This weekend is our first KidFest! I'm excited about the great opportunity that's before us.
Most churches, when they want to do something fun for their community, invite the community to come into their building. This is nice, and really is a good idea. For many people, however, it is not enough. Especially for those who have been burned by "church people" or have misconceptions about what "church people" are like, it is scary. Have you ever been somewhere for the first time and not been at least a little nervous? I haven't. Especially if that place has to do with your "immortal soul."
Always having community-friendly activities in our church edifices doesn't show the people in our community that we really want to hang out with them where they are. It doesn't show them that we care enough to leave our secure base camp and come out and rub elbows with them.
Of course, The Ridge doesn't have the temptation to invite people into our building all the time... We don't have our own place! Although we meet on Sundays for worship and prayer at Panache, we don't have our own building. So, we are often faced with the challenge of being creative with our meeting locations! One of the several benefits of not having our own permanent location is the flexibility to meet where we need to or want to. We also have great opportunities to be "ambassadors for Christ" in the places where our friends and neighbors live and work and play.
In the past, we have met for various gatherings in a restaurant, a storefront, a cafe, a pizza place, a bowling alley, and in homes! We still meet in homes for our weekly small group gatherings.
We've also met at Fountain City Park! We last met together at the park for our Easter worship gathering. It was a ton of fun! This Friday and Saturday, we will meet there again for our KidFest.
KidFest is simply a fun way to love on the people in our community! We believe that Jesus commanded us to love Him, love others and share His Gospel with them. (See the "Great Commandment" and the "Great Commission" in the Bible.)
KidFest is a two-day fun event, from noon to 2 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, July 31 and August 1. We'll have spots where kids can get their faces or hair painted, play games, and other interesting and fun stuff. There are no strings attached! We won't ask people to sign up for anything or fill out any cards. The idea is simply to bring Christ's love in front of people in the form of simple and caring people (us!).
Then, to add a fun finale to the weekend, we'll have our Sunday worship gathering at SkateTown USA in Fountain City! We're gathering at our usual time of 10 a.m. We'll have worship, and then FREE skating for our church and community from 11:30 to 1 p.m. It should be a blast!
We could certainly use some more volunteers to help out on Friday and Saturday. If you're interested, please email Emily or call her at 244.7278. Thanks and see you in the park!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Moving Stinks, but God is Cool
Well, I sit here on Saturday evening in the Panera Bread in Fountain City. I love this place (except for their new coffee style, not a big fan of that), especially when I'm in an "Internet pinch."
I'm in just such a pinch now. We just moved from a rental home in Gibbs to a rental condo in Fountain City on Thursday. (P.S., I'm a big fan of "Two Men and a Truck!" Shout outs to Eddie and Anthony, if they read this!) The Internet is set up with Comcast, but we just cleared out enough room in the condo to actually get the cable jacks within arm's reach last night at about midnight. I had to work at my "real" job all day today, so no Internet at the condo yet.
The great thing about Panera is that Emily and I can meet here for a pre-birthday supper (her birthday is tomorrow...) and then I can stay and "compute" and finish up my sermon and stuff for tomorrow's worship gathering at Panache at 10 a.m. Love to see you there, by the way!
Now I totally believe moving stinks, since packing up and then living out of boxes, and trying to do it all with a Chloe in the room, is tough. But, God has provided us a cheaper, and closer-in place that will be great for our small group to meet in. We loved the green spaces of Gibbs, but we are committed to our ministry in the more urban areas of our town. So, this is great for us!
Finally, many of you have been praying that God would send our core group the worship leader and ministry partner that He wants us to have. As a result of an ad on craigslist, and also putting the word out to some pastor friends, we have been connected with several prospective dudes. So, your prayers are working... Keep praying that the Holy Spirit would work in the heart of the right guy and he would be as excited about loving Knoxville with Christ's love as we are!
See you tomorrow!
