It was a crazy, good day today at Cross Point.  Our team put a lot of work into making this weekend a memorable one for everyone with the launch of our DNA series.  We do this series once a year to share the vision, heart and soul of our church.  You would think it gets old… but it doesn’t. Especially when you shake it up and deliver it for the first time in 3D!

I’m so proud of our Creative Team led by Stephen Brewster.  They dreamed big, tried some new things and Matt Singleton pulled out some of his best work, delivering 10 different videos that he created for this weekend, most of them in 3D.

Our 3D extravaganza did not come without it’s share of challenges and stressors, but all in all it was a great day and most importantly Pete shared a powerful message about the importance of the first part of our vision.

DNA – Radically Devoted by Pete Wilson

Matthew 16:24-25

Every church is unique and different.

We do not think Cross Point is the best church.  It takes lots of churches for us to be the body of Christ.

We believe that Cross Point has a unique vision that God has called us to.

We want to be a community of people who are radically devoted to Christ, irrevocably committed to one another and relentlessly dedicated to reaching the lost.

Question that plagues all of us: Why am I here?

We have to determine what we are doing with the space between – the space between when you accept Christ and eternity.

Jesus did not define spiritual maturity by what you know.  He defined spiritual maturity by how you love.

Some equate spiritual maturity with Bible knowledge.

Spiritual maturity should be defined by our response to Jesus.

There is a big difference from being a fan and being in the game.

The church has produced a lot of fans of Jesus but not a lot of followers of Jesus.

What does it mean to be radically devoted to Christ?

Commit to believe whatever Jesus says.

Commit to obey whatever you have heard.

Jesus intended for there to be spiritual transformation in the space between.  He intended for us to become more like Him.  He intended for us to make an impact on this world.

Jesus created a new vision for life, not a new list of rules.

Luke 6:46-49

The gospel does not call for reflection, but for action.

We believe in God, but we live like He doesn’t exist.

The space between is where the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ begins to chip away and we become the men and women God has called us to be.

We’re not called to just be receivers of God’s grace, we’re called to be agents of God’s grace.

We’re not called to be fans of Jesus, we’re called to be followers of Jesus.

Jesus didn’t just do something for us.  He did something to us.

It’s not ok to blame others for your spiritual maturity not being where you want it to be.  It’s your job to own your spiritual maturity.

We wrapped up the Chronicles series today at Cross Point.  I started out at the Nashville campus and then headed to Bellevue to celebrate baptisms at their 11:00 AM service.  Today was our first baptism Sunday for this campus – such a special milestone.

The reality of four campuses continues to be an interesting dynamic.  Today I found myself wandering around trying to figure out my place and how I could best serve our teams.  The beauty of this model is that it forces you to raise up leaders.  The challenge of this model for me is to find my place and to adequately support our teams at all the campuses.

Here are my notes from Pete’s message today.  Very challenging and very healing.

The Unmerciful Servant by Pete Wilson

This could be one of the most difficult parables to live out.

Matthew 18:23-25

This teaching goes against the very cultural grain of life.

The servant is facing a debt that he can never repay.

Culturally we operate with the mentality “you do wrong to me, I’m gonna get you back.”

Unresolved bitterness contaminates everything.

Bitterness from your past will ruin your present and future relationships.

Hebrews 12:14-15

Forgiving is not condoning. It’s not excusing the injustice that’s been done to you.

Forgiving is not reconciling.

Forgiveness is giving up your right to hurt them back. You let go of your right to get even.

Ultimately the only thing that will bring healing to your life is forgiveness.  The only thing that costs more than forgiveness is unforgiveness. Unforgiveness will cost you your heart.

Challenge: Put the burden down.

If you stay chained to that bitterness and unforgiveness and you’ll never be able to fully trust anyone in your life again.

Is there someone in your life that you need to forgive?

I had the privilege of spending my day at the Dickson Campus today.  I’m really excited about this campus (which happens to be the one we’re interviewing for a Campus Pastor.) There’s a great spirit of community here and a passion to reach the city and county of Dickson with the hope of Christ. I believe great things are on the horizon!

Here’s a few miscellaneous thoughts before I give you the highlights from today’s message:

• So good to have Pete back after his 4 week study break
• Excited that I got to hang out over lunch with some of the staff and interns from Catalyst (one of my favorite organizations).  Have you ordered your tickets for Catalyst Atlanta yet?  Let me know if you are going to be there!
• Here’s the link to the book that Pete talked about in the message today: Confessions of a Prayer Slacker.  I can’t wait to read it!
• Proud of our team and all of our volunteers for another great Sunday!

