Wow! Today was our second and final afternoon doing KidFest in Fountain City Park! It was a blast. It was very cool to be part of it, and as your pastor, I am very proud of you, Ridge Church!
For those of you not aware of KidFest or the reasons behind it, the two day event had a simple purpose. We believe that people are important, because God believes that. We believe we should love people, because God does. So, we asked ourselves how we could show our community they are important and we love them. We came up with doing all kinds of fun stuff in Fountain City Park for kids and families absolutely FREE! It turned out to be awesome and fun for everyone... I have a feeling we may very well do another KidFest again someday!
I am proud (of course that's the good kind of pride) that 23 Ridge people volunteered on Friday and Saturday to love our community and serve as part of KidFest. We had folks painting faces, painting hair, putting on temporary tattoos, playing games, doing crafts, watching babies, and participating in object lessons that were fun and shared Bible truths... I saw people come out of thier shells, I saw people doing things they had never done. I saw, most of all, people realizing that we can ALL be "ambassadors for Christ" and share Jesus' love with others, even strangers!
I am proud of everyone who pitched in with their time, money, and stuff. Great job loving others in our community, with no strings attached or expectations for "payback" of some kind.
I want to especially thank Trey, Kitten, Alyssa, and Morgan McClain and Keith (I can't spell your last name, email me it dude!) for coming down from Evansville, Indiana to help us serve our neighbors this weekend! Trey is the pastor of Discovery Church. Emily and I have been best buds with Trey and Kitten for a decade. His young church supports The Ridge financially and prayerfully. They came to join hands with us in loving our community, and they rock! Thanks!
At The Ridge, two of our six core values are Serving Others and Fun. These last couple days, you did both. Great job!
Tomorrow (Sunday), we will have another big day! We've rented SkateTown in Fountain City so that we can have some fun together. We'll have worship at the usual time of 10 a.m., followed by FREE stating for us and our friends and neighbors from 11:30 until 1 p.m.!
Make sure to bring a chair to sit in for worship! If you have more than enough for your family, please bring the extras for others to use!
This will be another day of fun, worshiping God and rolling in circles together! See you there!
Showing posts with label Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Love. Show all posts
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Cool Weekend Ahead!
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!
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!
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!
Friday, March 27, 2009
MInistry Center Service Project and Sunday Gathering!
Hey! Just a a couple reminders!
First, I hope to see you all tomorrow morning at the Fountain City Ministry Center for our Ridge Church service project there!
We're meeting at the Ministry Center, in the back of Central Baptist Church of Fountain City, at 10 am. We'll serve until lunchtime, and then eat lunch together in Fountain City Park (as long as the weather is OK.) If we meet in the park, everyone can bring their own food and then we'll camp out in a pavilion. You can check out a map to the Ministry Center here.
Feel free to bring your kids, but make sure that you are ready to keep an eye on them, as there is no child care. Also, please bring along some diapers and/or powdered laundry detergent. We're going to give a gift of diapers to the ministry center for their patrons, and also divide up laundry detergent into sandwich bags so it can be distributed to those who visit the center. Whatever else they have for us to do, we'll pitch in there as well.
The Ministry Center does some great work helping our neighbors in Jesus' name, and we're glad to be able to partner with them. It's important that we, as Christ-followers, care for those who are less fortunate or going through tough times. Jesus had alot to say about how we treat the poor and needy in our world, and we do too! One of our core values is Serving Others, and we take it seriously. (But, serving can be fun, too!)
The second reminder: We're having our Ridge Church worship gathering on Sunday! I know it's just been a week since we met, and we've been meeting every two weeks. But, we've got some important things to talk about regarding our Core Values and how they apply to all of us, some future things going on in the Spring and Summer, and also information about how you can become more involved in living out the love of Jesus in our community.
I won't be continuing my preaching on Colossians this week, but sharing some information and challenges for our people. Also, our Children's Ministry will not meet. We want our kids' volunteers to participate in this time with our entire group.
See you tomorrow and Sunday on this big weekend!
First, I hope to see you all tomorrow morning at the Fountain City Ministry Center for our Ridge Church service project there!
We're meeting at the Ministry Center, in the back of Central Baptist Church of Fountain City, at 10 am. We'll serve until lunchtime, and then eat lunch together in Fountain City Park (as long as the weather is OK.) If we meet in the park, everyone can bring their own food and then we'll camp out in a pavilion. You can check out a map to the Ministry Center here.
