shawnlovejoy.com

Sunday Reflex 9-19-10...

This weekend was simply yet another weekend in which I sensed God working powerfully in and through @mtnlakechurch. Here are a few reflex from this weekend that made it special.

• Good $ense Workshop this weekend. Eric, John, and I all taught sessions at this one. We helped people!  Loved it! 
• Kicked off our Marriage Mentoring Ministry with Marriage Mentor Training. Can't wait to see what God does through this ministry!
• Great to have Micah Massey leading for us once again. Micah, you are VERY GIFTED Worship Leader! 
• We baptized again. The life change stories were evident and powerful. We are reaching so men and women right now who have away from God and He has used our church to reclaim them! Praise God! 
• Continued our "Parental Advisory" Series. I believe this series has so much wisdom from God's perspective  on how we should parent our children!
• "Discipline is simply correction driven by love."
• Correction requires Clear lines. Clear lines of blessing. Clear lines of consequences.  (see Deut. 30:15-19).
• I gave very practical examples of how the Lovejoy family seeks to work all this out. Had tons of people tell me they were going to "steal" some of our ideas! Go right ahead!
• "I know too many parents who evidently don't know how to count to three."
• "Make no mistake: Every time we threaten our kids, they're asking one question: 'Will they really follow through on that?'"
• "Our kids don;t need another buddy. They need shepherds who will love them enough to lead them and correct them when they wander off the path!"
• "Anger should never be the emotion that drives us to discipline. Love should be."
• I loved being able to talk about Grace and the Gospel in a message on PARENTING. Jesus is relevant to EVERYTHING. That's why its GOOD NEWS!
• I felt God especially speaking to me and giving me wisdom with Sunday's message. I feel like He spoke to me and through me! 
• Another awesome day @mtnlakechurch.

Sunday Reflex 9-12-10

Wow. What an incredible weekend. There's almost no way I can share all that happened this weekend and all that pumps me up about it, but I'll try!

• One of the best Children's Ministry Training events I've ever seen on Saturday. Way to go, Mitch, Jenny, Doug, and the entire Children's ministry team!  
• Trained a whole new group of  new Life_Groups who will start new groups this week!
• We now have almost 400 new adults signed up for Group Launch this Wed night! WOW!
• Todd Nichols has now introduced yet a another great song he's written, entitled: "Send Revival, Lord" to the MLC crowd. GREAT STUFF AGAIN, bro!
• Kicked off our new series: "Parental Advisory."
• We rocked the house with "Life is a Highway" and THEN...
• I drove a black Mustang GT on to the stage!

• "This symbolizes one of the greatest fears we have as parents: The day we turn over the keys to the car to our kids."
• "Whether we realize it or not, we're all getting ready to turn over the keys, and I don't mean the keys to the car but the keys to this highway called life!"
• "I don't care what kind of training we're doing with our kids, it requires repetition. Training requires consistency."
• "Even when our kids are inconsistent, we've got to be consistent in our reactions."
• "Our kids are going to veer off the road. We just can't go with them!"
• "We've also got to be consistent on our example. If we want our kids to be sexually pure, then we've gt to be sexually pure. If we want them to have a great marriage, we've got to start building a great one!"
• "Consistency builds credibility and reliability."
• "God is our Heavenly Father, and not only has He set the example to us. He had offered Himself to us! He wants to live in and through us and help build consistency in our lives as parents."
• Newcomer's Lunch after the services: with over 100 people there! 
• EVOLVE Middle & High School last night at MLC. GREAT NIGHT! Pics below say it all!

 

• Last but surely not least, we launched a NEW CHURCH yesterday in Hall County called Revolution Church! Congrats to Shad Treadaway and all the Revolution Team on a successful launch! 
• God is rocking our church and is  using our church to rock our community, nation, and world! To HIM be the glory!

Parental Advisory Series starts this week!

Can't wait to kick this one off this Sunday! Are you coming?

WHO ARE YOU INVITING?

I'm telling you, they'll come to this one

if you'll make the ask and let God do the rest!

Parental Advisory Series Promo

Fruit from this past Sunday!

This past Sunday HUNDRED of people at MLC made decisions this to  move forward in faith by taking specific action of obedience in an area where we had been previously disobedient to God in our lives (cross their Jordan River). HUNDREDS of decisions were made! This is unbelievable! Names are deleted to protect the innocent; but below just some examples of what GOD is doing in our church! These are direct quotes!