I'm in just such a pinch now. We just moved from a rental home in Gibbs to a rental condo in Fountain City on Thursday. (P.S., I'm a big fan of "Two Men and a Truck!" Shout outs to Eddie and Anthony, if they read this!) The Internet is set up with Comcast, but we just cleared out enough room in the condo to actually get the cable jacks within arm's reach last night at about midnight. I had to work at my "real" job all day today, so no Internet at the condo yet.
The great thing about Panera is that Emily and I can meet here for a pre-birthday supper (her birthday is tomorrow...) and then I can stay and "compute" and finish up my sermon and stuff for tomorrow's worship gathering at Panache at 10 a.m. Love to see you there, by the way!
Now I totally believe moving stinks, since packing up and then living out of boxes, and trying to do it all with a Chloe in the room, is tough. But, God has provided us a cheaper, and closer-in place that will be great for our small group to meet in. We loved the green spaces of Gibbs, but we are committed to our ministry in the more urban areas of our town. So, this is great for us!
Finally, many of you have been praying that God would send our core group the worship leader and ministry partner that He wants us to have. As a result of an ad on craigslist, and also putting the word out to some pastor friends, we have been connected with several prospective dudes. So, your prayers are working... Keep praying that the Holy Spirit would work in the heart of the right guy and he would be as excited about loving Knoxville with Christ's love as we are!
See you tomorrow!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Prayer and a Wedding
Well, I had a great time this Sunday at our first Ridge Church corporate prayer gathering. We have committed for the near future to have two gatherings each month at The Ridge. The first is a "regular" worship gathering, where we will enjoy musical worship, teaching from the Bible, and communion together. The second gathering is one devoted to prayer.
Jesus was God's Son, "God in a bod." And, He prayed alot. You could easily make the case that we should pray 24/7, since we're not perfect, as Jesus is! Fortunately, Jesus had alot to say about prayer and how to pray. We are told to pray constantly by the Apostle Paul.
So, prayer is important! And, I think you would probably agree that we don't pray enough, either as individuals, families, or churches. So, at Ridge Church, we are aiming to change that part of our lives and approach God more often in many different settings and styles. We will praise Him, repent of sin to Him, thank Him, and intercede for the needs of others and ourselves. It's good stuff for the Christ-following soul!
This Friday through Sunday, Emily and I are going to Charlotte, NC to participate in a wedding. One of our former student ministry members is tying the knot and we've been invited to be part of it. I'll be co-performing the wedding, and Emily will be reading Scripture as part of the ceremony. Speaking of prayer, please pray for the couple, Daniel and Vanessa. They are great "kids" (not anymore!) and we want God's blessing on their lives. Please also pray for our travel to be safe and for Chloe to hang in there during the drive and non-Mommy time... Thanks!
This Sunday, we are not having a gathering at The Ridge. Most weeks when we don't gather, we'll go to another local church together and then eat lunch at a local restaurant to fellowship. This week, since Emily and I are out of town, I want to encourage you to visit another local, Bible-believing church. If you learn anything interesting or "steal" any cool ideas, let me know!
Have a great rest of the week!
Jesus was God's Son, "God in a bod." And, He prayed alot. You could easily make the case that we should pray 24/7, since we're not perfect, as Jesus is! Fortunately, Jesus had alot to say about prayer and how to pray. We are told to pray constantly by the Apostle Paul.
So, prayer is important! And, I think you would probably agree that we don't pray enough, either as individuals, families, or churches. So, at Ridge Church, we are aiming to change that part of our lives and approach God more often in many different settings and styles. We will praise Him, repent of sin to Him, thank Him, and intercede for the needs of others and ourselves. It's good stuff for the Christ-following soul!
This Friday through Sunday, Emily and I are going to Charlotte, NC to participate in a wedding. One of our former student ministry members is tying the knot and we've been invited to be part of it. I'll be co-performing the wedding, and Emily will be reading Scripture as part of the ceremony. Speaking of prayer, please pray for the couple, Daniel and Vanessa. They are great "kids" (not anymore!) and we want God's blessing on their lives. Please also pray for our travel to be safe and for Chloe to hang in there during the drive and non-Mommy time... Thanks!
