It’s crazy to think that Christmas is less then 2 weeks away.  2 WEEKS!!!  This means our Christmas Eve services are almost here.  We gave away over 400 Christmas Eve tickets on Sunday.  I can’t stress this enough…there are friends, family, coworkers, and folks in our community that WILL come to church on Christmas Eve if someone would invite them.  I triple dog dare you to go all out and ask your friends to come.  Be sure to grab the tickets you need on Sunday.  As of right now we have services at 5pm and 7pm.  These services are for kids as well as adults.

I’m also very excited about our Special Christmas Offering that is happening this Sunday.  There is no way to put into words how big of an impact we make each year with our Christmas offering.  I challenge you to spend a little time everyday this week asking God to show you how much you should give.  If you have a spouse and kids, invite them to pray with you.  I believe that the seeds of generosity we plant this season will bring a massive harvest in the seasons to come.  I am praying that everyone in our church will seek God and do what He says.  If we all do that, it will be the BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER.

I love you guys,

See ya Sunday!

Pastor Jeff

Words cannot adequately express the amount of overwhelming gratitude we feel as a result of the outpouring of support for our efforts to raise awareness and funding for adoption through our KIN Campaign.  Yesterday was nothing short of a miracle in our eyes, and God is using each of you to play a part in what is, at this point, one of the most significant chapters of our story.

In preparation for last Sunday, we made close to thirty bracelets with the thought that if we’re left with none it would be a huge answer to prayer.  Just for reference, that’s about the number we had sold to date since KIN’s launch in early November.  It’s hard to describe the moment when we looked up after the service ended to see a line forming and thought, “Um, I don’t think we made enough.”  We’re so glad we serve a God who is described in Ephesians 3:20 as “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think”.  So as it turned out, we certainly hadn’t made enough.  After running out of bracelets and taking even more pre-orders, you bought 62 KIN Bracelets raising over $3000 and making our adoption that much closer to a reality.

We are humbled by the heart of this church.  We’ve always been so proud to be a part of Lifepoint, and what we experienced Sunday proved to be a reminder that none of us are meant to walk our roads alone.  Church family was created by God and when it’s lived out the way He intended, the world around us is transformed.

So we’ll say it again; KIN is family.  And family means a whole lot to us — especially church family.

Thank you for the overwhelming display of generosity you’ve shown us, and thank you for the encouragement, prayers, and support you’ve given us throughout the years — it’s safe to say we wouldn’t be where we are without it.  We’re anxiously awaiting the day that we welcome our son or daughter into the world.  We can’t wait to share the celebration with all those who helped make it happen and then turn KIN’s efforts to helping someone else experience the same feeling.  We hope and pray this is just the beginning.

Thank you, to our KIN, from the bottom of our hearts,

Hal and Jen Griffin

Samaritans Purse puts together an awesome gift guide that allow our kids to select items that they would like to bless other children with.  It’s fun to watch my gang pick soccer balls, meals, books, and baby chicks to give to kids across the world.  You can find view the gift catalog online by clicking here.

Hal and Jen are great friends of mine.  Hal is on staff with us here at Lifepoint and Jen, his wife, is perhaps the most creative person I know.  They are in the process of adopting a child through Bethany Christian Services.  KIN is campaign that they have started to meet financial need of adopting.  I have been wearing my KIN bracelet for over a month and will continue long after they have their little one.  Click here to find out more about KIN.

Wow, where do I start about Sadie???  Sadie is a 21 month old, beautiful little girl in our church who is battling JMML, a rare form of juvenile leukemia.  Sadie and her parents, Jeff and Candace are currently at the hospital in Chapel Hill.  Part of our Christmas offering is going to help this family tackle some of the financial challenges that they face as Sadie gets healthy.  Once her white blood count increases she will have to spend 100 days in Chapel Hill.  It’s a long road to recovery but we’re not gonna let Sadie’s family walk it alone.  Click here to learn more about how you can pray for and help Sadie.

Last but not least is our annual Christmas Offering.  Every year this special offering allows us to do things above and beyond our operating budget.  We’ve drilled wells in Africa, sponsor children in Brazil and Uganda, fed kids in Wilmington, and a whole bunch more.  As a family, we reserve our biggest and best gift for this Christmas offering.  It’s our way of saying “Happy Birthday, Jesus!”  This year we have the opportunity to make a big impact in our church, our city and our world as we generously give!

