Archive for February, 2008

Where Church Happens…

Through our GroupLink events, 526 people were connected into community last month. Of those who connected, 48 percent were taking a step into a community group for the first time! We now have over 3300 people at our church experiencing community on a weekly basis. Each week these folks talk about the Bible and learn how it relates to them personally. Each week these folks discuss what is happening in their lives and pray for each other. Each week people are supported in ways that make our large church feel small and very personal.

My wife and I just finished a married couples’ community group. Our group was together for almost two years. On the last night we met as a group, we reflected on the past two years. Several people mentioned how good it felt to know that the things they struggled with were similar to what other people struggled with. Some commented on how comforting it was to have people support them through difficult times. Some shared how their relationship with God had grown. A few people mentioned things they wished they had done differently, such as getting together more frequently outside of our group time. They intend to do that in future groups.

When it was my turn to share, I said how great it had been to be on the inside track of knowing what was going on in each other’s lives. When our six couples gathered in our family room every week to talk about God’s word, to pray for each other, and to be involved in each other’s worlds, church happened! I have felt encouraged, supported, and cared for by this small group of people, and I don’t think I would ever have felt that way just by attending “church” on Sundays.

A few weeks ago, a couple in our small group had a new baby. I am sure many other people had babies that day as well. The difference is that I knew the behind-the-scenes story in this couple’s journey, and that made this baby different for me than all the other babies that were born that day.

Where is church happening for you? Who are you tracking closely enough with that you get the benefit of seeing God at work in their lives and they get to see Him at work in yours? Church is happening for over 3300 people who are all around you on a Sunday. What is standing in the way of it happening for you?

Steve Giddens
Director of Group Life

Back to the Basics

I don’t know if you have heard of what happened yesterday, but for some, it sent jitters and shakes throughout the nation.

Starbucks closed for the evening.

That is right. In over 7,000 US locations, Starbucks closed its doors from 5:30pm to 8:30pm. No coffee served. No caramel macchiato fix. Nary a grande anything to be found. Oddly enough, though, a group of Starbucks employees sat in rows inside, listening at first and then busily working behind the counter at espresso machines as it if were the height of rush hour. Drinks were being made and then poured out (gasp) or, strangely, being consumed by the staff themselves. Was this a cruel trick to taunt those caffeine-cravers that pressed their faces against the glass doors? What was going on?

Here was the deal. A few months ago, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz informed the company that they would close the doors for three hours in February to take 135,000 Starbucks baristas back to school “to provide a renewed focus on espresso standards that will help ensure the exceptional quality of every beverage.” In simpler terms, Schultz wanted to make sure that the organization was still focusing on the core product. Amid all the other stuff that Starbucks is doing (music, food, movies, books), they needed to make sure that they were still serving up the most important thing…a great beverage.

Funny enough, there are some great similarities to what we do for children and students here at Buckhead Church. Admittedly, we have great resources and lots of opportunities for a ton of “bells and whistles” to put in front of kids. If not careful, we could become a church full of entertainment but no substance…a “Churchy Cheese” if you will. We see it happen all the time. A church or ministry slides a little off course in the name of entertainment and amusement and eventually finds themselves failing to do the ministry that God has given them. Kids walk away entertained but still disconnected from God.

We realized very early on in the life of our church that, at the end of the day, our greatest quest is to give kids what God has offered to us. Salvation. Love. Grace. A relationship with Him through Christ. This is our core product. We’ve loved building engaging, creative, and fun settings for ministry to happen in our new building, but, at the end of the day, they are simply there as a background for God to change lives. This is why you hear us refer to our children and student ministry areas as “environments.” It is the place we’ve built for God to do His work through hundreds of amazing small group leaders, musicians, Bible storytellers, hosts, production volunteers, and rocking chair rockers. Long ago, we decided that the best way to communicate our “core product” (the Gospel, a relationship with Him, and His timeless truths) to kids would be through relationships with caring adults in small groups. Every Sunday, God works His amazing ministry through these awesome volunteers.