This Sunday, we are not having a gathering at The Ridge. Most weeks when we don't gather, we'll go to another local church together and then eat lunch at a local restaurant to fellowship. This week, since Emily and I are out of town, I want to encourage you to visit another local, Bible-believing church. If you learn anything interesting or "steal" any cool ideas, let me know!
Have a great rest of the week!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
A guest blog from one of our own...
Today, I thought it would be cool to have a guest blog post. Today's post is from one of our Ridge Church folks, Bill Irving. He and his wife Sue host a Ridge Church small group at their home in the Alice Bell area. (They are also Emily's parents and Chloe's grandparents!) They had a super-cool fun night last week that I thought you'd like to hear about. Here's Bill's post:
"Acts 1:8 talks about Christ-followers being 'witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.' On Thursday, June 25, the small group that meets at our home had a watermelon slicing. The main families that we invited were the eight households that touch our property. The people we invited are our immediate Jerusalem.
"Acts 1:8 talks about Christ-followers being 'witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.' On Thursday, June 25, the small group that meets at our home had a watermelon slicing. The main families that we invited were the eight households that touch our property. The people we invited are our immediate Jerusalem.
There were about 18 people who showed up, with half of the households that we invited being present. We got better acquainted with people we already knew, but met people that we did not know, too. We also took watermelon to one of the families in our neighborhood that is homebound.
There was not a lot of pre-planning. Each family in our small group brought a watermelon and on the previous Monday, Emily and I passed out invitations to the surrounding homes. We used the postcards that Kevin had given us the week before, which included the church's website. So there was not a lot of prior notice. This is something that we will try again not only in our neighborhood but it could also be tried in the neighborhoods that our group members live.
With the modern inventions of air conditioning and TV most families don’t get out of their houses as much and talk with their neighbors. This will give you an opportunity to meet your neighbors"
- Bill Irving
What Bill and his small group did was awesome! Their whole idea was to get to know their community, have some fun, and share God's love with other people, while enjoying an evening together as a small group. This is a great idea, because God has called us to live as witnesses to Him starting in our neighborhoods and moving out from there.
One important thing to note is that Bill and his small group didn't "push" Jesus on anyone at their watermelon slicing. They didn't all bring Bibles out and hit their neighbors over the head with them. They did, however, show that they cared about their neighbors, and they did make their neighbors aware of their small group. They made sure folks knew that they were welcome to come to their small group and our Sunday gatherings. Awesome!
Great job Ridge Church people! May your example serve as a reminder that we can all reach out to be witnesses for Christ anytime, anyplace. Enjoy the pics of the watermelon slicing below!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
A Year One Update and Some Important Changes at The Ridge
Hey everybody! I just wanted to take some time and put out here on the blog some important changes that are taking place at The Ridge. It's hard to believe, but it's been nearly a year since Emily and I moved back to Knoxville (June 30 of last year)!
The last year has been a tough one for Emily, Chloe, and me. Emily's pregnancy was stressful, but Chloe was our "little" miracle child when she was born in November. There's too much to share about that here, but Emily will if you want!
Chloe has had a disposition toward giving us first-time parents little scares by being sick a lot. Fortunately, after getting ear tubes about a month ago, Chloe has only had one infection of any kind! That's kinda nice, because since leaving the hospital in November, three month-long ear infections (requiring 3 different meds and two shots), and five other infections. Chloe's went to the doctor more than 20 times this year from January to April... And to Children's Hospital for tests twice.
We are by no means complaining, since we have a healthy child! Many other parents care for chronically ill children with major health issues. We have been very blessed to have Chloe and have all her "issues" be minor. But, as a first-time Dad, this has not been something I could have been ready for, that's for sure!
Talking about numbers, Emily and I have driven more than 4,500 miles since our church planting journey began, visiting churches to raise support for our plant, meeting other pastors, and being the subject of prayer from entire churches (thanks alot for those prayers!). Chloe has already been to 7 states outside Tennessee!