Join me in asking God how He would have you to give generously and make this the BEST.CHRISTMAS.EVER.

Traditions are great, however, it’s easy to forget why we do some of the things we do.  I’d love to take a minute and share with you why I give a special Christmas offering.

1.  Because it is Jesus’ birthday.  I know this sounds silly but I can’t imagine what it would be like to have a party and watch everybody get a gift except me.  We give gifts to people that we love and appreciate and there is no one that I am more grateful for than Jesus.  I believe our biggest and best gift should be given to Jesus.  Giving Him a gift reminds me that Christmas is about Him!

2.  Because it makes an impact on the world.  Every year our Christmas offering has gone to impact our church, our city, and our world.  Over the years we have been able to feed families in Brazil, drill wells in Africa, feed underprivileged kids in our own city, serve the homeless meals, start a village sponsorship in Uganda, provide gifts for families, and make improvements around Lifepoint to name a few.

3.  Because it breaks the curse of greed in me.  You may find this hard to believe but I can be a greedy person.  This time of year my wish list can grow pretty long and I can get pretty self absorbed.  I’ve found that the more generous I am toward others the more content I am in my own life.  To be honest, I’ve regretted many of the purchases I’ve made.  I’ve never regretted giving money to the church or someone in need.

4.  Because it teaches my kids who Christmas is about.  Let’s face it, kids love Christmas.  They love it because of the gifts they get.  Giving generously teaches them to love it because of the gifts they give!  Big difference.  The best Christmas memories I have as a kid center around my family giving generously to people in need.

5.  Because it helps with my taxes.  Yes, I admit this is a pretty shallow reason but hey, I don’t want to “render to Caesar” any more than I have to!  Yes, all gifts to the special Christmas Offering are tax deductible.  Everything you give up until Dec. 31st can be counted on your 2012 taxes.

6.  Because Lifepoint is my church.  I love my church.  I love Lifepoint because of the heart for Jesus and commitment to His mission (the preaching is pretty good too!).  I want to be fully invested at my church.  Jesus says that where I invest my money is where I’ll find my heart.  I hope that evidence of my heart is all over my church.  I hope to always be a person who says, “Follow me as I follow Christ!”

So, there you have it.  Those are just a few of the reasons why I give.  What about you?

On December 16th we have the opportunity to give generously to the work of God in our church and around the world.  Be sure to be at Lifepoint this weekend as I share some of the areas that will be blessed by our generous giving!

I Love Pastoring This Church,

Pastor Jeff

Speaking of “Thanks,” I want to say a public thanks to my best friend and Executive Pastor, Daryl Srickland for preaching this past Sunday!  I am overwhelmed by the talent that God has put on this Lifepoint team.

Every week God sends new faces our way!  We received this email from one of our first time guests on Sunday.

I am planning to attend this coming Sunday and thanks again for the follow up—-it means so much for a new visitor.  There is a big difference in “Welcome, we are glad you took the time to visit with us today” at the door of a church and “Welcome, we are really glad you are here today”, have people show you around, offer to answer any questions, speak to you after the service, receive a smile and thank you  from the parking crew and  then to have the contact through email and a phone call!   Thank you—see you Sunday!

WHAT AN AWESOME EMAIL!

There are several things on my mind that I am excited about and I wanted to share them with my church family.

First, we are kicking off a brand new series this Sunday called “BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER.”  If you didn’t read that title with some real enthusiasm you have to go back and do it again.  If you love Christmas movies, 80′s metal, and Jesus you are definitely gonna love this Sunday!  DO NOT BE LATE!  I repeat: DO NOT BE LATE!

Second, who likes to party?  If you serve in any capacity here at Lifepoint then YOU ARE INVITED to a DREAM TEAM FIESTA!!!  December 7th at 6:30pm we’re celebrating FIESTA style.  If you have not RSVP’d yet, we are anxiously waiting to hear from you.  Shoot an email to info@lifepointnow.com and let us know you are IN.

Lastly, our Christmas Offering is coming up on December 16th.  We believe that Christmas is about Jesus, it is His birthday and one of the ways we honor Him is by giving Him a gift.  So often we give everyone else a gift and overlook the One that it is all about.  Take some time and ask God what He would have you to give on the 16th.  I’m excited about the gift that my family is going to bring.