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The Persistent Widow by Pete Wilson

Luke 18:1-8

Jesus is giving us three foundational beliefs in this story:

Belief #1: There is a God in Heaven who deeply loves you.

You are not a bother to God.

He is inviting you into the context of the intimacy of prayer with Him.

Intimacy always requires something of us.  It requires the risk of vulnerability.

As long as I strive to hold control of my life, I am not able to be as vulnerable as God is asking me to be.

Intimacy always comes through truth.

Oftentimes we pray what we wish was in us rather than what is truly in us.

Belief #2: Prayer is how I stay connected to God’s presence.

Ephesians 6:18

I Thessalonians 5:17

Most days we live our lives completely unaware of God’s presence around us.

Every moment is a moment of prayer.  Every moment is a moment to be aware of his presence.  Every moment is a time to awaken in me the reality that God is in me and around me all day.

Prayer becomes an overflow of the your awareness of the reality of God around you and with you constantly.

Belief #3: He is able.

Prayer reminds me that the outcomes of my life do not rest on my shoulders.

You’re too busy to pray becomes you think the outcomes of your life do rest on your shoulders.  You have too much to do to pray.

Ephesians 3:14-

Prayer reminds us that God is the force that moves this entire world forward.

Which one of those foundational beliefs did you most need to hear today?

Here are my random thoughts, observations and insights from yesterday followed by Justin’s message notes.

• No matter what campus I’m at, I’m always missing the others and wishing I could be everywhere at once.
• I recognize that I wear my team out with details on Sunday mornings.  Some things you just have to coach in the moment, but there are other things that can wait.  I’m trying to learn to save what can wait and follow that up with good overall feedback on Mondays.
• I’m amazed and excited by the fact that the more campuses we have the more we rely on volunteer leaders to really lead and run the show.  We should have volunteer leaders already leading at this capacity, but multi-site has forced us to really equip leaders that way.  Did I mention I’m thankful for our volunteers?
• Justin continued our Chronicles series with the parable of The Two Debtors.  I have never heard anyone tell the story of the woman who washed Jesus feet with such passion and beauty.  Truly powerful.  The notes won’t do it justice so be sure to go listen online.

The Two Debtors by Justin Davis

Luke 7:36-50

When Jesus looks into this woman’s eyes, she feels love for who she is, not what she does.

An absence of gratitude allows religion to replace relationship.

What word would you use to describe your relationship with God right now? 

Numb, guarded, repetitive, distant, absent, controlled, exhausted, dull, beat up, disappointed, mechanical, uninspiring

Has gratitude for grace leaked out of your life?

When God doesn’t react the way we think he should react, we’re quick to question Him.

It’s hard to be overwhelmed by grace when you’ve convinced yourself you don’t need it.

We are the big debtors in this story.  We’re in the biggest need of grace.

What we need to bring Jesus:

Gift of Repentance. Religion can put you at the table with Jesus but only repentance will put you at his feet.

Gift of Adoration. When was the last time you shamelessly adored God?  Does your worship to God reflect your gratitude for grace?

He who has been forgiven of much, loves much.

Will you bring Jesus your gift of repentance and adoration?

I spent my day at the Nashville campus today serving as the Worship Assistant.  I love this role because it provides me the opportunity to help set up our teaching pastor and to finish out the service with opportunities for people to respond and connect.  You could say I just did “announcements” but I always hope I can make it much more about helping people connect.

Before I give you the notes from the message today, I thought I would give you some additional highlights from today at the Nashville Campus:

• So proud of our worship team.  For those of you that don’t know, our entire band is made up of extraordinarily talented VOLUNTEERS every weekend at every campus.  These guys & gals are amazing.  Today we hit a hiccup and our drummer wasn’t able to be here, so our keyboard player (who also is an excellent drummer) changed gears, moved to the drum kit and brought his keyboard with him.  He played BOTH drums and keyboards for all four services!  That’s crazy dedication!
• After the 3rd service, I had the opportunity to reconnect with Gloria.  Gloria was one of the amazing people we met during flood week.  Her neighborhood was one of the hardest hit by the Nashville Flood just a little over 2 months ago and honestly Gloria still is struggling to figure out what to do.  I was so honored to pray for her, but left that conversation burdened by the work that still needs to be done to help families like hers get back on their feet.  Please pray for Gloria this week.
• We celebrated over a dozen baptisms today in our services.  Somehow this expression of a changed life never gets old to me… and I hope it never does.