So, it's been a wild year in several ways, incuding being a church planter and first-time dad while also working full-time at a retail establishment (HoneyBaked Ham Store) and watching our old townhouse in Charlotte sit on the market while we have been unable to make payments on it.
To be completely honest, much of our human "planning" for our church plant has been completely tossed asunder over the last 12 months by God. I have come to realize over the past year that the church planting experience is a wonderful tool that the Lord uses to enact major remodeling in the spiritual, physical, emotional, and social world of the church planter and his wife and family. I have found that this "remodeling" has to occur before the church planter and the church plant can be effectively used by God to lead others to Christ and to spiritual growth.
Relatively little has gone "according to plan", from the recession affecting the lives of so many of our Ridge Church folks and our personal fundraising efforts, to Chloe's doctors' visits, to needing to work full-time at a non-church job to support our little family.
I was once pretty upset at all the stuff that didn't go the way I wanted it to over the last year. However, God has changed my mind about all of it. I have been supremely humbled by the Lord since June 30, 2008. He has grown me in many, many ways. I have seen Him at work, come to a new realization of His Sovereignty in my life, and finally given the totality of my life over to His control and guidance. This is tough for a Type A kinda guy and Type A kinda girl (Emily).
Anyway, with regard to our important Ridge Church changes: We've found that we are a little "ahead of ourselves" in acting our age as a church plant. Just like Chloe should be expected to act like a 7-month old, our church should act its age as well. We want to offer God a Sunday worship gathering that is worthy of His greatness. We want other people as the Body of Christ at Ridge Church to be involved in serving and leading. We want to be a healthy church planting family and make sure that we have healthy time and involvement boundaries. This way, Emily, Chloe and I have our priorities in order and enjoy the family God has blessed us with.
Last Sunday at The Ridge, we shared that our church is going to move to meeting twice monthly on Sundays. We are seeking to "act our age" and strive to be a place of spiritual health for the planter, God's people, and our city as we remember our focus must be upward on God and outward on others, not inward on ourselves.
I have created a PDF document from my PowerPoint slides that we talked about last Sunday. I'd love for you to read it if you'd like to learn more about our re-commitment to our Ridge Church Vision and Values and also to the Lord, each other, and our community. Feel free to check it out here, and also feel free to email me any comments or questions you may have.
Emily, Chloe and I continue to be committed to this great adventure that God has called us to, and we want to encourage you to stay the course with us as we move forward under a renewed sense of the Holy Spirit's leadership.
Have a great week!
The last year has been a tough one for Emily, Chloe, and me. Emily's pregnancy was stressful, but Chloe was our "little" miracle child when she was born in November. There's too much to share about that here, but Emily will if you want!
Chloe has had a disposition toward giving us first-time parents little scares by being sick a lot. Fortunately, after getting ear tubes about a month ago, Chloe has only had one infection of any kind! That's kinda nice, because since leaving the hospital in November, three month-long ear infections (requiring 3 different meds and two shots), and five other infections. Chloe's went to the doctor more than 20 times this year from January to April... And to Children's Hospital for tests twice.
We are by no means complaining, since we have a healthy child! Many other parents care for chronically ill children with major health issues. We have been very blessed to have Chloe and have all her "issues" be minor. But, as a first-time Dad, this has not been something I could have been ready for, that's for sure!
Talking about numbers, Emily and I have driven more than 4,500 miles since our church planting journey began, visiting churches to raise support for our plant, meeting other pastors, and being the subject of prayer from entire churches (thanks alot for those prayers!). Chloe has already been to 7 states outside Tennessee!
So, it's been a wild year in several ways, incuding being a church planter and first-time dad while also working full-time at a retail establishment (HoneyBaked Ham Store) and watching our old townhouse in Charlotte sit on the market while we have been unable to make payments on it.