There is no question about it, December is one busy month.  Be sure to download this calendar so you don’t miss any of it!

I love my church,

Pastor Jeff

1.  Thank you Lifepoint for being a church that I can be real with.  This past Sunday was an incredible time to celebrate everything that God has been doing around our church.  It really is humbling!  Preaching about money is always a sensitive topic but you always receive it with openness.  I absolutely believe that as we trust God with our finances He will pour blessings into our lives.  Also thanks for sitting through one of my longest messages ever!  Did I mention how much I love you???

2.  BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER.  December 2nd we are kicking off our brand spanking new Christmas series.  You may want to have a Christmas movie marathon to get ready for this series.

3.  Dream Team Fiesta!  December 7th at 6:30pm we are throwing a Christmas Party for our entire Dream Team…FIESTA STYLE!  If you serve in any capacity here at Lifepoint you are INVITED!

4.  Angel Tree.  I was blown away to hear that after the 9:15am service Sunday that 3/4 of the Angel Tree tags were already claimed!  By the end of the 11:15am service they were all taken!  You guys NEVER cease to amaze me!  We have received more tags this week for those of you that did not get a chance to pick on up!  Don’t forget, gifts are due back on Dec. 9th.

5.  Special Christmas Offering.  December 16th we are giving our Christmas Offering.  We believe that the church should be pacesetters in our world with generous living.  This Christmas we are asking each family to pray about how God would have them give generously to the work of God here at Lifepoint and around the world!

6.  Baptism are coming up!  In two weeks on December 2nd, we will be baptizing new believers.  If you have not been baptized since choosing to live for Jesus, THIS IS FOR YOU!  You can sign up by emailing us at info@lifepointnow.com.

I hope everyone has one incredible Thanksgiving!  Enjoy family, football, and one day of legalized gluttony!!

Pastor Jeff

P.S. In honor of Thanksgiving I wanted to share this amazingly inspiring video with you.

I recently had the privilege of teaming up with Pastor Randy Bezet of Bayside Community Church in Florida, and several other amazing leaders of churches of all sizes, for a new initiative called Relate Coaching. The goal is to provide church leaders with coaching in the context of relationships.

Lifepoint Church will be hosting a Relate One Day Conference designed to help pastors and their staffs uncover practical solutions to take their churches to the next level. Randy Bezet will be here sharing strategies and we’ll also have a live Q&A with best-selling author John Bevere.

I highly recommend every pastor, church staff, and lead volunteer come experience the Relate One Day Conference. People may not always relate to what you’re going through, but we do.

This event takes place on Tuesday, August 7th, and kicks off at 8am. The cost is only $14.99 per person and that includes food and childcare. We’ve even got discounted hotels for those traveling in. Sign up today!

There I had to get that off my chest.

In John 4:4 the Bible says that Jesus “had to go through Samaria” on His way to Galilee. What’s interesting about this passage is that there was a shorter route. However, Jesus wasn’t interested in taking the shortest route. He knew that there was a woman in Samaria that needed to meet Him. She needed hope. So He chose to go “out of the way” to see her.

Think about this. Jesus went quite a bit “out of the way” to see us. Remember the lyric, “You came from heaven to earth to show the way”, yeah it’s old school, i know! I’ve got to imagine Heaven to Earth was rather “out of the way!” Yet He went there!

I love being part of a church that is willing to “go out of the way” to point people to life in Christ! I want to thank every single Lifepointer that selflessly goes out of their way to serve our city! Thank you for being like Jesus!

I’ve been wrestling with this thought for a few days as I’ve been pondering what it means to be on staff at Lifepoint. One of the many things I dream about in a staff is that we always have something to share about Christ. Maybe it’s as simple as something I’ve read, something I’ve learned, something I’ve been convicted of, something I’ve awakened to, something I’ve memorized, something I’ve prayed, something I’ve experienced. You get the point.

I look forward to the day that I can ask any staff member, or Christ follower for that matter, at any moment to lead a Bible study or share what they are learning and they just go for it. As if they’ve been preparing for the opportunity.

I wrestle with the follower of Christ that has nothing to share. I’m that way sometimes. What I have learned about myself is that the times I have nothing to share are also the times when I have spent zero time with Jesus. Interesting, zero output usually means zero input.

How’s your input? Just a thought.