another about the music and message on Sunday morning. Then that evening we had one seriously sweet fish fry with our Home Team Leaders. I got to tell you, I love our Home Team Leaders! Last night there just seemed to be an overwhelmingly positive atmosphere as everyone seemed excited to get home teams started again. To top everything off we had Crave right after the home team meeting and man did God show up in a powerful way. We are continuing on through our “Life’s Toughest Questions” series and last night we dealt with; how do I handle the three big Ds; Difficult people, Difficult situations, and Depression. Everything started with Barry O. sharing some seriously personal experiences that he has had with the three big Ds. God used his story in amazing ways as student after student began to bring up and confront the big Ds in their lives. What a weekend! I love what God is doing here at C3 or as Pastor Byron would say, it just gets gooder and gooder.

Fun on the Weekends

Man, it has been one jam packed weekend. Starting Friday morning Sandi and I were out test driving cars. We haven’t bought a new car in forever. However, this time around we decided to do the 21st century thing and hit the internet. It’s absolutely amazing. We were able to do a ton of research, figure out financing, get quotes from all the local dealers and then even haggle the price right on line. Anyway, by Friday we had narrowed it down to two main vehicles and to a couple of dealers who still had '07s on the lot. By that evening we had our new car. Oh, the internet also helped find a dealership with a minimum trade-in allowance, which really came in handy with our old beat up trade-in. This morning we were back out running around as the boys had a British soccer clinic. The guys sure didn’t look like they were from Britain, but I’m not saying anything. Tomorrow, we start the day off with Discovering C3, which is an awesome way to start a Sunday. This is a class where I get to meet with new families to C3 who are looking to join the church. I love this time to spend with these folks, usually everyone is so excited and really interested in what we are doing at C3. Then tomorrow night we start our normal fall schedule for our student ministry; Crave. I’m so jacked to get things rolling with Crave again and starting tomorrow night we begin a brand new hang-out time called Club Crave at 5:30. Needless to say this weekend is moving, but as always, I’m loving it! Don’t forget to check out C3 Sunday as we continue to make some Waves.

I'm Loven It

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you were just exhausted, but things keep happening that get you more and more excited about the week? That’s been my week this week. Sunday morning driving to Church I could barely see straight, but once the day got started, man was it an awesome day. Darrell and the band were awesome as usual. Then we had a special time where all of the pastors got to reflect on this past year. It got me so pumped up! I just keep thinking about how many people have shared with me over the past year about how God has changed their lives. I am so thankful to just be a part of what God is doing here at C3. Then so far the rest of the week has been about the same as Sunday. There has just been so much that we’ve been working on this week that has me absolutely jacked-up. On Sept. 9th we start a brand new series in Crave called Life’s Toughest Questions. With this series we will take 7 Sunday evenings and answer questions that the students themselves said were things that they have difficulty understanding or dealing with in life. Also this week, we’ve been working on our Home Teams kick-off for Sept. 16th. I’m so excited to get Home Teams up and rolling again. There really is no better way for adults to connect with each other than through the Home Teams. Then, if that weren’t enough, tomorrow we begin putting together the room for our brand new puppets environment in First Look called Play House. Man, what a week so far, I love C3!

Crave N Wild

I had a great day yesterday with our student ministry “Crave” at Wet N’ Wild. Our students really seemed to enjoy themselves as we turned the lazy river into wrestle mania and rode every ride we could. I love our Crave students. They are a great group of middle and high school students who have really gelled together over the last couple of months. I’ve never seen a group of students who cared so much for each other and really are out to help each other in every area of their lives. Good job guys! The Crave staff and I are very proud of you. Remember our next Crave event is on August 26th as we kick off the new school year with some crazy Crave games, food and prizes. We’ll see ya there.

iMac Part 2

Well, we’ve made it back from 9 jammed packed days of rebuilding houses, participating in camp activities and worshiping our God - oh, and don’t forget a 21 hour bus ride home. These past 9 days have been absolutely nothing short of amazing. I am so proud of each and every one of our Crave students and what they personally accomplished over this past week. Last night, as we were on our way back to Orlando, we took a moment to reflect on what God had been doing this past week. I asked the students, if they were willing to, to share about something God had taught them through camp or some experience that really stuck out in their mind. Let me tell you, I had tears in my eyes as students shared their experiences (Matt you caused different kinds of tears – thanks for always making us laugh). Students talked about pouring out their passions and their desire to be used by God. They talked about how they were able to put away differences and come together to use their skills and talents for God. Some talked about how they have formed friendships that will encourage and challenge them for years to come. And still others talked about how they gave their lives to Christ. But ya know; it wasn’t just the students who walked away challenged and closer to God. In my own life this week I’ve experienced God in a fresh way and more than ever before I am so excited about ministry and what God is doing through our students. Parents, I want to thank you for the awesome privilege of entrusting your students to us this week, for they have taught me a ton. Students, thank you for being so open to what God wanted and wants to do through you. You are the next generation of church leaders. I really believe from the heart that you showed this week that the future of God’s church will be powerful and exciting. I am proud of you all!!!

Camp iMac

We're out in Beaumont, Texas with our student ministry for camp iMac all this week. This year we decided to combine our summer youth camp activities with a mission trip to Texas and it has been a blast so far. The students have experienced awesome worship every morning and every night with a kickin' youth band called Riverdale. They've also had a blast with some crazy summer camp games. But, best of all, is how God is working and moving in all the student's lives. He has challenged them to get out of their comfort zone and step out of the boat just like Peter did to experience Him in new ways. Each student has been giving of themselves and working hard to repair hurricane damaged homes. The kids have also been reaching out to the community by adopting a family in need from one of the houses we're repairing. Last night the students gave over $100 to by toys for the kids and food for the family. Each student was deeply touched as we were able to give the family these gifts this morning. God is also challenging the students in their spiritual walk. Many have drawn closer to God and have been challenged to minister for Him wherever they go. But the most exciting event so far was definitely our evening service last night when 4 students prayed to receive Christ and started a brand new relationship with Him. If you're a parent of one of any of the students here at iMac, please know that they are safe, challenged, and each on will be coming back much closer to God.