I just have to say this:

I’m really excited about what is happening at Fellowship Church here in Central Massachusetts.  The community that is being built and vision-driven for His glory is an amazing thing to watch.  I feel humbled and stoked  by the stories I’ve heard over the last 6 months about what God is doing in the lives of people in and through this community.  Whatever is happening, it’s because God is using amazing people who are using there gifts to further his kingdom, as opposed to their empires.

I believe this weekend will only fuel this fire in our community as we begin the “One Prayer” series for the 2nd year in a row.  This will be a month long series we’ll be doing with 1600 other churches in the US and 20 other countries!  As Fellowship grows, it shouldn’t just grow in number (though that’s what a healthy church does), but in it’s impact on the kingdom of God.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that this weekend, my favorite pastor in the entire world (outside of my dad) will be speaking at our church.

This will be good times!

I like to think of myself as a funny guy (don’t deny it).

And occasionally when I preach I have two kinds of funny:  Rehearsed and Spontaneous.  The following is the latter:

Talking about the Parable of the Great Wedding Feast, I said, “And then the King says to his messengers, ‘Go out, and allow all to come to me.  Go out, and let people know that they may come in to the wedding feast of my son.’  And they did.  People came.  And they partied like it was…9″

If it isn’t as funny in print, you can see it here.

I hope you laugh at least once today!

Sunday Morning @ Fellowship this week was worth the look.

Check it out!

And it loves me!

Billy, Al, and Steve hanging with a cow?

So I love sports, and I love competition.

As I grow older, one of the aspects of sports I’m coming to appreciate more and more is the teamwork that’s involved in team sports.  I’m also coming to appreciate the idea of team in every aspect of my life.  So for the next several afternoons I’ll be sharing some of the favorite “teams” in my own life.  Some of these are actual teams, and some of them are, shall we say, metaphysical teams (if there is such a thing) that exist to better an aspect of my life that is lacking.

Today’s favorite team is my fellow leaders at Fellowship Church.  They consistently impress with me with their desire to improve and to see people connecting and growing in a relationship with Jesus Christ.  They work together and we’ve seen great results here in central Massachusetts because of their hard work and innovative style.  I love the stuff God is accomplishing through this team, so please allow me to introduce them to you:

Steve Blumer:  The administrative genius on our team, and getting better every day.  This dude has his stuff together and you just know he loves the church and what we’re about.  He’s totally different from me and yet, somehow the same.  (hmmm, that was deep)  He’s done an amazing job at the role of Family Ministries director, and over the next 6 months will be transitioning into being the executive pastor of the FC.  I believe our church will be 100x’s better when that transition takes place.

Billy McGuiness:  Billy has just recently transitioned from our First Impressions director to the new Fellowship Web Campus director.  If you’ve checked out FC TV in the last 3 months, you’ve seen a lot of the amazing work he’s done to transition our church into the 21st century through the web.  I love what Billy brings to the table in sacrifice, excellence in web development, and just being a team player.

Al Dancy:  Al has been a close friend of mine for years now, and as soon as I took the lead pastor role at Fellowship, he came on board to revolutionize our Sunday morning programming.  He’s doing that now with his relevant style, his creative imagination, and his desire to see God move wherever he’s serving.  When Billy and Al get together though, watch out – there are going to be some laughs all around.

Jeff Campbell:  Jeff is our resident progressive thinker, or as he would put it “deep thinker”.  He has grown more in his faith than I have seen anyone ever grow in the time I’ve known him.  He’s the introvert of the bunch, but his leadership over our life group ministry speaks for itself.  This guy also communicates on Sunday mornings when I’m out and about, and sometimes when I’m still in the building.

