Be Rich in Good Deeds
On Sunday, we showed a video highlighting this year’s “Be Rich. Do More. Give More” initiative. If you haven’t seen this, you need to take a couple of minutes to watch it. Thanks again for all you did to serve and give in Jesus’ name. (more…)
The 14 Days of Christmas
The last 14 days may have been the greatest stretch in the history of our young church. I know that’s a pretty big statement but here’s why I think this could be true:
- Last Saturday’s “Giving Up Christmas” event is still reverberating. Check out the stories: www.givingupchristmas.org.
- Our College Ministry packed out the Ferst Center at Georgia Tech for ‘Christmas Illuminated’, a night of worship and teaching.
- The “Be Rich. Do More. Give More.” initiative resulted in more than three times the completed service projects from a year ago.
- 14,000 pounds of food given, 450 homeless shelter kits, 1,050 toys – just a few examples of your generosity in Jesus’ name.
- “Married Life Live Goes Christmas” set an attendance record Saturday. It was a great night.
- One cool story from Married Life was when a couple staying at the Embassy Suites next door just walked over to check out the church and ended up attending the event. They had such a great time they came back for the 11 am service Sunday.
- “Listen and Learn” has been a fantastic series. Andy’s message about how to listen to God was the best I’ve ever heard on the topic.
- The opening songs from the last two Sundays have been some of our best.
- The toy drive Saturday for our adopted school, Woodson Elementary, was unbelievable. You gave so many toys that we had a surplus. We were able to take that surplus to the families of “My Sister’s House,” one of our Intersect partners. Very cool.
- A contagious outpouring of generosity is breaking out, despite the economic challenges. Look no further than this story: http://blog.buckheadchurch.org/2008/12/02/be-rich-in-good-deeds/
- Our Service Programming team created and produced a short film last weekend called “Saving Christmas” for our Christmas services on Dec. 21. (I’ve seen the rough edits. It’s going to be great.)
- The baptism stories we’ll celebrate during our Christmas Eve services are more evidence that God is on the move.
- Most of all, the stories of life change I’ve heard over the last 14 days amaze me.
Keep it up Buckhead. Keep praying. Keep inviting. Keep serving. Keep giving. Keep following Jesus and keep leading people into a growing relationship with Him.
Grateful,
Jeff
What we can learn from Lance Armstrong, the Evangelist
With all due respect to Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps, I believe the greatest athlete of our lifetime is Lance Armstrong. SEVEN Tour de France championships? Seriously?
The lost art of the hand-written note
I love the Internet, email, the iPhone, Twitter and the rest of e-world. Somewhere in the mix though, we’ve lost the art of writing hand-written, personalized notes. We rely too much on email I’m afraid, particularly when it comes to saying thank you.
So today, I want to challenge each of you to take 5 minutes to write a thank you note, put a stamp on it and drop it in the mailbox.
Here’s my prediction: The next time you see the person you write, you’ll be greeted with a big smile. For the price of a postage stamp and five minutes of your time, you can speak specifically into the life of someone.
That’s the power of a hand-written note. More importantly, that’s the power of encouragement.
Jeff
Why Worry?
“Why Worry?” seems like an odd title for a series in a time when so many people are worried and anxious. It’s also one of the many reasons why I think this series is coming at the perfect time.
Over the next three weeks, we’re going to look at what the Bible has to say about worry and anxiety. This is a great time to invite your co-worker who’s worried about their job, your neighbor who’s worried about their marriage or your friend who’s anxious about their finances.
One of the ways you can invite them is by using our series e-vite. You can access it here: http://www.buckheadchurch.org/invite
Take a chance. Email this to them today, and see what happens. My experience is that people appreciate you thinking about them. Most importantly, I think they’ll discover the Bible has some life-changing things to say about worry.
As a little extra incentive, the first 20 of you to email this e-vite to friends will receive the new Chris Tomlin CD. Send the e-vite and comment here letting us know.
Jeff
5 Things
Once a month, the staff from our three campuses gathers together for a leadership lesson from Andy or others. In October, Andy gave a great talk about the recently completed series “The Five Things God Uses to Grow Your Faith.” It was so good I thought I would post it here for the Buckhead blog community to enjoy. Take a few minutes to listen in and post your comments.
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Thanks!
Jeff
My Career Change
I changed careers yesterday.
Well, for half a day at least.
I served as “Principal of the Day” at Woodson Elementary School. As you may know, Woodson is one of our incredible Intersect partners.
Despite living in one of the poorest sections of our city, the students of Woodson are so excited about learning and dreaming about the future. It’s amazing to witness. In fact, take a look at the excitement on their faces. These are faces you have helped feed, clothe, inspire and mentor.
As I walked the halls with the real principal, Dr. Viola Blackshear, I got a great glimpse of how your generosity is impacting Woodson. I also felt like I had been at a three-day leadership conference after spending just three hours with Dr. Blackshear. Here are some of her insights:
- We don’t condemn. We inspire.
- We attack issues not people.
- We don’t have time for excuses because we’re raising up scholars and international leaders.
Sunday, Dr. Blackshear will be at Buckhead Church. I hope you get a chance to meet her. I hope you’ll also do yourself a favor and go meet some of her students. You can do that by signing up for one of our ‘Be Rich’ projects at: www.howtoberich.org
Shortly before ending my half-day career as a principal, I read a book to the Woodson first graders. After I was done I was almost knocked over by the rushing hugs I received. Who says career changes are stressful?
This one was quite nice.
Jeff
