shawnlovejoy.com

It's not always happily ever after...

Can not WAIT to start this new series, Sunday, Aug 8!

Who are you inviting to this series?!

Fractured Fairy Tales: Coming August 8 2010 from Mountain Lake Church on Vimeo.

Sunday Reflex 7-25-10...

 I can not believe what I sense God is doing in our church, right now! I sensed His presence in our services yesterday in ways that are simply unexplainable! God is up to something! Here are a few reflex from yesterday...

* Micah Massey helped lead worship again 2day. It's been such a joy to have him lead us to God! Thx, Micah!

* Todd Nichols is a VERY good song writer! His song: "I Will Worship" could go BIG when it's released next year! It's SO GOOD and SO SING-ABLE!

* Week Two of our "OMG!" series.

* I think this is the best msg series we've ever done on WORSHIP!

* I LOVED teaching on the NAMES of GOD yesterday!

* "God is with us. We R never alone. God is R Provider. We can trust Him."

* People once again TEXTED, FACEBOOK'D or TWEETED these phrases to someone they knew down in a valley right now! I love the fact that we are proclaiming God's Name & Character to people all over the world DURING our worship services! That's church!

* I don't know what God is about to do in our church, but here during the SUMMER, our attendance is up nearly 25% over last year!  

* We showed our new "Volunteer Opportunities" video yesterday. Mitch Corn, yu rocked it! You may have a future in broadcasting!

* We unveiled our new "Fractured Fairy Tales" Msg series. I'll post the video here later! This one's gonna rock like no series ever has!

* Blake Stanley looked over at me during the last song and said: "Shawn, you better be ready. God is about to BLOW UP this church!". I THINK He meant that in the good way...

* Another awesome day @mtnlakechurch...

Sunday reflex 7-18-10...

God is SHOWING UP in Gr8 power at our church right now! Here are a few reflex from yesterday:

• Great to have Micah Massey helping us lead worship yesterday. Micah has been leading worship for our Student Ministries for some time and will be working with us in our Adult worship services some going forward! Great job, yesterday, Micah! BTW, I almost named my son Paul... Micah! 
• Always love singing "Jesus Paid It All." 
• Kicked off our "OMG!!!" series yesterday. 
• Re-ordered the service to allow more time for worship and response to God AFTER the msg. LOVE shaking things up!
• We has asked everyone to bring their cell phones to church and be prepared to use them during the service, though no one knew how or why til yesterday. 
• "Text Education" was a big hit. 
• "OMG is just another indication that we have reduced God down to a common catch phrase or cliche'!"
• "This series is all about taking God out of the bubble we've placed Him in; enlarging our perspective of God; who He is and the role He plays in our lives!"
• You can view the msg HERE later Mon AM. 
• I'm amazed at the # of people who were shocked that using God's name flippantly is taking God's name in vain!
• "The construction of the Golden Calf was an attempt to shrink God down to something they could comprehend, understand, and control.
• "However, we also take God's name in vain when we try to make Him part of our lives, rather than the essence of our lives!"  
• "The question is: Are we willing to make "THE LORD" "OUR LORD" today!"
•  To proclaim God's character and name to people all over our community, we texted, tweeted, and facebooked: "God is Gr8-er. We don't have 2 B N control."
• Hope we actually believe it! 
• Responded to God yesterday by singing: Here I am to worship (Here I am To Bow Down)" and "How Gr8 is R God".
• Hundreds came and bowed down, kneeling at the stage yesterday, releasing control and acknowledging His!
• Another Gr8 day @mtnlakechurch...

OMG!!! New Series @mtnlakechurch this Sunday!

OMG Message Series PROMO from Mountain Lake Church on Vimeo.

Sunday Reflex 7-11-10...

Another great day at Mountain Lake yesterday! Here's why:

• Did you know that  the song we sang: "Worship will Rise" was written by our Worship Pastor Todd Nichols? GREAT SONG, TODD!

• We closed out our ALIENS msg series.

• Btm line: "When we become Christians, we don't just become aliens, we become part of an alien family."

• "Because God views us differently, we ought to views each other differently. If HE is our Father, then what does that make you and me? Brothers and Sisters!"

• "You've heard that blood is thicker than water?As Christians we are bonded together through the blood of Jesus Christ! That's a POWERFUL common bond!"

• Unveiled for the first time our initial plans for our new paradigm of small groups being rolled out this Fall: "Life Groups. Doing Life. Bringing Life."

• I REALLY shared my heart with the Mountain Lake family about our heart for our church and our church family. If you're a Mountain Laker, I PRAY you'll watch the msg online HERE later in Monday.

• "Our understanding of the church as a family should be reflected through the way we prioritize each other, send time with each other, and stick by each other, even we disagree or have conflict!"

• The band came and performed a song called: "This is Home" by Switchfoot, and I asked for a commitment from every person in the room. The chorus says this: "This is Home; Now I'm finally where I belong; Yeah, this is home; I've been searching for a place of my own; Now I've found it,Yeah this is home."

• "A key represents the fact that THIS HOME is where I belong.When I take the key to a new home, it is a great day; but it is also a scary day, because I realize that I have to pay for this home! Keep it up! Maintain it! Protect and Defend it! And love the people in it!"
  

• We had keys strewn across the stage and I asked everyone to come take one expressing their commitment to embrace this as their home whether, they were:
• • coming home to God for the first time, with Jesus as the key
  • making a commitment to call Mountain Lake home for the first time
  • getting plugged into our family through service and giving
  • come BACK off the sidelines
  • express their desire to stick by our family through thick and thin!