Pam Watson:  She has no blog or web site, but in some ways, this newest member of our team is more experienced and prepared for her new role as the First Impressions director than anyone else I’ve mentioned, myself included.  She loves Fellowship Church, having been here since 1998 (about 7 months longer than me), and has a desire to see people feel like this place is their church home when they come in.  Her experience as a project coordinator of the UMass medical school Standardized patient program will help in her endeavor to unify her own guest services team to accomplish the mission God has given them, so that maybe one day they will be her favorite team!

So that, my friends,  is one of my favorite teams!

This last Sunday the unthinkable happened, and it scared me.

We had just gone through an amazing service focusing on the story of God, and the music had been great, I felt comfortable with the message God had given to me, and the energy in the room was awesome.  Al and the band were finishing up their last song, “All we”, which was rocking my face off (Thanks Darren).  The music silenced and people cheered when up onto the stage walked a young lady who had been sitting towards the front and who had come in by herself.

I can tell you this now because she eventually told me, but at the time I had no clue who she was – she had very little church experience and only then had attended Catholic churches.  She had told a few people that she was looking for something more.

I noticed as I preached that day that she rarely made eye contact, so I had no idea what she thought about the service, the music, or my message.  So it would be an underestimation to say that I was nervous as I watched her walk up the front stairs and take the microphone stand from Al.  Here’s what she said:

“Most of you guys don’t know me. Tina and Steve do, that’s why I’m here.  I just had tears s come over me, and now tears again. (wipes her face)  Let’s just put it this way, I have 3 upcoming rock concerts I’m going to that, you know, you pay for, big names like the Dropkick Murphys, and I didn’t even know these guys were here (pointing to Al and motioning to the band), (Scream/cheer from the audience, so next phrase is unheard), …but all I need to do is come here on Sundays and come to a concert!”  (she turns around and shakes Al’s hand, and he gives her a hug)

I talked to her after the service, and she clearly loved what she had just experienced.  She filled out a card and signed up for just about everything we have,including wanting to know more about life groups, getting involved in service, and most importantly, she writes that she started a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Sometimes I wonder if trying to focus and reach a younger generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ is worth it because (my mindset):  “If we just slowed down a bit or put some more piano in the mix, older Christians would come too.”  And then I realize…

I’m not a manipulating salesman who does this for the money. I do this because I’m called to reach people like Kirsten, who one day found herself on stage in front of a large group of people she didn’t know, thanking them for their input into her life that day.  And I do this for Phil, a 20 something first time guest this last Sunday.  Phil came as a guest of a member of our church, and who called her up Sunday afternoon thanking her for bringing him to Fellowship Church.  Phil hadn’t stepped foot into a church for about 10 years, since he last left the catholic school he attended then.  And I do this because of the group of 50 and over friends who made their way to my office on Sunday morning to pray for our service and to ask God to work in the lives of people that morning.

And we’re called to reach people like Kirsten or Phil so that one day they will grow to be Christ followers like Garret or Keith and Dawn or Steve or Ian and Katie or Al, Billy,Jeff or Pam, all of who are maturing in the Lord and who understand that we are not a part of the Kingdom of God so that we can start programs to make church people happy, but to reach and teach other people to grow in Christ.  This ensures that the real church of Christ will last far beyond my time here on this earth.  Nothing makes me more excited than this!

And it’s why I exist.

Even the best sports teams eventually lose momentum.  How they respond to that loss is the important thing however, as their response can either put them on track to get back on the momentum band wagon, or keep them far away.  The Celtics are the world champions, right?  And right now they’ve lost a bit of momentum by losing to two  really good teams, quite possibly their two best competitors for the title.  But Garrett officially tells me at Finders on Friday not to worry, because “defense in the playoffs is totally different than in the regular season,and the Celtics are a defensive team.”

We’ll see how that goes, but now for my point.  I’m thrilled at some of the momentum we’ve built this spring at the FC.  God is really working in people’s hearts and each Sunday I walk away feeling like God is doing something big here in this church.  Here are a few of the things I’ve seen:

Our services have been pretty packed as of late, having to add rows regularly, but the cool thing is that we’ve also added regular attenders, including one family of 10.  If that doesn’t fill a row or two…

The spirit in our services has been electric. Thank you God!