Blake’s message today about The Good Shepherd was a powerful reminder of just how passionately God loves us.  I’m not sure we get it.  At least, I’m not sure that I get it.

Blake made one statement in his message that really stuck out to me.  He said “The mark of a true leader is self-sacrifice.”  Read his notes, ponder that statement and then let’s talk about it.

The Good Shepherd by Blake Bergstrom

John 9:24-25

Are you aware of the spiritual stories happening all around you?

Do you ever allow your agenda to get in the way of what God is doing?

John 10:1-5

Sheep trust the voice of their shepherd implicitly.

Sheep don’t need cowboys they need a shepherd.  The shepherd has earned the right to be heard.

What voices are you allowing to lead you?

Do you recognize the voice of God?  Are you listening to the voice of your shepherd to lead you?

John 10:6-10

Are you about sacrifice or self-promotion?

Do you represent the Cross or are you simply a hired hand?

John 10:11-14

The mark of a true leader is always self-sacrifice.

The Good Shepherd wants to tend to your every need.  Do you trust him?

The enemy is a thief, a robber of life and of love.

Do you understand that Christ is jealous for you?

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/13431281[/vimeo]

Do you really truly understand just how deeply He loves you?

I’m really enjoying our Chronicles series.  Although I’ve heard these parables before, I think sometimes it’s easy to brush over them and miss many of the points that Jesus was trying to communicate.  Justin did a great job with this one today.  I needed to be reminded of the power of a little seed… of a little hope!

The Mustard Seed & Yeast by Justin Davis

Parable – an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.

Matthew 13:31-34

Have you ever had an unmet expectation of God?

When you’ve had enough unmet expectations, you lose hope.

Just because you can’t see it working doesn’t mean He’s not working.

Unmet expectations turn into hope deferred and hope deferred turns into spiritual disappointment.

Small beginnings from an unlikely source = Irresistible growth

We have unmet expectations of God because we’ve placed our culture’s measuring standards on a kingdom that can’t be measured.

We miss mustard seed moments because we resent small beginnings.

God’s work is not always instant, but it’s inevitable.

Don’t lose hope.

Hope waits patiently.

• God’s timing isn’t always our timing.
• God is much more concerned about your character than your calendar.
• What area of your life do you need to wait patiently?

Hope lives courageously.

• Courage is not the absence of fear.
• Courage is overcoming fear with faith.
• Is there an area of your life that you’ve allowed fear to overtake your faith?

God has placed a list of dreams in your heart… they may be your mustard see moments.

Once the seed is in the ground, once the yeast is in the dough, it’s only a matter of time.

Jesus knows all about broken dreams.

Don’t give up.

Don’t lose hope.

Is there an area of your life that you’ve lost hope?  How can I pray for you this week?

We wrapped up the Be Rich series today.  I told you this series would start some paradigm shifts for you.  Here are my notes from Pete’s message today.

New Math by Pete Wilson

1 Timothy 6:17-19

Proverbs 21:20

You create more margin in your money by either:

1. Making more
2. Spending less

You create more margin in your time by learning to say “no”.  What is normal (crazy, hectic, frenzied schedules) in our culture is no longer healthy.

What you do with your money here on this earth impacts what happens to you in eternity.  We don’t know exactly how, but we know that it will matter somehow because of what Jesus says.

Luke 12:13-21, 33-34

The problem: we believe that “more” is always for “me”.  As soon as I get a little margin of time or money, I believe it is for me.  We consume the margin for ourselves.

So many of our money issues are God issues.

We have to decide when enough is enough.

We have to come to grips with the fact that our identity is not in what we have, what we earn or how we rank.

Everything we own eventually becomes a pile of trash.

If you don’t declare in your life when enough is enough, enough will never be enough.

We’ve failed the test of prosperity because we’ve made it all about us/we’ve assumed it’s all for us.

The wise person is thinking beyond this life.

To break the cycle of “get, get, get”, I have to “give, give, give.”

How to Be Rich:

1. Admit your rich.
2. Don’t trust in it.
3. Become a systematic percentage giver of your time and money.
4. View it realizing there is more to life than this life.

So do you believe that you are rich?  What is one thing you can do this week to live richly?

Justin Davis continued our “Be Rich” series today.  Such an important discussion that we’re often too afraid of to engage honestly, especially in church.  I appreciate Justin’s transparency today.  Be challenged but be encouraged!

Leftovers by Justin Davis

There is no correlation between money and peace.

What is the best financial advice you’ve ever received and did you take it?