Feel free to bring your kids, but make sure that you are ready to keep an eye on them, as there is no child care. Also, please bring along some diapers and/or powdered laundry detergent. We're going to give a gift of diapers to the ministry center for their patrons, and also divide up laundry detergent into sandwich bags so it can be distributed to those who visit the center. Whatever else they have for us to do, we'll pitch in there as well.
The Ministry Center does some great work helping our neighbors in Jesus' name, and we're glad to be able to partner with them. It's important that we, as Christ-followers, care for those who are less fortunate or going through tough times. Jesus had alot to say about how we treat the poor and needy in our world, and we do too! One of our core values is Serving Others, and we take it seriously. (But, serving can be fun, too!)
The second reminder: We're having our Ridge Church worship gathering on Sunday! I know it's just been a week since we met, and we've been meeting every two weeks. But, we've got some important things to talk about regarding our Core Values and how they apply to all of us, some future things going on in the Spring and Summer, and also information about how you can become more involved in living out the love of Jesus in our community.
I won't be continuing my preaching on Colossians this week, but sharing some information and challenges for our people. Also, our Children's Ministry will not meet. We want our kids' volunteers to participate in this time with our entire group.
See you tomorrow and Sunday on this big weekend!
Friday, October 31, 2008
A Spooky Holiday...
Today is Halloween! Everybody seems to do something different for this holiday. Many folks take their kids trick-or-treating, all dressed up as Hannah Montana, Batman, Peyton Manning, or Sarah Palin. (That's a joke...)
Anyway, it seems alot of churches have taken the stand of being totally against celebrating Halloween by trick-or-treating, and they are instead having Trunk-or-Treat things at their church parking lots. While I applaud the attempts of churches to do cool stuff for kids and their parents, I wonder if there is a better way to love folks at this time of year?
I guess the big question is, how can God work through our culture's celebration of Halloween? (Yes, I know it is a pagan holiday at heart.) How can we represent Christ in such a way as to make the biggest possible positive impression on our neighbors on this night? How can we best take the Gospel to others and allow Christ to shine through us on Halloween? I think that's the most useful question, with the greatest possible result. I believe it's nice to invite people to your church building. But, I think it's always better to hang out with people in their neighborhoods and invite them right up to your front door!
Ryan Mobley of Delta Church in Springfield, Illinois has written a cool article about Halloween in his blog. Ryan is a fellow Acts29 Network pastor, and shares some good, simple wisdom about how God can use us to engage folks with love as Christ's representatives on Halloween.
You may be seeing more links to trusted pastors' blogs in the near future, as Emily and I hope to have a baby here real soon! She is scheduled for an amniocentesis (don't worry, it's a very safe procedure at 38 weeks) on Monday, with a possible C-section on Tuesday. We'll keep you informed and post pics, but for about a little while I may need the backup of other good bloggers while I figure this whole sleeping thing out!
Have a safe and fun night...
Anyway, it seems alot of churches have taken the stand of being totally against celebrating Halloween by trick-or-treating, and they are instead having Trunk-or-Treat things at their church parking lots. While I applaud the attempts of churches to do cool stuff for kids and their parents, I wonder if there is a better way to love folks at this time of year?
I guess the big question is, how can God work through our culture's celebration of Halloween? (Yes, I know it is a pagan holiday at heart.) How can we represent Christ in such a way as to make the biggest possible positive impression on our neighbors on this night? How can we best take the Gospel to others and allow Christ to shine through us on Halloween? I think that's the most useful question, with the greatest possible result. I believe it's nice to invite people to your church building. But, I think it's always better to hang out with people in their neighborhoods and invite them right up to your front door!
Ryan Mobley of Delta Church in Springfield, Illinois has written a cool article about Halloween in his blog. Ryan is a fellow Acts29 Network pastor, and shares some good, simple wisdom about how God can use us to engage folks with love as Christ's representatives on Halloween.
You may be seeing more links to trusted pastors' blogs in the near future, as Emily and I hope to have a baby here real soon! She is scheduled for an amniocentesis (don't worry, it's a very safe procedure at 38 weeks) on Monday, with a possible C-section on Tuesday. We'll keep you informed and post pics, but for about a little while I may need the backup of other good bloggers while I figure this whole sleeping thing out!
Have a safe and fun night...
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