Al and his team have done some amazing planning as far as creativity in the services.  The music and videos have been just what the doctor ordered.  And for me, by the time I get up to speak, the commotion is down to a minimum.  People are focused.

(for the record, the speech at the end of the service was not planned, nor did I even know the person who walked up to the stage and spoke into the mic.  But she evidentally really liked our service because she’ll be back next week she says.)

The web campus, led by Billy, has seen more than 10 attenders every week for the last month, includingpeople from New York, Vermont, Ohio, and Germany.

Is it me, or is our ministry for children the best in the state of Massachusetts?  Yes, I think it is.  Great job Steve and the rest of the Family ministries Team!  Kids love going to our church.

Some great things are happening at Fellowship,and you can see it yourself.  Check out this link to view our services on demand.

One more thing I’m excited about is my new small group is starting up this Wednesday.  If you’re looking to get involved at Fellowship, this would be a great way to start.  We’re meeting at the Holman household this Wed. at 6:30 pm.

How have you seen God work at Fellowship?

It’s Fellowship Week and I want to introduce you to Billy McGuiness, our First Impressions Director and the guy who is making the web campus at FC a force to be reckoned with on the info superhighway.

Billy and his wife Colleen came to the FC in the summer of 2001, and they have helped us lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ for the last 7.5 years.  Billy has a servants heart and the talent to make things happen in whatever he’s doing.  Currently in the last 2 months he’s made some impressive headway in turning our web campus into a viable option for attending church and building authentic community @ FC, which has really been a help for people here in Central Massachusetts as each week it seems we’re getting another snow storm.

Billy says that the craziest thing that has happened to him since he’s been here is watching our friend, Alvin the Chipmunk, find his way onto the stage a few times on Sunday Mornings @ Fellowship, and the greatest thing about FC to Billy:  The commitment to build a community of people who want to love Jesus more, and not an earthly kingdom of Sunday morning isolation.

You can find Billy’s blog here, and if you ever want to actually find him, you can see him running the web campus on Sundays, in his FC office on Mon., Wed., and Fri., or hanging out with his Colleen and his two wonderful daughters, Emilie and Erynne.

Give a shout out to Billy, an all around great guy from Fellowship Church!

I’ll be sending out an email about this tomorrow morning, but I figured I’d spread the word here first.

Billy, our  Sunday Morning Impressions director, and Steve, our Family Ministries director have teamed up to provide a great experience each week as we stream our services live here.

Now we’ve taken it a step further and are able to keep the prior weeks service available for viewing throughout the week.  For instance, the service held on January 4, 2009 can be viewed right now or anytime you care to watch.

As time goes on we’ll improve our production quality, but I’m excited that we can reach out to more people, specifically people who are volunteering in our Family Ministy, senior citizens who might not be able to get to church, or those who are travelling or home sick.

Thanks to those of you who are a part of the Fellowship Church family!  2009 is going to be an amazing year for the church!

Your thoughts on church online?

Where can you meet in a church on a Sunday morning with children and adults alike and have the kids just as in much in tune and focused on the service as their parents?
Why, Fellowship Church of course.

Sunday morning @ Fellowship showcased our “Family Experience”, a shared worship experience for children and adults.  The Experience featured music, dancing, drama, humor, great lighting, and yours truly sharing the first message (10 minutes, amazing!) in a 5 part series called, “A Family Christmas”.

I was so proud of Steve and our family ministries team that came together and pulled off a huge win in teaching the important virtue of generosity to the wide variety of ages who were present.  It’s not easy capturing the attention of 3 year olds and 40 year olds, but I would say they did it, and I couldn’t be more proud of our church!  I think we’ll see more “Family Experiences” in the near future.

If you were able to be there, I’d love to hear your thoughts.