Those of you that are rich will always have something competing for your heart.

If you don’t view yourself as rich, you won’t take Jesus’ principles to heart.

I Timothy 6:17-19

Be rich in good deeds and be generous and willing to share.

The greatest barrier to doing good is margin.  We have to intentionally create the space in our lives to live generously.

We are rich in time and money, but we aren’t always purposeful with them.

Create margin in your time.

• We equate busyness with significance.
• We’re rich in activities, meetings, appointments, etc
• You can be rich in busyness and bankrupt in good deeds.

Create margin in your finances.

• We equate possessions with wealth.
• You can be reach in possessions and bankrupt in generosity.

You will have to choose this.  You will have to be intentional about this.

Rich people plan ahead.

If you don’t plan ahead, you will be giving God and others the leftovers.

If you don’t plan ahead to give God your time and your money, you will be giving him leftovers.

Rich people purposely give away their time and money.

1. Pre-decide to give your time in service.
2. Pre-decide to be a percentage giver.

Rich people don’t operate in the urgent, they operate in the important.

How you treat money reflects the priorities of your life.

Determine to trust God with your time and money.

When you give God and others the best, God somehow allows the leftovers to be satisfying and sufficient.

Are you being purposeful with your time and money or are you giving God and others the leftovers?

Today we kicked off a brand new series “Be Rich”.  Looking forward to this one!!  I feel a major paradigm shift coming our way!

Who’s Rich? by Pete Wilson

We’re talking about how to BE rich, not how to GET rich.

I Timothy 6:17-19

This passage is geared to a very specific group of people -  the passage says “command those who are rich”

Rich people have unique responsibilities, problems and situations.

Who are these rich people that God is talking to?  Most rich people don’t know they are rich because they always find someone else who is richer than they are.

PROBLEM – Rich is a moving target.

If you have a combined income in your house of $37,000 you are in the top 4% of wealth in the world.  If you have a combined income of $45,000 or more you are in the top 1% of wealth in the world.

God has blessed me with more than I need.  I am rich!

If you are rich, you should be grateful.

I shouldn’t feel guilty about being rich because everything I have has been placed in my hand by God.  I need to learn to be grateful.

The more money you get, the more important you feel.  We blend our identity with our wealth.

Your wealth is not who you are, it’s just something that you have.

Proverbs 18:11

Ecclesiastes 5:10

The #1 competitor for your heart is money.

Matthew 6:24

Every day I battle the temptation to lean into money for my identity and my safety.

There is zero correlation between money and peace.

Are you going to choose to lean more into money or into God?

Questions to Consider:

1. Which of these statements creates the most anxiety in you?  There is no God or there is no money in the bank.
2. Is the fear of not having enough impeding you ability to give?
3. Do you have money in the bank but no peace in your heart?
4. How hard is it for you to do the right thing when you know it’s going to cost you?

I’m back from vacation and was excited to catch the last week of our People of the Second Chance series.  Today Pete wrapped up the story from Luke 15 and talked about the role that the father played in this story.  You hear a lot about the sons, namely the prodigal son, but the role of the father is such a beautiful reminder of how our Heavenly Father responds to us.  I pray you know the joy of a Father who runs to meet you.

Surprised by God by Pete Wilson

The two sons represent different ways that we are alienated from God as well as the different ways we try to find forgiveness.

“We have to be gracious to the grace-killers” Matt Chandler

You have to give grace to the grace-killers, because if you don’t you are them.

We struggle with sin and yet we struggle with being self-righteous.

Luke 15:11-24

With every distortion you have about God there is a corresponding consequence.  This story clarifies so many distortions that we have about who God really is.

3 Observations about the Father:

1)  No ordinary (middle eastern) dad would give his inheritance away.

God created us like Him, capable of making choices that are only limited by character and knowledge.

James 1:2-4

2)  No ordinary (middle eastern) dad would ever run in public.

He takes on the form of a servant and he runs to reconcile with his son.

Philippians 2:5-8

Ephesians 1:4

He chose to love us.  God runs to us.

3)  No ordinary (middle eastern) dad would wipe the slate clean.

Instead of a ceremony of rejection, the father threw a party of reconciliation.

Sin does not make you second-class.

We teach forgiveness but we still treat people like sin makes them second-class.

When God looks at you, He doesn’t see a prodigal, a second-class citizen.  He sees his son or daughter whom he loves.

Do you understand the level of grace and forgiveness God extends to you?  Do you know and believe He loves you and wants to run to you if you’ll only just turn towards home?