Our Home TEAMS!

Last night, I was at one of our Home TEAMs and had a wonderful time! The people there were sharing in real community the way we hope it gets done in all the Home TEAMs! It was good to see the group planning how to reach out beyond the walls of their Home TEAM in much the same way 5 Point Fellowship as a church is attempting to reach out beyond the walls of our congregation! As our Home TEAM ministry grows, it can be tempting to hang out with "our group"! After all, we have invested time and energy in those people and they are now our friends. Don't forget that once you were strangers too! Reach out to include others in your Home TEAM. A while back, I mentioned the idea of "Operation Lunch". It was a simple idea, ask someone/a couple/family that you don't know to join you for lunch after church. Also invite someone who is active in your Home TEAM. That way, when later, you invite that person to Home TEAM, they aren't just showing up at someones house to meet a bunch of people that they don't know...they are seeing friends they already have a connection with. That is what Home TEAMs are all about; building connections. Have an Awesome week!

Thanks!!!

To all the Home TEAM people who helped out today for the Egg Drop! Thank you very much for all your hard work! We are estimating that over 10,000 people were in attendance! You all did an incredible job! Everyone I saw was having a great time! The kids had smiles on their faces, and I heard a few people talking about our church and wondering what kind of church we are. The day was beautiful! God helped out on that one! All the volunteers made the day an incredibly enjoyable time for me and all those in attendance! What I am trying to say is, GREAT JOB EVERYONE!!

A Letter that made me cry and made me proud of you guys!

The following is a letter that was sent to the church this week. The author of the letter doesn't go to 5 Point, but here is what she had to say.

Dear Pastor Dean,

Enclosed is a memorial gift to 5 Point Fellowship in memory of my sister __________. Thank YOU - AND the BODY OF BELIEVERS that make up your fellowship - for being Christ to ______________. Through _____________________ many struggles in life, she always seemed to be trying to hang on to God - she KNEW that was important. But I do not believe she experienced the TRUTH to often that GOD was hanging on to HER!!! That is, until she found the love and acceptance at 5 Point that showed her the reality that God had redeemed her and made her his own - May God richly bless your faithfulness in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to ALL people

In Him,
______________

I have deleted the names for privacy reasons, but those of you who knew this woman's sister will know. Thanks so much for all you did in the Home TEAM ministry to show the love of Christ to ALL people! Without the great Home TEAM leaders and members, people wouldn't be touched in this way. Thanks for all you guys do!

Stuffing Eggs

With real eggs, they come pre-stuffed by the chicken. We thought it would be a bit messy to drop a half million real eggs from a hot air balloon, so we decided to use plastic eggs. You have heard/read from Dean, Tim, and I on our blogs and in person that we need lots of plastic eggs. Well, we still need more, but we also need a piece of candy put in each egg and the seam taped up so that it doesn't explode when it hits the ground. Yesterday, three ladies came in and volunteered to stuff eggs. They worked hard, but three people can't stuff 500,000 eggs between now and April 4th...so we need help. I am encouraging our Home TEAMs to find a time when the whole TEAM can come in and work on stuffing eggs together. Saturday the 14th of March, we as a church are planning to stuff eggs. The more the merrier! Ann is taking care of Volunteer coordination, so feel free to call her at the church to set up a time when your TEAM can volunteer.

Home TEAM Report - Finley Home TEAM

Last night, I went to the Home TEAM at the Finley's house! It was a great time for all! Good food, great fellowship, and Ann led a wonderful, biblically sound discussion. One point that she stressed that I want each Home TEAM Leader to work with even if you are using a separate curriculum is: Get your Home TEAM involved in some area of ministry serving outside the group, and preferably outside the church as well. We should all be serving in our church, but the point here is to look for a way to serve the community. Volunteering together at one of the other missions in the Picken's county area is a great way to build a group identity and strengthen the bonds between Home TEAM members. There were lots of great ideas at the Finley Home TEAM last night, and I expect many more great ideas to come as we all get involved in sharing the love of Jesus Christ with others!

Easter Egg Drop (Post 2)

There are about 15,000 eggs on the stage right now, and maybe 5,000 pieces of candy. If you or your Home TEAM have time between now and April 4th, 2009 to come in and help put candy in the eggs, that would be greatly appreciated! Did I mention that it would really help out? You may be wondering why filling eggs is so important. Each kid that comes to the April 4th Egg Drop will scramble out there on the field to collect eggs in his or her basket. Only a few will find an egg with a prize ticket inside, but every kid will find eggs with candy in them. To a kid, that is still winning! That also means that when the kid wins, we have put a chink in the parents "anti-church armor". The kid got something from the church that made him or her happy! We smile, and let the parents know that we are glad they are there, but none of that can happen if all the eggs are unfilled and sitting on the stage at 5 Point Fellowship instead of finding their final destinations being dropped from a Hot Air balloon over the soccer fields at J.B. "Red" Owens Sports Complex.

Making Connections

We all know by now that people come to church not just because the preacher does an incredible job of applying God's word to our lives or because the choir sings so well the angels are jealous or because the sanctuary is wonderful and pristine in its decorations or that it is a perfect doctrinal match for them. People come join with a church often because of the connections they make there. One of the reasons the landscape is dotted with small churches is because half the people in the church are related and the other half are their friends. The connections are there! In a church that is growing, you soon run into the obstacle of people coming in, loving the service yet still not coming back after a few weeks. They didn't get connected to those around them. So what is the quick fix? Get friendlier greeters and ushers? No, your greeters and ushers are most likely friendly enough. (If they aren't then you have other issues to deal with.) There isn't a quick fix. The long hard fix is to find ways to connect people with new believers who come into your church. There isn't one perfect way to do that. Some churches have great Sunday School programs! My church doesn't even have Sunday School, but our Home TEAM's are exploding! Please don't take that to mean that we have it all figured out...we still have a long way to go! I have a friend whose wife absolutely despises small groups/home groups...but they love singing in the choir at their church and have established life long friendships with those in the choir. We as humans have to fight against our habit forming nature to reach out to the new people who come through the doors of our churches to help them connect to others. If you are a pastor, mentor your church leaders to reach out rather than standing in a circle talking to each other on Sunday Mornings. Invite people over to your house for lunch or to go out to eat with you after church. Only by getting involved in people's lives outside of Sunday mornings will we be able to effectively reach them with the gospel and then keep them in a relationship that will help them connect to God and to each other. Have an awesome day!