In fact, if there has ever been a week to take a risk and invite your boss and co-workers to Buckhead Church, this is it. (Cue the Kenny Loggins song, “This is It.”)

Okay, seriously, this Sunday, Andy is going to talk about a principle from our current “Time of your Life” series that has significant implications for our careers and places of work.

Even if your boss or co-workers never come back to Buckhead Church, we are confident they will walk away challenged and inspired to apply this one principle. Plus, who knows how the Lord will leverage their visit here?

Also, if you know friends who are currently looking for work, this is a great principle for them as they think through the next step in their career.

We’ve made it easy. You can use this e-vite to invite them: http://www.buckheadchurch.org/invite

One suggestion. Be specific with your request. Ask them to meet you at a specific hour, 9, 11 or 6. A generic request like, “You should think about coming” is not as effective as “Would you consider joining me Sunday at 6 pm for this talk on time?”

If you have questions, please let me know. Also, if you want us to pray for the specific person or persons you are going to invite, reply here. You can just provide an initial, or just ask us to pray.

This should be fun.

See you Sunday.

Jeff

I can’t even begin to describe the impact, fun and memories that were created at Boot Camp. And yet, this was just the beginning of an important weekend.

Here are some highlights:

• Grouplink. Our staff and volunteers connected 852 people into community groups this weekend. I think it might be the largest Grouplink in the history of Buckhead Church. Before the crowds arrived, I took this snapshot. I love how organized and prepared our teams are for this event.

• Boot Camp. Why didn’t I have this when I was a sixth-grader? One of the best comments I heard was when one of the students said their favorite moment was, “worshipping God together.” I love that. Check out these photos from the weekend.

• We baptized seven people on Sunday. As usual, I loved hearing their stories and celebrating what Christ has done in their lives.
Here’s one of the baptisms from Sunday:

• Also on Sunday, we trained over 300 Intersect mentoring volunteers. They will begin mentoring students at Woodson Elementary and Safehouse Outreach. I can’t wait to see how God uses this new initiative.

I could keep going on and on, but I’ll stop here for today. Please know God is doing great things through you, your service and your generosity. Let’s keep moving forward.

Jeff

Jeff

It’s back-to-school time again! I recorded a short message to all of you asking you to do one thing this next school year that could have a HUGE impact on your family. Want to know what it is? Click on the link below and see. It will only take a few minutes of your time, but could have long-lasting effects!

Thanks!
Jeff

Head to our website for more information about GroupLink! www.buckheadchurch.org/grouplink

Our challenge for this week is to pray this prayer coming from Psalm 90:12.

“Heavenly Father, teach me to number my days that I might gain a heart of wisdom and fulfill your purpose for my life.”

What are some ways that you will remind yourself to pray this prayer this week?  (One suggestion is to follow Buckhead Church on twitter: @buckheadchurch.  We are going to twitter the prayer out daily.)

Also, I loved our baptisms Sunday.  Great stories!  More are on the way this Sunday. Thanks for being faithful to the calling God has given us as a church.  These are great days!

Grateful,

Jeff

1. Please read Zephaniah 3:17.  Maybe print this verse out and carry it around with you for two days.  Keep it somewhere you can see it frequently.
2. Pray for our time together, specifically for Jesus to be glorified and for you to walk away renewed, challenged and encouraged.
3. Pray for our community, especially those who do not know Jesus.
4. Pray for those who will be there Thursday.
5. Start worshipping God now with how you live today.  We don’t have to wait until Thursday night to start worshipping.

Can’t wait.  See you soon.

Jeff

I have passed by the site numerous times but have never once stopped by until yesterday.  And while my brief visit brought back a flood of great memories, I drove away so thankful that we are no longer there.

Here’s why:

• On Sunday, there were 885 kids on UpStreet.  There is no possible way we could have accommodated this crowd at our old location.
• Also, there were 705 children in Waumba Land.  Once again, there would have been no way to serve that many children on Roswell Road.
• In addition, by my calculations, we would have turned away almost 2,000 adults yesterday from our worship services if we had chosen not to build this new location.  “Thanks for coming but we’re all full” is a terrible first-impression for visitors.  Not to mention a bad strategy for a church.

