I LOVE MY CHURCH!

In the next six weeks we will grow as one as we begin to live out the life-changing reality of a church unified in God's purpose and plan for His people.  Here is the series synopsis of where we're going TOGETHER as we discover the power behind the statement...

I LOVE MY CHURCH! 

October 12 - We'll discover the real power of the gospel as "I LOVE MY CHURCH" is seen in its true context.  When the church is working right, there is noting quite like it.  So we don't just tolerate the church-we celebrate it!

October 19 - Whether we realize it or not, what "WE BELIEVE" dictates how we behave. This week I will lay out seven core beliefs of our church and how it affects everything that we do.

October 26 - The church has more reason to celebrate than anyone else. "WHY I LOVE MY CHURCH MORE" will open our eyes as we realize that we must never stay silent when people are finding hope and healing through the Lord Jesus!

November 2 - What was your "BEST WEEKEND EVER?"  When you are in Christ, your purpose becomes clear and your life has eternal meaning.  That's why the day you become "in Christ" will be the most important day of your life.

November 9 - What has been stolen from your life? Your joy?  Peace?  Confidence?  The enemy is out to steal, kill, and destroy, but God has promised that He will repay what has been taken from us.  "WHEN GOD BUILDS A CHURCH" everything changes!

November 16 - Jesus gives us a simple invitation: "FOLLOW ME."  It's not always easy, and you may not always love the process, but you will love the results.  It's time to take your first step.

There you go!  Here's four promises that WILL happen in YOUR life when the evidence clearly says, "I LOVE MY CHURCH!" 

#1 - "The church" (impersonal), will become MY CHURCH (very personal).

#2 - Everything will forever change in your life when "the church" becomes MY CHURCH.

#3 - Your un-churched friends will not be bored!  They too will discover the power of "the church" becoming MY CHURCH.

#4 - Jesus will change lives through this series!  After all...He did say,

"I will build MY CHURCH!"

I can' wait!!!

If you can't make it to the Tennessee Valley in person, then you can join us online.  But remember, the only way you should do that is if you're sick, traveling, or you're a distance partner who enjoys TVCC, but live far away. 

Church - Dead or Alive?

The following was sent out from the Willow Creek Association earlier today on Twitter.  I cannot overestimate the eternal value of every person who professes the name of Christ.  Being radically sold out as a follower of Christ is the most valuable thing you'll ever do, period.

The local church is a paradox. In some places the church is flourishing and in others it is declining rapidly or dying out altogether. In regions of the world with limited religious freedom, the church is thriving. In China, for example, there are an estimated 100 million believers today, and the pace at which conversions are occurring will soon make China the largest Christian nation on the planet. In other regions where the church was once strong, the future is not as bright. In parts of Europe, less than 5 percent of the populace attends church regularly.

In the United States, with more than 162 million self-professed Christians, the news is sobering. Each year, between three to five thousand churches in the United States hold their last service, close their doors, and put up the "for sale" sign. Statistics indicate that from 1999 to 2009 the combined membership of the major Protestant denominations declined 6 percent, while the national population has increased 12 percent. The proportion of Americans who claim to have "no religion" has increased to 15 percent, up from 8.2 percent in 1990.

We want to be the best we can be for God.  So at TVCC we are beginning 2012 with the series, Just Walk Across The Room.  It will serve to help us better understand the how and why of reaching others with the Word we have and the lives we live.  

How to Prove Your Love

This Sunday we will celebrate the birth of Christ.  We will enjoy family and friends and festivities.  And we will GIVE! And RECEIVE!  And all of this is good, but is most blessed when done in remembrance of God's greatest gift: Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Just because we celebrate the season however, doesn't mean we celebrate the Savior.  One day of merriment living does not wipe out a years worth of miserly giving. If you really want to celebrate, if you really want to enjoy this season of the Savior, then learn to excel - always - in this gracious ministry of giving.  The Apostle Paul said it like this,

"Since you excel in so many ways...I want you to excel also in this gracious ministry of giving.  I am not saying you must do it...this is one way to prove your love is real."  2 Cor. 8:7-8 (NLT) 

How? Give real love, abundant time, and heartfelt devotion to your family.  Take time to "be" together and not just exist in the same house.  Give to God because you want to prove your love is real. This is proved as you serve God with your time, your talents, and your treasures.  Or, to put it as Jesus did, with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind...(Luke 10:27). Not because you must do it but because you want to prove it.  You want the work of God to be built up, to increase, and to go out to others.   

Why? Because you love what Jesus loves and Jesus loves people.  Jesus loves your family.  Jesus died for every person and has given us the charge, the privilege of telling them this Good News!  They are the reason He came. We are the reason He came. 

So this Christmas, prove your love is real by not only giving to one another, but giving your best gift to Christ of all that you are and have.   

The Light of the Church and The Love of the Family

The church can't do it alone...

and neither can you.  But together, we make an unstoppable force.  Together we can build something, that apart from each other will only be dreamed of.  Together - the church and the family become the composite of God's intended purpose and plans for reaching this world.  The light of the church and the love of the family unite yellow and red to form orange.  Orange is not a strategy or a program.  Orange is the principle which trumps the practice. 

Practices, whether in the church or home, can become cliché.  Practices can become rigid paradigms of postmortem disaster.  Practices are what dead churches die for.  Practices, if allowed to stand alone, will rob the light of the church and the heart of the home of the richness Christ has intended for both. 

Tennessee Valley Community Church was founded with the principles of family ministry in mind.  Not because family ministry is cool or hip, but as a principle of Scripture we are commanded to place it as priority.  In our list of core values, the last E in Tennessee stands for EMPOWERING KIDS AND FAMILY FOCUSED. Whether the family is made up of one or ten, the principles are the same; they define our practices.  What are these principles?

• Nothing is more important than someone's relationship with God.
• No one has more potential to influence a child's relationship with God than a parent.
• No one has more potential to influence the parent than the church.
• The church's potential to influence a child dramatically increases when it partners with a parent.
• The parent's potential to influence a child dramatically increases when that parent partners with the church.

Simply put, we're better together. Be watching for more "News & Views" in the days ahead as we unwrap this most important principle of partnership between the light of the church (yellow) and the love of the family (red) to form this brilliant partnership of Orange!    

Pastor Steve