Northwest News!

Well the Lord really helped us today we visited, set up things at the Broomhill, did some shopping for signs and the Discovery Zone class, and built about 12 signs for the hotel.

I am so excited about tomorrow as we begin meeting at the Broomhill Hotel.  We have a small room there, but I am excited about seeing us move from room to room as we grow. 

Also, I am really looking forward to preaching on the church and it’s ministry.  I hope you have made plans to come and bring someone with you.

See you soon!

Here is a great article about how God is working Project North Africa.

We are very happy to have a missionary from Northern Ireland going to the country of Honduras who will be with us on next Sunday, 5 August.  Evan Williams and his wife Carmen are missionaries sent out of River Valley Baptist Church in Leixslip, Ireland with Baptist International Missions, Inc. 

They will be with us all day on next Sunday.  Sunday morning, he will be preaching the fourth sermon in our series called: “Clear Vision of the World and Its Need.”  In the evening service, he will share his burden for Honduras as well as show a DVD presentation about the need there.  From what I hear, I think you will really enjoy them being with us.

We collected the digital piano tonight that we bought for the church (1000 pounds).  Also, our signs for outside the Broomhill Hotel were done today and we collected them.  They came to 800 pounds.

We are looking forward to going visiting tomorrow as a church at 1.30 PM.  If you would like to go with us, we will meet at the office at 3 Roulston Ave, Waterside, BT47 3EW, which is on the road that runs from Bond Street to the Clooney Terrace entrance on the Rossdowney Road. 

Thanks for your faithfulness, and we look forward to going out and witnessing and invited folks to church.

I would like you to write down a very special date to be praying and planning for - “CLEBRATION SUNDAY” - 16 SEPTEMBER 2007.

This is the date that we are building and working for when we will really launch our church in the community.  We are going to be doing 2 mailouts to about 10,000 homes the weeks before, putting up billboards, and putting ads in papers and on the radio.

We plan to have a singing group that Sunday as well as start a new series called “A & E Recovery” that will deal with recovering from broken homes, broken dreams, broken relationships and more.

More to come on this special day in the future, but I just wanted to ask you to mark your calendars.

David Foster offers up these 16 things he would look for in a church if he was picking one to attend this week. It’s an interesting list. I wonder… what would you look for in a church if you had to pick one this week? Would it be a lot like the church you’re serving in now, or totally different?

I hope you are looking forward to Sunday!  I am really excited about our church going public and making it known to the community that we are here to help and be a blessing. 

Tonight was our last service as a house fellowship; this Sunday we will be meeting as a church at the Broomhill Hotel.  The time for our Sunday Am service will be 11.30 AM!  (Please make a note of this because in the past we have met at 10.30 AM on Sunday mornings.)

During the Sunday morning service, there will be special children’s class called “Discovery Zone” for the children.  Also, we will be continuing our service on “Clear Vision”, and I am excited about preaching on the church and its ministry!

I am so excited about the potential that we have, if we just trust in God, launch out by faith, and work together to invite poeple, witness, and pray.  There are always doubts and obstacles to overcome, but those things are just another way for God to manifest His power and might.  Please pray with me for God to do great and might things.

Also, we can use help.  If you are willing to help with greeting, usher, parking, children, or music, please let me know.  We are all going to have to step up our praying, evangelizing, giving, and serving, but what greater to cause than the spreading of the gospel and the salvation of souls.

Here is a great article on being friendly to visitors that I thought was important for us to think about.

Just a few years ago, in the church, church leaders, were terrible about “singling out” lost people or visitors in a church service.  There were lots of abuses,: from a “unique” visitor’s name tag that visitors had to put on; ushers (who couldn’t “ush”) would ask: “Is this your first time?” There were “visitor’s parking spaces; and visitors were sometimes even asked to stand or stay seated while everyone else stood to be greeted as an “outsider.” Well, all of this is stupid…
        However, I really believe that many churches have thrown out the baby with the bathwater (ask someone if you don’t know what that means) when it comes to giving people “space” in our churches to remain “anonymous” when they visit our churches and check out Jesus from a distance. I believe it’s literally sin on our part as churches to allow them to remain anonymous! Follow my logic: Here’s the deal: Isn’t it also our tendency to want to go home in the afternoon, roll up, then down our garage door, and never speak to our neighbors, because we’re busy and exhausted? But does that make it right? Does that mean we don’t NEED a neighbor? Does that mean that we don’t need to be loved? Does that mean we don’t  need someone TO love? Does that mean we don’t need community?
        See, I don;t think people even know what they want or need. The Bible says are heart will deceive us. People think they need a church service. What they need is God. People think they need a sermon. What they need is people who live out the sermon to love them. What they think they need is anonymity in the church. What they need is to be known. What they think they need is privacy. What they need is transparency, confession, and grace. What people think they need is religion, What they need is relationships. I want our church to extend the latter.
    At Mountain Lake, EVERYONE in our church wears a name tag (yes, everyone!). Every name tag is the same (no golden ones). IN fact our name tags are mailing labels handwritten by each of us when we walk in the doors.  Mountain Lake is a place “where everybody knows your name.” If you DON;T wear a name tag in our services, you stick out. yes, we still have “greeting times” in our worship services:: Not every week, but consistently. We have a cafe in our lobby, not to feed people or wake them up with coffee, but to help people connect with each other. over a cup of  joe.  We have small groups not primarily to study the Bible (even though we do), but to cultivate community among our church attenders. Our groups are designed with that goal in mind. 
        At MLC, we had rather run people off for being  “too friendly” than “unloving and only interested in our money.” Jesus wasn’t for anonymity.  Jesus was for relationships. Jesus was for love. That’s what I want to be for. And I want strangers to know it!

I am really excited about an opportunity that we have this summer to reach out to children in our city.  Check out what is going to be happening in August by clicking on our webpage!

The Summer Celebration will be a great opportunity for you to get involved and use your God-given gifts.  We need help with greeters, ushers, parking attendants, serving the drinks and snacks, sitting with the children,  and skits and activities.  Don’t miss your chance to get involved!  Let us know if you would like us to help out.