• Announce our upcoming series starting this next Sunday called: "OMG!!!" We are encouraging everyone to bring their cellphones to church this Sunday. Just get here and you'll know why!

• Another great day @mtnlakechurch.

Our Worship Planning Process (pt. 1)...

One of the questions I'm often asked, both inside and outside our church is: "Where do you guys get your sermon series ideas?" Today, I'll unpack the answer to that question a bit.

1. What's important to God? What is important to God's heart and mission? These ideas drive our teaching calendar.  Our five marks of a follower of Jesus are already pretty clear from God's Word: Spiritual Growth, Using our Gifts, Visionary Giving, and Greater Impact. God wants every Christian to grow consistently in these areas. These ideas from god;s heart largely drive our teaching calendar each year. We just need to figure out how to communicate them. We never allow creativity to drive what we teach on. We allow God to drive what we teach on.

2. What is God teaching me? I have come to realize that when God is speaking to me, He is not just speaking to me for my benefit. He wants to use what he's teaching me to teach others.

3. Where are the people? Scripture challenges church leaders to KNOW , PAY ATTENTION TO, and CARE for "the flock of God," the church. What are God's people dealing with or struggling with? What's missing in their lives? What's needed in their lives? What do God's people need to know RIGHT NOW? These go near the top of what God has us teach on.

 4. WHEN should this be taught? Once we begin to put together WHAT  God wants us to teach on, we THEN begin to discuss WHEN during the year would be the best time to share this with God's people? Our worship planning process helps us accomplish this. I'll discuss this in more detail tomorrow.

Stay tuned for pt. 2 of this post!

Sunday Reflex 6-27-10...

Here are a few reflections from our services yesterday @mtnlakechurch:

• Best worship set we've sung in a while! Todd and the Worship Team rocked the house yesterday!
• My favorite series transition bumper video is posted below. Great job, James!
• AWESOME kick-off of our new series: "ALIENS" yesterday!
• I think yesterday was one of the most unique I've given. I really believe Gd is going to use this message and this series!
• 1 Peter 2:11 (NIV) Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
• Philippians 3:20 (NIV) But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.
• "God views us differently once we become Christians!" 
• "Christians are no longer citizens of this world."
• "If God views us differently, it ought to move us to want to love differently."
• "Our customs and culture should reflect our citizenship."
  
•  "Where is my citizenship?" I made a huge appeal to those who didn't know Christ! 
• What about me is different because I am a Christian?" 
• Another awesome day at Mountain Lake Church! 
• Can't wait for the "Fourth Family Get Together" this Sunday!

Aliens: We're not from here...

Sneak Peek at what we're talking about beginning this Sunday!

Just hints. You've gotta' be here to know what its all about!

ALIENS Series Bumper promo from Mountain Lake Church on Vimeo.

Sunday Reflex 6-20-10...

Here are a few reflections from yesterday @mtnlakechurch:

• Father's Day! Love Father's Day! LOVE getting an excuse to talk more to men on a Sunday!
  
• One observation: Mothers generally drag their families to church on Sunday. Fathers generally try to get their family to stay home or go to the lake and skip church. just sayin'.
  
• You may or may not know, but half of our worship music yesterday was WRITTEN by the worship team @mtnlakechurch, led by Todd Nichols! So honored to be your Pastor, Todd. THE UPCOMING WORSHIP PROJECT IS GOING TO ROCK!
  
• Wrapped up our msg series: "Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness."
  
• A few thoughts from yesterday's msg:
  * "Happiness is not found in the pursuit of happiness, but in the pursuit of God."
  * Solomon typifies you and me: We tend to pursue happiness through Experiences, Acquisition, & Achievement.
  * "The good news is that God knows us. He know our tendencies and He knows what will & won;t make us happy!"
  * There are so many GOOD reasons why Jesus said: "Seek first the Kingdom of God."
  * "At the end of the day, we don't even pursue God to gain happiness. We pursue Him because He's always been pursuing us."
  
• Closed the day with a song of commitment from one of Todd's original worship songs: "Worship Rising". The bridge to the song contained the heart of our commitment:
  "Worship Risig to You, Lord; Take everything it's Yours; There's nothing I want more than You!"
  
  

My heart for families: (guest post by Mitch Corn)

A few months ago my wife Jennie and I were celebrating the birth of our second daughter Colbie and pondering a passion that would move us beyond the realm of the ministry we had called home for close to a decade: Fellowship Church, in Grapevine, TX. This passion was for families and children to reach their full potential with God through the local church.

 

With our passion heavy on our hearts we began looking for a church that wanted to help families and children no matter what the cost. We were looking for a church that realized that the family is in crisis and wanted to be part of the solution. When we visited  Mountain Lake Church we heard Shawn challenge the church to give Awedaciously and sacrificially. Then he introduced one of the many couples whose marriages have been saved from divorce because of Mountain Lake. It was then and there we knew this was the place for us to fulfill the passion for families that God had given us.

 

Our goal is to change the way families and children view the local church. Without a doubt the local church is the very best thing a family can be involved in. Church is better than sports, PTA, clubs, because the local church is the only organization that Jesus Himself created. Other organizations are good but the local church is great and we want to help families realize how teaming with the church can help them reach their full potential.

 

Children are going to realize that church is the best part of their week. Parents are going to realize parenting done God’s way puts them in control and makes their children feel more loved. Marriages are going to be stronger because husbands and wives are going to learn they are not alone and how to succeed in the work of marriage.

 

God is moving at Mountain Lake Church. Our community will never be the same! And if you choose to be part of it, neither will you. I can’t wait to see all that God is about to do and I am thankful that my family can take part in it.