• Jordan: Tension in my marriage Decision: Start communicating w/my wife, support her, honesty
• Jordan: Tithe -  Decision: Pay it!
• Jordan: Better health - Decision: workout
• Jordan: invite others to MLC or encourage them to attend somewhere. -  Decision: My 3 kids are all playing sports this fall. I have 30 families that I can ask!
• Jordan: Loving all Decision: this week I am going to apologize to my neighbor and coworkers for being negative to them.
• Jordan: end a roller coaster relationship - Decision: initiate the end
• Jordan: Giving  Decision: Start giving every week!
• Jordan: Alcohol Decision: to stop drinking
• Jordan: to be more public with my faith. -  Decision: I'm going to share with new girl at school.
• Jordan: my relationship with my father Decision: Invite him to church
• Jordan: My creditors -  Decision: face them and deal with issue
• Jordan: Forgiveness Decision: Speak to my sister
• Jordan: Community outreach Decision: Contact Hands on Forsyth & get plugged in somewhere. 
• Jordan: to volunteer Decision: I volunteered to serve in Guest services today
• Jordan: Change jobs Decision: Start research today!
• Jordan: Connecting with people in the church Decision: I signed up for Group Launch today!
• Jordan Reading the Bible Decision: Starting a new plan tomorrow!
• Jordan: Going to Uganda to serve children and show God's love -  Decision: Fully believe that God will provide the expenses.
• Jordan: Accepting God's forgiveness Decision: Follow Jesus!

WOW!!!!!

Sunday Reflex 8-29-10...

This truly has been one of the best message series we've ever done @mtnlakechurch. We have been able to point people to God's Grace;  God's justice; God's sovereignty; God's power; and give people hope! Wow! Here are a few reflex from yesterday's services:

• Worship team did an awesome job again YESTERDAY!
• Todd introduced another one of his new songs yesterday: "Send Revival." He has such an amazing gift of songwriting; and the songs are all so sing-able!  Thx, man! 
• Week 4 of Fractured Fairy Tales. Taught one of my favorite Scripture passages, Joshua 1-3. Here are a few snippets:
• • "Our obstacles and problems are often not the fractures to our fairy tales. How we respond to them is."
  • "We often fracture our fairy tales due to a lack of faith."
  • "Our faith grows as our obedience grows."
• If you missed the message, you can catch it HERE online!
• We baptized again. Mitch Corn's first time to baptize people at our church. Honored to serve with you, Mitch! 
• I LOVE seeing the simplicity of the Gospel communicated by children! Love it!
• I LOVE cheering wildly when someone comes up out of the Baptistry!
• We introduced our upcoming series in two weeks: Parental Advisory, Gonna be big!
• I attended EVOLVE High, last night, where we held a special worship, prayer and offering last night for Josh Haddock, the North Forsyth Football player who was injured last week, HUGE turnout! Great job, Blake! 
• Another great day @mtnlakechurch!

Sunday Reflex 8-22-10...

Yesterday was hump day in our "Fractured Fairy Tales" series @mtnlakechurch. Our students also finished up their series called "The Soundtrack of Life." They've BOTH been awesome!  Here are a few reflex from yesterday:

• Larger than usual Worship Team on the stage that REALLY set the tone for the day! Thanks for LEADING us in worship, guys! 
• We turned toward the message with the song "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M. Loved it!
• Taught on Moses handing the baton (or staff) over to Joshua.
• Some thoughts from yesterday's message: 
• • "God's plan all along was not to take Moses into the Promised Land, but use him to raise up Joshua to do that."
  • "One of the reasons our story is often not as fractured as we think it is, is because we tend to view God's story through the lenses of our fairy tale."
  • We make God's blessing all bout us. We try to make God's story all about our personal comfort, success, ambitions, and dreams."
  • "God's story is bigger than our fairy tale."
  • "God wants to write His story through us, not just about us."
  • "We all need a Moses in our life: someone who's walked longer and closer with God."
  • "We all need a Joshua in our lives: someone who's younger in the faith than we are."
  • "This is just ONE of the reasons why Life_Groups are so important here at Mountain Lake!

• I introduced several new concepts/paradigms associated with our new branding of Life_Groups.
• Did you know that 75% of our adults have been active in small groups?
• Our small groups are not reserved for the spiritual MARINES, or designed for those who can quote all of the Bible. They're designed for every day people with every day issues!
• Ray Calhoun & Bridget told their story of life change and how community had played a huge role in that process! These guys are a beautiful example of how the spiritual baton gets handed from one spiritual generation to another here at our church
• Another great day @mtnlakechurch. 