In light of this, here are two quick bits to know…
1) In early April, we’ll be issuing a big invitation for a bunch of new Family Ministry volunteers to help God do what he is doing in our childrens ministry environments (pre-school through fifth grade). With the recent growth, we have LOTS of great, inspiring, and rewarding opportunities. Cant wait until then to get started? Go here (http://buckheadchurch.com/site/involved) and get involved!

2) Parents, remember that ministry doesn’t stop when your kids leave the environments at Buckhead Church. As we always say, we want to “partner” with you since what happens at home is way more important and spiritually formative than what happens at church. Be sure to read the “Small Talk” cards that come out of Waumba Land so you can talk about it with your preschooler. Attend KidStuf with your elementary aged child and ask what happened in Upstreet, Xtreme (middle school), or InsideOut (high school). Also, let us know what we can do to help ministry happen at home!

See you Sunday…and, oh, Starbucks DID reopen, so you are all good to re-caffeinate now!

Billy

Billy Phenix
Director of Family Ministry

Race

Did you realize that Lance Armstrong won 7 Tour De France races in a row? If you are not a cycling fan, welcome to the club. It is just not that much of a spectator sport. So understand that this is coming from a guy who doesn’t watch the sport. The closest I’ve ever been to cycling was riding my mom’s 10 speed to Briarlake Elementary School in 4th grade thinking I was the coolest Latino on campus only to be made fun of because I was riding a chic bike. I was let know that a “boys” bike has a bar running parallel to the ground.

Enough about my cycling career. How did he do it? I have never had cancer. I have never been in the hospital. I have never been faced with life or death. But many have. Many have stared death in the face. Most wilt under its gaze. But transfixed in my head is that clip that is shown in every Lance Armstrong story where he is cycling with no hair on his head or above his eyes. The chemotherapy was hard at work. But so was he. What clicks in his mind that allows such determination? I am a firm believer that God can work in whomever He pleases. The passion and endurance in Lance can only come from God. As a believer and privileged Ragamuffin I have the Living God breathing His breath into me day by day. But where is my passion? Where does it hide? I believe it is within us all. We just have to find it. It is late Monday night. Tomorrow I wake up and drive to Buckhead early in the morning to help create an environment to help people worship the Living God. Yet a man who wears a Yellow Jersey seems to have more passion than I. There is something fundamentally wrong with this picture. Tomorrow I pray I race toward the finish line of Christ Jesus as if I have stared death in the face and realized that it has no power over me. I pray that I run hard tomorrow with a renewed sense of passion that no song could ever bring me. Lord infuse in me that fire.
I know Lance won the race.
But we already have.
So why not run as if I believe it?
Carlos

Carlos Whittaker – SPD Director
Buckhead Church

Preparing for Easter?

I don’t know about you, but Easter always sneaks up on me. When I was a kid, there was the anticipation of the annual “full-contact Easter egg hunt“ with my brother. The competition. The spoils for the victor. It was a long-awaited event by the time it arrived. Now that I’m a grown-up (lame!), I could either manufacture that same anticipation by creating a similar competition with my friends (which would be weird), or I can put together a plan for the weeks leading up to this significant day to prepare for it.

Some people do it by observing Lent.

Some by observing Maundy Thursday or Good Friday.

Others don’t prepare at all, like me in the past—not judging, some just don’t.

As a Christian, I don’t want Easter to go by again without really soaking in all of its significance. So, this year I’m going to prepare by doing two things:

1. I’m going to go back and watch The Passion of the Christ again . . . hopefully in the BC Auditorium all by myself with all the lights out and the sound cranked up!! Please, Carlos?!
2. I’m going to attend the new series on Jesus entitled Love Revolution at 7|22 on the four Tuesday nights leading up to Easter.

How are you going to prepare?

joel

Joel Thomas
Director of Singles and College Ministry