To be completely honest, much of our human "planning" for our church plant has been completely tossed asunder over the last 12 months by God. I have come to realize over the past year that the church planting experience is a wonderful tool that the Lord uses to enact major remodeling in the spiritual, physical, emotional, and social world of the church planter and his wife and family. I have found that this "remodeling" has to occur before the church planter and the church plant can be effectively used by God to lead others to Christ and to spiritual growth.
Relatively little has gone "according to plan", from the recession affecting the lives of so many of our Ridge Church folks and our personal fundraising efforts, to Chloe's doctors' visits, to needing to work full-time at a non-church job to support our little family.
I was once pretty upset at all the stuff that didn't go the way I wanted it to over the last year. However, God has changed my mind about all of it. I have been supremely humbled by the Lord since June 30, 2008. He has grown me in many, many ways. I have seen Him at work, come to a new realization of His Sovereignty in my life, and finally given the totality of my life over to His control and guidance. This is tough for a Type A kinda guy and Type A kinda girl (Emily).
Anyway, with regard to our important Ridge Church changes: We've found that we are a little "ahead of ourselves" in acting our age as a church plant. Just like Chloe should be expected to act like a 7-month old, our church should act its age as well. We want to offer God a Sunday worship gathering that is worthy of His greatness. We want other people as the Body of Christ at Ridge Church to be involved in serving and leading. We want to be a healthy church planting family and make sure that we have healthy time and involvement boundaries. This way, Emily, Chloe and I have our priorities in order and enjoy the family God has blessed us with.
Last Sunday at The Ridge, we shared that our church is going to move to meeting twice monthly on Sundays. We are seeking to "act our age" and strive to be a place of spiritual health for the planter, God's people, and our city as we remember our focus must be upward on God and outward on others, not inward on ourselves.
I have created a PDF document from my PowerPoint slides that we talked about last Sunday. I'd love for you to read it if you'd like to learn more about our re-commitment to our Ridge Church Vision and Values and also to the Lord, each other, and our community. Feel free to check it out here, and also feel free to email me any comments or questions you may have.
Emily, Chloe and I continue to be committed to this great adventure that God has called us to, and we want to encourage you to stay the course with us as we move forward under a renewed sense of the Holy Spirit's leadership.
Have a great week!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Great Small Group Opportunities This Week!
We have two small groups at Ridge Church. They are our first small groups, and they've been meeting for about a month... They're awesome!
One thing that we believe is very important as part of our small group concept is "knowing and being known." They idea is that when you participate in a small group, and really buy into the concept of living as part of a community of Christ-followers, you will know others, and you will be known by them as well.
It's a cyclical, building-on-itself process. As you share about yourself, you show you trust others, and they get to know you. As others share about themselves, they show that they trust you and you get to know them. All the time that this sharing is going on, you are building community.
As trust is built in Christian community, people allow others to be God's "broken tools" that He uses to help us fix our brokenness. As wild as it sounds, God is glorified when we help each other, even though none of us are anywhere near perfect. This is part of God's plan of helping us to grow spiritually. It is part of the "discipleship process" which means that you are becoming a more devoted follower (disciple) of Christ.
Things work really well in relationships when we consider others as more important than ourselves (Philipppians 2:1-11), when we "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15-16), when we don't make assumptions about folks and try to fix their problems while ours are obviously hindering us (Matthew 7:1-5), and we truly submit to the useful assistance others can provide us in our lives (Proverbs 27:17).
In Ridge Church small groups, we love the verses above (and other verses), because they guide our behavior and attitudes in our small groups, and they show us how God wants to work in our lives.
Of course, part of "knowing and being known" is having fun together! Fun is even one of our Ridge Church core values! So, each of our small groups has a "fun night" each month.
This week, the Alice Bell small group, (led by Bill and Sue Irving) is meeting at Bill and Sue Irving's house at 6:30 pm on Thursday night. Everyone is welcome! You can click here for directions to the house. Their small group's fun night is coming up soon, and I've heard something about a watermelon slicing!