Sunday Reflex 8-8-10...

Well, all the prayers worked! Last week worshiped. Prayed. fasted. Served. Invited. Impacted. Sunday, God showed up in Gr8 power @mtnlakechurch! Here are a few reflex from yesterday:

• Haven't gotten the official #'s yet, but we packed it OUT yesterday! You invited! God brought people!  Tons of new, fractured people! 
• So many of you introduced me to people YOU had invited to be with us!
• My neighbor  across the street, Rick, and his family came, who don't go to church anywhere! Thanks so much for coming, Rick! Hope you guys enjoyed it! 
• I truly believe our Ministry Team has never been more prepared for guests than it was yesterday! You guys rocked it! Children's;  Student's; and Guests Services Ministries were hitting on ALL cylinders yesterday! MORE people will come back a second time because you guys nailed it yesterday!
• Thanks to the HUNDREDS of volunteers who served on new ways yesterday.
• We unveiled our new WORSHIP GUIDE yesterday!
  We unveiled our new INFO BAR desk yesterday with a whole new team of volunteers.
• Our SEAT TEAM did a fantastic job seating guests effectively in our crowded auditorium!
• HUNDREDS of you moved to the 9:30 worship service, and we could not have housed everyone yesterday without you moving! Thank You! 
• The new stage set design for FRACTURED FAIRY TALES was the best stage set we've ever built BY FAR. Guys, you put all of us IN FAIRY TALE world! Thx to the dozens of volunteers who made this happen!
• I am NOT overstating when I say that I believe yesterday's worship service was the best we've ever had! 
• We worshiped. Lifted our voices and our hands; and God's presence was strong in the service because God is drawn to the praises of His people! 
• Kicked off the Fractured Fairy Tale Series: Talked about Joseph yesterday.
• "A fairy tale is our dream of a preferred future."
• "Joseph was a dreamer."
• "Joseph's fairy tale fracture just hoes to show us that the deepest fractures in our lives often comes at the hands of people we really love, respect, and admire."
• "Through Joseph's fracture in the well (with no water in it) God's trying to remind us that: 'Just because the story's fractured, it doesn't mean the story's over!'" 
• "Have you fractured your own story? Maybe feel like God's not with you anymore because of it? That's where you're wrong! God allowed His Son's body; His Son's Story to be fractured, so no other story could be fractured beyond repair!"
• Chris and Lisa Closs shared their story and brought the house down! Their story is posted below for you to read. Unbelievable! 
• God was Gr8 @mtnlakechurch yesterday. God healed many fractures yesterday. To HIM be the glory!

Gr8.8 Prayer Guide...

Prayer Guide

We devote this week to drawing closer to God & His mission in
the world. We invite you to join us this week as we pray, worship, serve, invite, unite, grow, merge, & impact our community between now and 8.8!

Monday. Pray for yourself. Many of us feel tired and thirsty.Jesus said that He is the giver of Living Water. John 4:14, “But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again—ever! Pour out your heart to Jesus and ask Him to satisfy the longings in your soul.

Tuesday. Reflect on where you are in your spiritual journey...
How are you doing in spending time with Jesus? How are you serving others? Are you experiencing community? Are you investing in the lives of disconnected people?

Wednesday. Please pray that the parents and students in schools throughout our community will see God’s love as we serve them this week.

Thursday. Spend time praying for God to restore any fractured marriages & families in Forsyth and Dawson counties.

Friday. Pray that single adults throughout our county would sense God’s presence and provision in their lives this weekend.

Saturday. Pray that we will love & serve all the new people visiting our church tomorrow. Pray that God would heal their fractured fairy tales and they would find MLC to be a place where they can belong and become!

Sunday. Ask God to show up in Gr8 power in our church, and then through our church today!

8 days that could change history...

Starting yesterday, we began to pray as a church around one unified idea: that God would show up in Gr8 power in our lives, families, church, and community between now and 8.8.10, this next Sunday! We'll be praying, fasting, worshiping, serving, inviting, uniting, and impacting our community!

Some event highlights:

• Haiti trip Information Mtg, Monday nite: 6:45
• We'll be serving as as Guest Services Volunteers several Middle Schools and Elementary Schools for their OPEN HOUSES on Wednesday and Thursday of this week!
• We'll be prayer walking around several more schools!
• MERGE Wednesday, 6:45. We won't eat together this time, because many of us will be fasting (we'll have pizza for the kids).  We will worship, communion, and then I have some BIG STUFF to share from my heart that I believe God will use to shape your heart and our church!