I could go on and on but my point is this:  If you gave to our “Dare You to Move” fund-raising campaign to build our current location, thank you! I hope you are seeing the fruit of your faithfulness and financial sacrifice. God is rewarding your investment in the Kingdom by creating opportunities for more and more people to develop and grow in a relationship with Jesus.

As one Mom said on Twitter yesterday, “Was difficult leaving @buckheadchurch because my two-year-old let me know, “I don’t want to go home, let’s stay at church!”

How cool is that?

Grateful,

Jeff

Natalie has been serving in Waumba since August 2008 and Kevin joined her shortly after they began dating in October of that year. Natalie and Kevin have not only built their relationship by serving with one another in Waumba Land, they have also built some amazing relationships with the precious children there. My child Ella has been so fortunate to be in their care this past year and she mentions them both by name so often. She even says “Kevin” is her groom when playing pretend weddings of her own. Now, that is an impression. :)

So, when I heard they were getting married, I just had to take a moment to celebrate this amazing couple. We simply had the kids dress Natalie like a bride out of toilet paper and Kevin like a groom out of crepe paper. The little boys in the class wore paper bow ties and the girls wore tutus as their bridesmaid dresses. Then, we posed for pictures and had the parents write notes of encouragement to the couple while at the service.

Lastly, we gave them a cross to hang in their new home together to remind them of the awesome work they’ve already done together for the kingdom. What a great way to kick off a marriage! I told them it takes couples YEARS to figure out the importance of serving and giving back. I just pray I can pay it forward one day and keep future Riggs children in Waumba one day.

–  by Courtney DeFeo, proud Mom of two Waumba Land customers!

Our goal has been to be the church.

And yet, when we are the church, there is an unmistakable attraction that draws people to it.

Salvation comes near.  Lives are changed.  And joy replaces despair.

This is why I’m thankful that so many of you are choosing to be the church. You are being the church by prioritizing your finances to “Give first. Save second, and Live on the rest.”  You are being the church by joining a strategic service team, leading a small group or taking a GlobalX trip.  And you are being the church by taking a risk and inviting friends to join you here one Sunday.

I hear stories constantly about how you aren’t settling for attending church, but instead are striving to be the church.  I shared one such story on Sunday during our services, and thought I would share it with our blog readers.

This is Kim’s story of how you helped her be the church by being the church.

Thank you for being the kind of church that makes stories like this possible.

Grateful,

Jeff

Today was our first day of Vacation Bible School. We went into a neighborhood very close to the epicenter were most of the damage occurred. Many of the house had great amounts of destruction. We were lucky enough to be working with a family who has affiliations in Atlanta. The family cooks lunch everyday for the neighborhood children. So we were asked to have a VBS with these kids.

We arrived and there were already children hanging around. We began the day with parachute games. The children had never seen anything like that and were so uncertain on what to do. Children catch on so quickly and fell in love with it. We then continued on telling them about how God created everything. They were able to form things God created out of play dough. Once again this was an experience that the children had never had. After finishing their creations, they began finding other things to do with it. The day continued with more games and lunch. We ended the day by talking about sin and what it is. The children then did an activity were they turned black (sin) into color (God).

We came in to the VBS with a plan but ready to throw it out the window depending on the situation. Flexibility was key as it has been since day one. Everyone worked together jumping in where they saw fit. God put us in a place with amazing children and who wanted to soak in every second they had with us. By the end of the day we were more tired than the first two days of construction.

We have worked with a lot of kids throughout our time in Haiti, but I feel today we really were able to make connections with the them. Several of them spoke English, but most of them didn’t. That didn’t matter, we found other ways to from relationships playing games like basketball with the play dough or hand clapping. These children simply want us to show them love and attention. Our team has been great at loving on the kids. We have held them, hugged them, and given them high-fives. I feel the hardest part will come Thursday when we have to tell them goodbye.

Ashley