The Gibbs small group (led by Kevin and Emily Layne) is having a night of Lunar Golf at Knoxville Center Mall this Wednesday night at 7 pm. Anyone is welcome to come to this group, as well. Click here for more info on Lunar Golf.
If you're not involved in a small group, this week is a great time to jump in! It's also a great time to bring a friend to check out your group and make some new friends.
Have a great week!
One thing that we believe is very important as part of our small group concept is "knowing and being known." They idea is that when you participate in a small group, and really buy into the concept of living as part of a community of Christ-followers, you will know others, and you will be known by them as well.
It's a cyclical, building-on-itself process. As you share about yourself, you show you trust others, and they get to know you. As others share about themselves, they show that they trust you and you get to know them. All the time that this sharing is going on, you are building community.
As trust is built in Christian community, people allow others to be God's "broken tools" that He uses to help us fix our brokenness. As wild as it sounds, God is glorified when we help each other, even though none of us are anywhere near perfect. This is part of God's plan of helping us to grow spiritually. It is part of the "discipleship process" which means that you are becoming a more devoted follower (disciple) of Christ.
Things work really well in relationships when we consider others as more important than ourselves (Philipppians 2:1-11), when we "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15-16), when we don't make assumptions about folks and try to fix their problems while ours are obviously hindering us (Matthew 7:1-5), and we truly submit to the useful assistance others can provide us in our lives (Proverbs 27:17).
In Ridge Church small groups, we love the verses above (and other verses), because they guide our behavior and attitudes in our small groups, and they show us how God wants to work in our lives.
Of course, part of "knowing and being known" is having fun together! Fun is even one of our Ridge Church core values! So, each of our small groups has a "fun night" each month.
This week, the Alice Bell small group, (led by Bill and Sue Irving) is meeting at Bill and Sue Irving's house at 6:30 pm on Thursday night. Everyone is welcome! You can click here for directions to the house. Their small group's fun night is coming up soon, and I've heard something about a watermelon slicing!
The Gibbs small group (led by Kevin and Emily Layne) is having a night of Lunar Golf at Knoxville Center Mall this Wednesday night at 7 pm. Anyone is welcome to come to this group, as well. Click here for more info on Lunar Golf.
If you're not involved in a small group, this week is a great time to jump in! It's also a great time to bring a friend to check out your group and make some new friends.
Have a great week!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!
Sunday Sunday Sunday! See the alcohol-burning funny cars at the Bristol WinterNationals! Tickets go on sale Friday! Your ticket gets you the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge!
I've always wanted to be that guy that does the drag racing commercials... Maybe someday I'll get scouted to do that and make the big bucks!
Seriously though, we have a big weekend coming up for Ridge Church! Saturday, we are having a picnic in the park at Adair Park in Fountain City. It's a laid-back, bring-your-own-food type thing, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. You can come and go as you like, and feel free to bring food, football, a frisbee and a friend to have some fun!
We'll be gathering together at the parking lot near the playground. Please join us for a time to hang out and enjoy each other's company!
Sunday, we're going to be talking about our Ridge Church core values and what you can expect for the next few months at The Ridge. We'll talk some about our plans for the future, share about a cool summer event coming up, and put something cool in your hands. It's going to be a great time to be there on Sunday at 10 a.m. at Panache!
See you this weekend!
I've always wanted to be that guy that does the drag racing commercials... Maybe someday I'll get scouted to do that and make the big bucks!
Seriously though, we have a big weekend coming up for Ridge Church! Saturday, we are having a picnic in the park at Adair Park in Fountain City. It's a laid-back, bring-your-own-food type thing, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. You can come and go as you like, and feel free to bring food, football, a frisbee and a friend to have some fun!
We'll be gathering together at the parking lot near the playground. Please join us for a time to hang out and enjoy each other's company!
Sunday, we're going to be talking about our Ridge Church core values and what you can expect for the next few months at The Ridge. We'll talk some about our plans for the future, share about a cool summer event coming up, and put something cool in your hands. It's going to be a great time to be there on Sunday at 10 a.m. at Panache!
See you this weekend!
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